The world's first cloned buffalo, Garima II, gave birth to a female calf on Friday at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal, Haryana.
The newborn female calf, named Mahima, is reportedly in good health and weighs 32 kg.
"It is a big success and a proud moment for India. It is the first calf born from a cloned buffalo in the world," said A K Srivastava, director at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI).
Garima II was born on Aug 22, 2010 after repeated attempts at animal cloning by researchers at NDRI. It was only after the third attempt that Grima II was created. Prior to the calf's birth, researchers had developed a buffalo through an 'advanced hand-guided cloning technique', but the offspring, Garima, did not survive more than six days. A similar attempt in 2011 had also failed.
According to Srivastava, Garima was also 32 kg when she was born.
The latest development of animal cloning is opening new doors in the field of science. The institute is already collaborating with other researches to produce animals through cloning.
"We are very proud to announce that our cloned buffalo Garima has given birth to a calf, first time in the world. We have kept her name Mahima. She was born at 1.51 a.m. by normal parturition. Garima-II was born in August 2010 and on March 27, 2012 Garima was inseminated with frozen-thawed semen of a progeny tested bull. We were constantly observing her since then. She has given birth to a female calf and it is a normal delivery. Mahima's weight is 32 kg and her health is normal,"said Srivastava.
