Researchers led by the disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk have managed to clone a coyote, classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Hwang's Sooam Biotech Research Foundation said Monday.
The foundation was set up by die-hard supporters of the one-time "national hero," who was found in 2005 to have fabricated what he claimed was a new milestone in therapeutic stem cell research.
As part of an apparent quest for rehabilitation, Hwang and his team on Monday unveiled eight cloned coyotes at an animal rescue shelter in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province and donated them to the province. Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo and other officials were at the event.
The province signed a memorandum of understanding on bio research cooperation with Sooam in August 2009 and has provided around W50 million (US$1=W1,142) a year in research funding as well as animal feed.
The foundation claimed Hwang is also trying to clone an African wild dog and a mammoth.
