Colorado’s genetically pure bison herd gains lab-born calf

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A bison calf has been born at Colorado State University using a process that manually combines an egg and sperm in a laboratory.

The Coloradoan reported Monday that the female calf is the first at the university to be conceived through the process called in-vitro fertilization.

The calf brings the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd to 44 members. The genetically pure herd has more than quadrupled in size since its November 2015 release at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and Red Mountain Open Space. The animals are related to the Yellowstone National Park herd, preserving rare American bison genetics.

The calf, named IVF 1, is 10 months old. Researchers used eggs taken from bison from Yellowstone National Park and fertilized them with sperm from bulls with Yellowstone genetics.

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Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan, http://www.coloradoan.com