BBC News says US Fish and Wildlife Service has successfully cloned a black-footed ferret — the first genetic copy of a North American endangered species.

The black-footed ferret is North America's only native ferret, and was thought to have gone extinct until a Wyoming rancher found a small group of them in 1981.

A North American species clone is still a big step, though, and Elizabeth Ann could draw attention to and even accelerate the use of cloning as a preservation tool.