From: Damien Broderick (thespike@earthlink.net)
Date: Thu Feb 06 2003 - 17:39:56 MST
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/07/1044498961733.html
Matilda's waltz ends
February 7 2003
Australia's first cloned sheep, Matilda, died unexpectedly of unknown
causes, the South Australian Research Institute (SARDI) announced today.
Executive Director Rob Lewis said an independent autopsy failed to identify
what killed Matilda, who died at the Turretfield Research Centre, north of
Adelaide, on the weekend.
Her body was found by staff on Sunday morning.
"On Saturday, when she was last inspected, she was remarkably healthy," Mr
Lewis told AAP today.
"The animal has been particularly sprightly and her death was very
unexpected."
He said ongoing observations of Matilda since she was born in April 2000
showed she was a healthy animal.
Scientists cloned Matilda using a technique similar to that used for the
world's first cloned sheep, Dolly, in Scotland in 1996.
Matilda, at the age of nine months, gave birth to healthy triplets using a
speed-breeding technique.
That was more than a year younger than most sheep, and her offspring have
gone on to successfully reproduce. [etc]
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