A cloned dog of a native breed close to extinction, the Sapsaree, gave birth to puppies last year, and one of them became pregnant recently.







Seven puppies born from the cloned short-haired badugi Sapsaree (Chungnam National University Professor Kim Min-kyu)



According to professor Kim Min-kyu of Chungnam National University -- whose team conducted the genetic experiment -- on Tuesday, the cloned Sapsaree gave birth to seven puppies through artificial insemination last December. Two of the seven pups were short-haired.



The cloned dog had its genes reproduced from a male short-haired badugi (meaning “spotted” in Korean) Sapsaree in 2017. The original dog was the first naturally born short-haired badugi since the Japanese colonial era, during which the whole breed was killed in large numbers for their fur by the Japanese military.







Professor Kim Min-kyu stands with a short-haired badugi Sapsaree puppy in the center, with the cloned Sapsaree father on the left and long-haired puppy on the right. (Chungnam National University Professor Kim Min-kyu)