India seeks Iran's help with cheetahs

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad has asked Iran to loan it a pair of cheetahs or offer some cells to begin the cloning process.

The research centre made the proposal to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami during a visit to the city earlier this week.

The cheetah has been extinct from India for more than 50 years

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Institute director Lalji Singh said: "I have proposed cloning where it is not possible to multiply them by regular or assisted breeding."

The cheetah is similar to the leopard and is the fastest animal on land, capable of reaching 100 kilometres per hour (60 mph) in short spurts.

It disappeared from India following large-scale hunting during British rule that ended in 1947 but is still found in parts of Iran.

In cloning, the nucleus is removed from a female's egg cell and replaced with the nucleus from a cell of the animal to be cloned.

Identical

Mr Singh said the institute was setting up a large laboratory to revive endangered species such as the cheetah as part of a project worth $2.3 million.

He said an Indian leopard would be able to serve as a surrogate mother for a cloned cheetah, adding that although the Iranian cheetahs were small in number they were identical to the species that disappeared from India.

The Indian Government approached Iran over a year ago but progress had been slow.

Mr Singh hopes the project could pave the way for the conservation of other endangered species such as Indian tigers and lions