“Scientists in Singapore have decided to collect and freeze sperm from pangolins to use in future artificial insemination programs for the threatened mammals should the need arise. The eight known species of pangolins are collectively the world’s most trafficked mammal. The Sunda pangolin has seen its population decline by over 50% in the last 15 years. All pangolin species are listed as threatened, and scientists say they hope to create a reservoir of genetic material before arriving at a ‘too little, too late’ scenario. While it has successfully extracted and stored sperm from 38 pangolins, the Singapore lab hasn’t collected egg cells from female pangolins because the procedure is much more invasive.”

From Mongabay.