The world’s first cloned Pashmina goat - Noori (The Light) passed away last week in Kashmir, scientists said on Monday.
The scientists at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) Kashmir had achieved a rare feat in March 2012 after it successfully cloned the first rare female Pashmina goat
“She passed away on March 15 at the Shuhama farm of University . Noori was 11-year- old,” the lead project scientist Riaz Ahmad Shah at SKUAST told UNI. “It was an age-related death. The normal average lifespan of a Pashmina goat is around 11-12 years and Noori has almost lived that life.”
Shah said a postmortem was also carried out and they were waiting for the report.
It took two years for Shah, the top scientist at Centre of Animal Biotechnology at SKUAST and his six member team of scientists to produce "Noori" which was India's second cloned animal. Shah was also the key researcher in the team of scientists at National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana in 2009 that gave India the first cloned buffalo calf ‘Garima’.
The rare Himalayan goat "Noori" was cloned using the advanced reproductive techniques. “Noori gave birth to seven kids and out of them four are alive,” Shah said. " The cloned goat was as good as a normal one and she gave birth to so many kids.”
Shah said he was feeling sad on the death of Noori. Pashmina goats are exclusive to Ladakh region and the successful cloning technology had given hope that it will help the pashmina's productivity.