China’s first cloned police dog reports for duty
- Kunxun, a two-month-old Kunming wolfdog, was born after scientists took the DNA from a ‘one in a thousand’ animal
- Police hope the programme to clone the force’s best dogs will eventually give it a bigger pool of animals suited to police work
A cloned puppy, which was bred using DNA from an award-winning police sniffer dog, has started training with a force in the southwest of China.
Earlier this month Kunxun, a two-month-old female, began training at Kunming Police Dog Base in Yunnan province, according to media reports.
The Kunming wolfdog is China’s first cloned police dog and was born after scientists took a DNA sample from a seven-year-old female named Huahuangma, which has won a string of awards for helping to crack multiple cases in the city of Puer.
Since arriving in Kunming, Kunxun has adjusted well to the local environment, the base’s project analyst Wan Jiusheng told Science and Technology Daily.
“She is friendly to humans, sociable and alert,” said Wan, adding that the pup is not scared of the dark or unfamiliar spaces, has a strong sense of smell and can quickly find hidden food.
