Dr Alice Clark, conservation scientist at Nature’s SAFE, said: “Around 18,000 animal species worldwide are formally recognised as being at risk of extinction – the real number is likely higher.
“By banking living cells and working with managed breeding programmes, Nature’s SAFE aims to give conservationists a vital tool to restore genetic diversity in dwindling animal populations, improving their health, resilience to climate change, and chances of long-term survival.”
The charity works with more than 90 zoos, wildlife parks, and rescue centres across the UK to capture samples from species at risk, using advanced cryopreservation techniques to preserve cell structure and viability for future use.
To date, the charity has preserved samples from more than 350 different species of mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians, birds, and coral, including the Sumatran tiger, the ring-tailed lemur, and the Eurasian red squirrel.