Hard Science, Soft Stories

Abstract

In 2020 and 2023, two endangered takhi horses were successfully cloned from cells of a takhi stallion that had been cryopreserved in the San Diego Zoo’s tissue biobank, known as the Frozen Zoo, in 1980. These two takhi, named Kurt and Ollie, have been heralded as linchpins of genetic diversity for their species, which has suffered a severe genetic bottleneck since being forcibly removed from their Mongolian homelands during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Press releases, articles, and images depicting these foals focus on cloning as a new technology for pursuing genetic diversity and rewilding goals, while simultaneously recapitulating colonial narratives and inscribing heteronormative family structures onto cloned takhi. This article argues that these storytelling strategies foreclose opportunities to craft feminist and anti-colonial cultural narratives for engaging the use of reproductive techno-science on behalf of biodiversity.