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Comment by ars | Hacker News Reader

That's an awesome story!

Initially I didn't like the genetic bottleneck created by just having one pair (i.e. that they should go back and get more now that they know how to care for them, perhaps as a swap) - but then I realized the original source on the island was probably a single individual, so they are all probably virtually clones anyway.

Once they have enough they should sell some - tons of people would be delighted to keep them as pets, and it would remove the risk of having them in just one location.

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To expand on another reply, it would probably not be a good idea to market these as pets. As soon as people start keeping a species in a terrarium in their home, some of them will escape. They might be fragile and die, but they might also cause massive problems for native insect populations.

Now, marketing them as pets to residents of Lord Howe Island might be a good way to get them to accept repopulation...

> Initially I didn't like the genetic bottleneck created by just having one pair (i.e. that they should go back and get more now that they know how to care for them, perhaps as a swap) - but then I realized the original source on the island was probably a single individual, so they are all probably virtually clones anyway.

That's probably a problem when trying to save any endangered species. Given the challenges (and time investment) of animal husbandry, I'm surprised that cloning of endangered series is not more common. Even if the clones are genetically identical, at least they buy you some more time to save them.

Clones are generally very fragile beings. They die soon. Also, they're not that easy to make - a whole process has to be discovered for each species. It's very, very time consuming and expensive.

Four of them were taken from the island, two died. The other two were used to breed. It's in the article below the 6th image.

I know, I read that. Why are you repeating it? Was something I wrote unclear?

As per my understanding, what he is trying to say is, even if people gets ready to keep them as pets, very few might be able to survive in outer world.

Unless they become an invasive species somewhere else. Though if rats like to eat them, that bodes ill for them.

Wasn't the point that they died from malnutrition? That's what I gathered from the second female almost dying, until it was fed a mixture rich in calcium.

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