Research overview: embryo transfer in the African wildcat

The African wildcat, closely related to the domestic cat, has been a key species for demonstrating embryo transfer and related technologies in a wild felid. This overview surveys work in which African wildcat embryos, produced by in vitro fertilization or cloning, were transferred to domestic cat surrogates to produce live kittens. It reviews the compatibility between the two species that makes such transfers feasible and the integration of frozen sperm and embryos. The review connects this work to genome banking and to proof-of-concept demonstrations that wild felid genetics can be propagated through a domestic surrogate. Understanding African wildcat embryo transfer illustrates how a closely related model species enables conservation reproductive technology.