The earth is currently suffering the greatest loss of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Despite the best efforts to preserve their environment, at least 30% of all land, fresh-water and marine animals will go extinct within the next fifty years. Increases in human population are leading to habitat destruction caused by, amongst other things, the need for agricultural land, over-fishing and the acidification of the oceans. These changes are well documented by the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and The Royal Society.

The Frozen Ark was set up in response to this crisis.

The idea of the Frozen Ark is simple - to save samples of frozen cells from endangered animals. Almost all cells carry a complete blueprint of the animal, stored in its DNA. Unless we save this information now, it will be lost forever.

This is not an alternative to preserving amimals in their natural environment or keeping them in zoos, but a crucially important extra insurance.

Only very tiny samples are needed. They are taken without any pain. Once frozen, cells can be stored safely at very low temperatures for hundreds of years in very little space. Ten million samples could be kept within the volume of a small house.

If they are frozen under the right conditions, many cells can be revived and regrown. Recent developments in molecular biology mean that animals could be recreated from these cells in the future.

The frozen samples can also help currently endangered species who have not yet gone extinct to stay healthy.

The Frozen Ark has established a group of twenty major zoos, aquaria, museums and research institutions who share our aims located in eight countries around the world.