Sacre Bleu - no more coqs!
Posted on 11/07/2004 6:53:52 PM PST by ijcr
Scientists have taken action to save France's feathered national emblem, le coq gaulois, by cryogenically preserving the endangered cockerel's sperm.
Panic set in when it was disclosed that only 200 individuals remained, mostly owned by amateur breeders.
The brightly coloured cockerel, one of France's oldest native animal species, is synonymous with French fighting spirit – at times arrogance – and is famously unleashed on to the football pitch before games involving the national side. Due to a semantic crossover, the Latin word gallus means both cockerel and Gaul and it has come to stand as a symbol of France's distant ancestors.
Scientists at the national agronomic research institute, Inra, have spent two years on a bird hunt for the last surviving individuals from the dying breed.
They concluded that the safest way to avert its extinction was to create a "brave new bird world" by preserving the cockerel's genetic heritage using the latest cryogenic technology.
"We took their eggs, vaccinated them, then brought up the chicks," said Elisabeth Blesbois, a scientist at Inra.
"Then we removed their sperm and froze it at minus 196 degrees," she added.
"We can now reconstitute the bird line if it encounters problems, such as an epidemic. By successive cross-breeding with regular hens, we can bring the race back from the brink in just a few years."
Now that the cryogenic techniques have improved, the scientists intend to preserve specimens of all endangered species this way.
Beside its symbolic qualities, the French cockerel is sought after for its brilliant red and gold plumage. But connoisseurs say its taste is disappointing.
I say we Kentucky fry them all.
Whew! When I saw the headline I thought this was a post about arafat!
Just like a certain Frenchlike Senator. Leave it to the French to pick a loser that looks good.
"French fighting spirit"
Hahahahahahahahaha....
No wonder the bird is endangered. The French surrender too much!
I thought the French national animal WAS a chicken. Hmmm will wonders never cease.
Well, hell, that died out centuries ago - amazing the damn bird's hung on this long...
Does it come with a white flag?
The taste of French Cockerel is disappointing...........
Try bathing first.
The French national bird is a chicken????
Leave it to the French to have a CHICKEN for a national symbol.
Sacre Bleu - no more coqs!
A chicken that is dying out.
This chicken is not a species, but a breed or variety. It is much easier just to breed some of them than to do this frozen-sperm trick, which still requires a whole breeding program later to try (approximately) to recover the breed.
Perhaps this is symbolic of today's France that no one worried about this national symbol until now. No one cares for a symbol which is no longer appropriate.
Of course, the cockerel is a roster, a male chicken of this special breed. I bet some of you out there are thinking, "chicken, how appropriate." But it was a brave symbol, let us grant that to the France of the past, the past before the Revolution.
I suggest that today a better French symbol is not the frog, not even the snail, but the SLUG.
It's synonymous with the French fighting spirit, and almost extinct.
Yep.
And here I thought this thread was about the buzzard, Arafat.
Thats no coq, it's a capon.
Just like every other french "male".
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