World's longest-living cloned goat celebrates 15th birthday

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Yang Yang was one of the first goats to be successfully cloned in China
Celebrity doe celebrated her birthday at a breeding centre on Monday
She is now the proud great-great-grandmother to a five-generation family
Chinese TV station claims she's the world's longest-living cloned goat

Published: 10:36 EST, 24 June 2015 | Updated: 11:29 EST, 24 June 2015

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It's the year of the Goat in China and nobody is celebrating more happily than Yang Yang, the world's longest-living cloned goat.

On Monday, the celebrity doe celebrated her 15th birthday at the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Shaanxi province, where she currently lives.

Born in 2000, Yang Yang was one of China's first successfully cloned goats and is now the proud great-great-grandmother to a five-generation family, reported People's Daily Online.

Birthday girl: The world's 'longest-living' cloned goat, Yang Yang, celebrated her 15th birthday on Monday

Celebrating in style: Yang Yang wore a tinsel wreath on her 15th birthday at the university's breeding base

Most regular goats only have a lifespan of between 16 to 18 years, so Yang Yang is well into her senior years.

However, although she wore a wreath to mark the occasion, it is unlikely that the birthday girl will be celebrating with cake.

As according to her keeper, Yang Yang's old age is causing her to have a lack of appetite and look a little listless.

Nevertheless she is still going strong and scientists say that she is fed and can reproduce in the same way as an ordinary goat.

Yang Yang was the second goat to be cloned from somatic cells at the university's breeding base, after the first cloned goat in China, Yuan Yuan, died from a respiratory failure just 36 hours after she was born.

According to China Central Television Station, she's the longest-living cloned goat in the world.

As a kid: Yang Yang is one of China's first successfully cloned goats to be created from somatic cells

Golden years: However, Yang Yang's keeper says that the goat has a lack of appetite due to her old age

Health defects are common in cloned animals, meaning that they are more susceptible to diseases and early deaths.

This was demonstrated by Dolly the sheep, who, after developing a progressive lung disease, died at six years old, with a lifespan half as long as an un-cloned sheep.

However, by using new techniques, scientists in China are hoping to overcome this by using cloning to help protect endangered species.