Cloning research. Slides containing cloned mouflon embryos. The mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon) is a rare type of wild sheep found on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. Cloned embryos are created by taking oocytes from the ovaries of domestic sheep (Ovis aries), and replacing their nuclear material with that from mouflon body (somatic) cells. The resulting cloned oocyte is cultured to the blastocyst embryo stage before being implanted into a foster sheep for pregnancy. The first cloned mouflon was born by this method in October 2000 at the University of Teramo in Italy. Cloning technology could help to conserve the endangered mouflon.