Harbin, China - A baby Arctic wolf clone is now on display in a Chinese zoo in the north-eastern city of Harbin.

The pup was created from skin cells of a wild Arctic wolf from Canada named Maya, and carried by a beagle surrogate, according to the Xinhua news agency on Thursday.

The 3-month-old wolf is healthy and living with its canine surrogate mother at the zoo called Polarland.

"Cloning technology is an effective way to protect gene diversity and to increase the population," said researcher Lai Liangxue of the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health.

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A second cloned Arctic wolf is expected soon.

Also known as the white wolf or polar wolf, the animal belongs to the canine family. The Arctic wolf is native to northern Canada and Greenland and is not an endangered species.

Cloning is a process that produces genetically identical individuals without genetic modification.