This strain was generated by integrating the mouse Col2a1 gene promoter-regulated codon-improved Cre recombinase (iCre) gene expression cassette into the mouse genome. This results in the conditional expression of iCre in chondrocytes, under the control of the Col2a1 promoter. When bred with mice containing a loxP site-flanked sequence, Cre recombinase-mediated deletion of the flanked sequence will occur specifically in chondrocytes in the offspring. Both homozygous and heterozygous H11-Col2a1-iCre mice are viable and fertile.