The page lists supposedly rational reasons for wanting to do this but I think it's really just a romantic idea with no rational justification.<p>Introducing new species into ecosystems is always risky, whether or not they're extinct. No one knows what would happen if we start "resurrecting megafauna". No one can say if reintroducing Mammoths will have a positive, negative, or no affect at all on climate change. The idea that scientists can answer questions like that is wrong.<p>I'm all for conservation but this isn't that. This is "because it's there".
The sad fact is that woolly mammoths are gone. I mean you might be able to extract DNA and gestate it in an elephant or whatever but it won’t be a woolly mammoth, not a wild one anyway. Why? Because it won’t know what to do.<p>They’ve shown this when species are repopulated in an area. All the herd knowledge about where to migrate, where to find food, where to find water and so on is lost. It’s akin to a total loss of culture.<p>Just look at farmed salmon that escape into the wild. They don’t know to swim upstream to spawn.<p>Life just isn’t a stateless function of DNA.
The bioethics question of "should we" is an interesting intellectual exercise but in real life, of course we should bring back as many mega fauna as possible.<p>Biodiversity is the first reason that comes to mind; given the drastic rate of extinction of species, it should be an urgent priority to at least try to restore as many as possible. The more diversity in the animal and plant kingdoms, the more resilient the biosphere becomes.<p>What's more, it's likely that humans played a role in these animals' extinction, so it's only fitting that their descendants try to redress the situation.<p>Although the world has changed considerably since the Pleistocene and early Holocene (our current epoch), notably the recession of the last Ice Age, there are still parts of the planet that are suitable for cold-adapted mammals like woolly mammoths, woolly camels, and woolly rhinos.<p>I'm hoping someone can figure out how to revive Neanderthals, probably wiped out and/or absorbed by modern humans (possibly we ate a lot of them, actually). They had larger brains than modern humans and were much stronger. Possibly they would have a lot to contribute.
Practically speaking, is this the best time in history to revive a species that died out because of a warming client? This is like reinventing ice & inviting it to your pool party in the desert.
I feel like I've been reading about plans to reintroduce woolly mammoths for several years now. This link doesn't mention much in way of timetables or specifics. Is this turning into nuclear fusion or are we really making progress on this? What are the odds I'll get to see a live woolly mammoth in my lifetime?
Well, you could always give it a go on your own: <a href="https://shop.minimuseum.com/products/mammoth-meat" rel="nofollow">https://shop.minimuseum.com/products/mammoth-meat</a>
A small previous thread:<p><i>Woolly Mammoth Revival</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9322617" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9322617</a> - April 2015 (10 comments)
> a project in northern Siberia called “Pleistocene Park,” ... Zimov wants to add mammoths to the mix.<p>Having just finished reading Jurassic Park: "Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way."
I think this would be cool, but I can't see how reviving an cold-weather species in a warming climate is going to be an evolutionary success. Not to mention whatever other reasons they went extinct. I expect that this mammothy-elephant is going to essentially be a zoo piece, even if the "zoo" is a large part of the outdoors. Kind of like those game parks in the US that have African animals.
So, every year we loose a big number of species. And now one wants to reintroduce a single new one ? Shouldn't it be better to deflect all the energy, money put into that project to actually protecting earth as it is ?
What a bad idea.<p>Our understanding of how genotypes and phenotypes are connected to each other is so sparse, we are like children who found dad's old revolver in one cupboard and a box of bullets in another.... We have no idea what will happen if we put them together. Probably be OK. Probably