Almost 99.9% of all animals in the history of the planet have gone extinct, an extremely high statistic given the fact that there are around 2.16 million different species currently living on Earth. Throughout history, animals have gone extinct for many different reasons, some natural, and some man-made.
Scientists have been trying to bring back extinct species for years, however it’s a controversial topic. The discussion is mainly centered on how natural these “de-extinct” animals are, and whether they’re a threat to our environment. This question is exactly what the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is debating.
In the past, scientists have successfully revived three wolves that represent the dire wolf, named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi. The IUCN has voted to call a moratorium on whether the experiments should be allowed to carry on. A moratorium is a temporary ban on their work, which the scientists in charge of de-extinction find frustrating. The moratorium will not be permanent, just in place until a formal vote from the IUCN is passed, says The Washington Post.
There are also plans to try and bring back the woolly mammoth and the dodo bird, according to The Telegraph and The Austin American-Statesman respectively, which are both species that went extinct thousands of years ago. Some are also interested in the idea of dinosaurs roaming the Earth again, which has mixed views. Some think it would be interesting to see and would make great advancements in science, while others believe it would be a threat to our world.
De-extinction is an interesting idea. Animals are going extinct rapidly in this day and age, and the ability to bring them back would be greatly helpful, but we don’t know what the cost is. It’s very unclear if these animals are normal or natural compared to the other animals in the world. Maybe they aren’t, and they’re simply lab grown animals that aren’t meant to be alive. All that can be done is to simply wait and see what will happen with the revival of these animals.
