Look beneath the viral direwolf story. It’s about human entertainment, not animal conservation

Not all science fiction should become reality. De-extinction is an idea popularised by Jurassic Park. What those racing full steam ahead with ‘resurrecting’ extinct species ignore is how that story ended. Yes, technologies like CRISPR and AI have made ‘revival of the dead’ possible. Yes, there is big money in this. Colossal Biosciences, which has electrified the internet with the ‘world’s first successfully de-extincted animal’, has a $10bn valuation. But its claims are as dodgy as its ethics.

The three direwolf pups it has ‘grown’ are not genetically identical to the species that died out 12,500 years ago. One tooth fossil, one skull fossil and extant gray wolves were mixed to make a ‘functional’ copy. This is speciesism at its worst. A van Gogh and its reprints are not interchangeable, but an ancient living creature and a brand new, man-made hybrid are? No, they aren’t. Woolly mammoth, dodo and tasmanian tiger are also on the de-extinction to-do list. Think about how this selection is being done. It’s sort of how people make more cat videos because cat videos are super popular – not because those people necessarily love cats. Countless species and their habitats are gone, too many of them by ruthless acts of homo sapiens. But billions of dollars are only being put into bringing ‘charismatic megafauna’ back. This is staggering narcissism and hubris. It’s not about helping biodiversity at all, but only about entertainment and profits.

There are more tigers in captivity in Texas than in the wild worldwide, experts estimate. They are kept in backyards, basements, theme parks, private zoos. The three pups – one named Khaleesi after Game of Thrones which made the world fall in awe of (fictional) direwolves – are said to be enjoying a Ritz Carlton lifestyle. That’s the opposite of conservation. Saying we can bring back any extinct species we fancy, gives us cover while driving those that exist to extinction.

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This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.

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