The time for wolves is DIRE!

News spread this week about the de-extinction of a dire wolf. Dire wolves went extinct in the wild over 10,000 years ago. They are still extinct. Some wolves, however, have been rescued from the brink of extinction. Sadly, none from extinction.

The so-called dire wolf pups are genetically modified wolves. Let's talk implications. Wolves have been brought to the brink of extinction many times. Many wolf species are currently threatened or endangered. Tragically, just days ago, a Mexican gray wolf 2996, named Ella, was found dead in New Mexico. Are we equipped to handle another Canis species? It is dangerous to resurect extinct species, even though we'd love for them to be back in our world. But these are not genetically dire wolves, and if they were, their niche doesn't exist anymore. These two young wolf pups will most likely live and die in captivity, but should they be released or escape into the wild, they risk disprupting an ecosystem and mating. Hybridizing with another wolf species, a coyote, or a dog would create another Canis subspecies. It is difficult now to protect our wolf species -- Imagine if another subspecies further disprupts our living, essential wolf populations. It would greatly threaten ecological balance!

Let's talk ethics. That brings us all back to Jurassic Park and Dr. Ian Malcolm, one of my all-time favorite characters. "Life finds a way." "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." "Life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expenads new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously." Is is right to resurrect a species so that it can live and die in captivity? And if not what is their future? These adorable little pups are a vanity project that could have implications beyond our control.