Tag: Rewilding

Rau quaggas
In a selective breeding program in South Africa, several plains zebras have been bred that strongly resemble the extinct quagga. The progress from one generation to the next is clearly visible: the adult animals have fewer stripes, while the foals already show the quagga’s characteristic brownish tones. (© Photograph by The Quagga Project, CC BY 4.0., CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Extinct animals scientists want to bring back to life

What if the thylacine once again roamed Tasmania’s forests and the dodo made Mauritius its home again? Cutting-edge science and modern technologies are making it possible to bring extinct animals back to life. Although extinction is a natural process, human activity has dramatically accelerated it over the past 500 years.

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Ectopistes migratorius Wandertaube
The passenger pigeon was once the most common bird in North America. Today, it exists only in historical records and museum samples. Now modern gene-editing technologies are supposed to help bring the species back. (© Hayashi and Toda (artists), Charles Otis Whitman (author)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Revival of the Passenger Pigeon: A Project by Revive & Restore

The passenger pigeon, once the most common bird in North America, has been extinct for more than a century. Now, biologists from the nonprofit organization Revive & Restore have set a goal to bring the species back using cutting-edge gene-editing technologies. Under the leadership of Ben Novak, efforts are underway

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Auerochse / Ur
This painting is a copy of the original, which was acquired from a dealer in Augsburg in the 19th century. The original likely dates back to the 16th century. It is unclear whether it depicts an aurochs, a cross between cattle and an aurochs, or an aurochs-like cattle breed. (© Charles Hamilton Smith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Return of the Aurochs as the Tauros: From Extinction Back to the Pastures

For nearly 400 years, the aurochs, or urus, the wild ancestor of all modern domesticated cattle, has been considered extinct. However, it may soon reappear in the form of the Tauros, its selectively bred successor, in the UK. According to a report by BBC Countryfile, there are plans to reintroduce

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Wiederansiedlung auf Palmyra: Guam-Liest
A Guam kingfisher from the conservation breeding program at the San Diego Zoo in the USA. (© Kjunstorm, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Guam kingfisher: Reintroduction to Palmyra after extinction in the wild

The Guam kingfisher, last seen in the wild in 1986, is now poised to return to nature. After successful breeding in captivity, it is planned to release the offspring of this nearly extinct bird species on Palmyra Atoll. This remote atoll, located about 1,600 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, offers a

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