Mammoth Mission: Can De-Extinction Save Our Planet?

The idea of bringing back extinct creatures may sound like science fiction, but a Texas-based company called Colossal is aiming to make it a reality. With over £185 million in funding, they're on a mission to resurrect the woolly mammoth by 2028, or perhaps even sooner.

"I think we're closer to de-extinction than the general public thinks," says Ben Lamm, Colossal's CEO and co-founder. While the idea of bringing back dinosaurs might be too fantastical, Lamm believes reviving extinct species could be a vital tool in combating climate change.

Colossal's efforts extend beyond de-extinction. They are also working to rewild landscapes by reintroducing endangered species like African forest elephants, American bison, grey wolves, and sea otters. This "rewilding" project, alongside their de-extinction research, aims to bolster biodiversity and boost natural carbon capture and storage.

"We believe de-extinction and species preservation go hand in hand," says Lamm.

A 2023 study published in the Nature Climate Change journal highlights the potential of rewilding. The study suggests that restoring nine key species to their natural habitats could significantly enhance carbon capture and storage, potentially helping us stay within the 1.5C warming limit set by the Paris Agreement.

Colossal is partnering with organisations like Re:wild and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to achieve their ambitious goals. They believe that rewilding can help us harness nature's power to combat climate change, a concept that aligns with the increasing emphasis on nature-based solutions for environmental challenges.

"I think we've got to figure out new technologies, cleaner technologies, but we've also got to figure out ways that we can leverage technology to empower nature to do what it was already designed to do better than we're going to do through technology," says Lamm.

But can bringing back the woolly mammoth truly contribute to nature restoration? The theory is that reintroducing these ancient herbivores to the Arctic tundra could help revive the grassy steppe ecosystem that existed during the Ice Age.

"Some ecosystems like the tundra need this herbivore boost," says Lamm. Woolly mammoths could graze the land, helping to scrape away snow, compact ice, and fertilise the soil, promoting grass growth and slowing permafrost melt.

"We’ve seen certain models like in Pleistocene Park where the right density of herbivores can lead to a nitrogen-oxygen cycle that starts to replenish those grasslands," Lamm continues, referencing the nature reserve in Russia that is attempting to recreate the mammoth steppe.

While the potential benefits of rewilding are significant, critics raise important ecological and ethical concerns. Will existing habitats be able to support these reintroduced species? What will be the impact on current inhabitants of these landscapes? And could this funding be better allocated to existing conservation efforts?

Colossal is not simply aiming to resurrect woolly mammoths directly. Instead, they are working on creating a hybrid species, incorporating woolly mammoth DNA into an Asian elephant. This would create a cold-adapted elephant with many of the characteristics of its extinct ancestor.

While the first mammoth-elephant hybrids may be born soon, their reintroduction into the wild is not a simple task. Colossal understands that a careful and measured approach is essential.

"It’s not like we go make 1,000 animals and open the gates and cross our fingers and hope it works," says Lamm. "Rewilding goes through a very detailed, measured, stage gated plan, where you move from a facility to a larger enclosed facility to an expansive preserve and beyond until you get to the wild. Those plans will take just as long as the engineering of the animals themselves - maybe in some cases more.”

Colossal has also published a peer-reviewed feasibility and impact study exploring the potential ecological effects of reintroducing mammoths to the Arctic. The study considers factors like the number of mammoths that could be reintroduced and their ideal habitat.

Colossal also emphasizes that their research has direct benefits for existing species. They have recently developed a vaccine for EEHV, a deadly herpesvirus that affects elephants in zoos and the wild. This breakthrough, made possible by their de-extinction research, could significantly reduce elephant mortality.

"That's pretty awesome," says Lamm, who notes that Colossal shares all of its conservation technologies with the world for free. Their research has the potential to also benefit other critically endangered species, such as the northern white rhinoceros and the vaquita porpoise.

Some critics argue that de-extinction could lead to a complacency about the ongoing biodiversity crisis. They worry that the possibility of bringing back extinct species could diminish the urgency of addressing the root causes of species loss, like habitat destruction and climate change.

Lamm disagrees, arguing that Colossal's work actually encourages people to care more about nature. He believes that de-extinction technology has a "halo effect" that raises awareness and interest in conservation efforts.

"I don’t think that de-extinction technologies and species preservation will change people's belief in love and affection for nature. I think it'll do exactly the opposite," he says. "I think it will increase people's connection with nature and [help them] recognise that we, as humanity, have technologies that we can develop to undo some of the sins of the past that other generations and we are also contributing to."

While de-extinction might not be a solution for every lost species, it could play a valuable role in restoring specific ecosystems and reversing the negative impacts of human activities. Colossal's research and its potential for conservation are capturing global attention, sparking conversations about the future of our planet and the responsibility we have to protect it.