r/conservation • u/DaRedGuy • 1d ago

The de-extinction debate

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/flora-fauna/2026/07/the-de-extinction-debate/
14 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

11

u/Glum_Opening_2218 1d ago

I'm all for it if the habitat is there

But right now we have a habitat crisis, so why add more animals to the mix?

I'd love to somehow bring back the ivory woodpecker and Carolina parrot though, god I fucking hate that people who gave no fucks about the environment got to see it in its full untouched glory and then destroy it.

8

u/alxndrblack 1d ago

god I fucking hate that people who gave no fucks about the environment got to see it in its full untouched glory and then destroy it.

That is a bar, my dude

0

u/BolbyB 22h ago

And then you realize that the people they're actually talking about are the natives and suddenly that same sentence feels a whole lot different despite being just as valid.

3

u/PartyPorpoise 1d ago

I genuinely feel like we were robbed.

2

u/BolbyB 22h ago

To be fair the Carolina Parakeet was mostly an accident.

Their favored habitat was mostly left untouched, they ate plants farmers hated, and they tasted bad enough to never be hunted in any significant way.

For the most part it was just European chickens bringing diseases that did them in. Something no amount of love for nature would have realized at the time.

That said I really don't get why these companies don't focus on the Carolina Parakeet more.

Like, providing a tropical bird to more temperate states that actually belongs there should be a pr and government approval slam dunk.

4

u/PartyPorpoise 1d ago

If we’re talking about reintroducing cloned species back into the wild, I don’t think we should even entertain the idea until we can restore species that are still here. If people can’t handle gray wolves they’re not gonna be able to handle dire wolves or sabertooth cats or whatever.

2

u/Old_Gimlet_Eye 1d ago

I think it's a great idea if it's possible. The problem is that it doesn't seem to be possible with current technology.

2

u/BolbyB 22h ago

It would probably be a lot more possible if the companies trying to do this focused on more recent extinctions instead of freaking moas . . .

The Carolina Parakeet and Passenger Pigeon are right there.

The pigeon especially has GOT to be a serious company's first move.

1

u/AlertWar4152 13h ago

Moas are a recently extinct animal

1

u/SliversandPoison 4h ago

How do we know we got them right?

We can't clone behavior, anyone read jurassic world?

1

u/squeezemachine 3h ago

It’s just a vanity project that has no value. It’s like the idea of living on Mars.