The Mammoth Cometh: NYT Magazine longread on bringing back extinct animals

[alfred russel]

it seems cool to bring back a mammoth or whatever, but it wouldn't be. We have elephants after all. The coolness of carrier pigeons is diminished by the reality of having actual pigeons - pigeons hardy enough not to go extinct.

Had carrier pigeons not gone extinct, no one would go to the zoo to see them. Bringing them back would just be a novelty act.

[Valmy]

First of all elephants are cool. Second of all Canada doesn't have any and if we do this soon the Yukon will be covered with herds of mammoths.

[alfred russel]

First of all elephants are cool. Second of all Canada doesn't have any and if we do this soon the Yukon will be covered with herds of mammoths.

Elephants are very cool. But I'd say two things:

-Current species are going extinct at an alarming pace because of habitat loss. Tossing in a new species is going to make that problem worse. You may just be trading an extinct species for an extant one.
-The species went extinct for a reason. Why would you think it could survive now?

[Valmy]

I am obviously kidding

The whole point to bring back species is for a later time when habitat is recovered. Once we 3-D print all of our food and abandon the farms.

[Admiral Yi]

Fredo has a bias against hairy species.

[Eddie Teach]

-The species went extinct for a reason. Why would you think it could survive now?

Humans protecting them instead of hunting them.

[saskganesh]

Birds are dinosaurs. No need to bring back T-Rex. It's covered.

[viper37]

Birds are dinosaurs. No need to bring back T-Rex. It's covered.

you got to admit, a velociraptor is way cooler than a turkey.  Well, the fake ones, at least.  The real ones might be on the smallish side of things.

[Grinning_Colossus]

Elephants are very cool. But I'd say two things:

-Current species are going extinct at an alarming pace because of habitat loss. Tossing in a new species is going to make that problem worse. You may just be trading an extinct species for an extant one.
-The species went extinct for a reason. Why would you think it could survive now?

Tossing in an old species might make the situation better. We don't know much about the ecological role of mammoths in boreal forests. Maybe they were doing something that was beneficial to the ecosystem as a whole, and bringing them back would actually help existing species.

[LaCroix]

if the planet survived without them, then they aren't necessary. I doubt a lot of animals are necessary

[grumbler]

if the planet survived without them, then they aren't necessary. I doubt a lot of animals are necessary

  Planets survive with no life at all.  Your assertion here is a vacuous truth.

[11B4V]

It's an incredibly long read, so I won't post it here.

Really interesting though.

Good. I need something to hunt with the 375.

[Ed Anger]

Gun nut.

[viper37]

if the planet survived without them, then they aren't necessary. I doubt a lot of animals are necessary

the planet could survive without humans, ergo, we should do our best to kill all humans?