"Extinction is forever" is a mantra of the conservation movement. But is it really forever? Over the past decade, the de-extinction of lost species-including the recent cloning of an extinct black-footed ferret-has captured the imaginations of specialists and the public alike. Reviving other species, like woolly mammoths and passenger pigeons, may become possible through genetic technologies that involve integrating the DNA remnants from extinct species into the genome of a closely related living surrogate species. Supporters insist that de-extinction is not only about scientific challenge, but that, once rewilded, resurrected species could help restore ecosystems and meet conservation goals.105 What remains unknown, however, is what might happen when revived species emerge from the laboratory: Will they fit, and function, in habitats from which they have been absent, often for a century or more? Will they be able to thrive, and if so, would that be a good thing? The ongoing de-extinction and rewilding of the giant tortoises of Floreana Island (Chelo-noidis niger) in the Galapagos archipelago offer lessons for future species revivals.
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