Well, really not that dire, at least in the conventional use of the term. What it is, is a good piece of corporate PR that serves up an interesting dish of ethics.
What I’m referring to is the announcement from Colossal Biosciences that they have ‘de-extincted’ the Dire Wolf. Yes, the caps are there for a reason, mostly to point out that I am referring to the species. For background on this, I will refer you to Leslie Eastman’s very good piece at Legal Insurrection.
Those of you who have read me for a while know I like and respect wolves, and did a small bit of volunteer work at Wolf Park (a wolf research and educational facility). In fact, got to spend some time with the founder, among others. Very much grateful for the time there, and the chance to actually work with/get to know some of the wolves.
I’m going to echo Leslie a bit here, and will simply state that this is overblown. It may be a step towards bringing the species back from extinction, but it is an early step that to my mind is no where near close. Got to agree with Leslie, if you want to bring them back you have to do the following:
1) The entire genetic sequence is from actual dire wolves;
2) The breed on their own; and,
3) They can thrive in the wild.
What they have done on certain levels is create a new wolf-dog hybrid. Admittedly, depending on how they did it, one could argue a wolf-direwolf hybrid, but the effect is the same. They have also created several ethics debates, of which I will approach only a couple of points.
First, it will be interesting to see what becomes of all the pups as they mature. Given all, I don’t expect the normal wolf mortality (roughly 90 percent of wolf pups don’t make it to one year of age if I’m remembering correctly) to be a factor; but, this is uncharted territory and there may be some issues that come up.
So, let’s be optimistic and say normal puppyhood. Seeing how they mature and how they behave as they mature will be interesting. The behavior traits will be most interesting. One of the reasons I used the wolf-dog hybrid analogy above is because it is always a crapshoot as to what behaviors you get in true wolf-dog hybrids.
Side note: quite a few wolf-dog hybrids are not. They are standard dog-dog interbreeds using dogs that look like most people thing wolves look. Lots of what I consider fraud there. When it truly is a wolf-dog hybrid, things get interesting.
One of the big problems, according to someone I used to know who testified as an expert witness in trials regarding wolf-dog hybrids, is that you really don’t know what range of behaviors you are going to get. Sometimes you get friendly and even obedient; and, sometimes you get that really not-so-nice-and-friendly behavior. Most tend to go middle, but that is a lot of ground and frankly a good bit of it is not something you want running around free in the neighborhood.
Which is where I have some issues with Colossus. They talk in the PR piece about re-introducing Dire Wolves into the world to help re-balance nature. Frankly, we are a lot better off (IMO) doing what we are doing with grey wolf populations right now. If you didn’t know, the re-introduction into Yellowstone has had some amazing benefits: deforestation blamed on acid rain turned out to be no such thing, but overgrazing by wildlife, net result forests are healthier (and that’s not the only example); wildlife herds are stronger and healthier; there have been improvements to waterways and the water systems; and, there is more.
Even with this, there are problems when you re-introduce into other, public, ranges. Yes, wolves will hunt the easiest prey, which can mean cattle and other domestic animals. There are other issues, and a lot of prejudice on both major sides of the re-introduction debate.
Thing is, grey wolves are a species of this time, with behaviors/ethology that has been studied and of which there is a reasonable (not complete) understanding. Re-introducing a species that sees (saw) humans as prey is not something I would consider a good idea unless you did so at government centers and agencies.
By the way, healthy wolves don’t see us as prey. I caveat that as sick wolves (including those with brain tumors and such) will attack humans but rarely do they decide to hunt adult humans. Children, especially infants/toddlers, well, easy prey and the latter make movements reminiscent of wounded prey, so…
Generally, unless sick or starving, wolves like to stay about a mile from us. The proper term is flight distance, as in they want to be able to turn and run away from us if we get too close. Now, they are curious creatures (and sometimes too intelligent when it comes to gate latches) and will get closer to check us out — provided they can stay under cover and get away quickly at need. It’s one reason they will creep up on camps and houses at night, when we are not moving about.
Question is: is that a trait that will be present in these pups or any future true Dire Wolf revival?
Now, a few other quick questions: Is it right and ethical to release a revived Dire Wolf into the wild? Is it right and ethical to bring back a species knowing it’s former range no longer exists and they will be in either a constrained area or in effectively zoos and similar facilities? Is it right and proper to try to force them to fit into a new niche?
These are just a few of the ethical (and moral) questions that abound right now. In most respects, my take right now lies somewhere between Sam Neill’s and Jeff Goldblum’s characters in Jurassic Park. I will also admit that knowing George RR Martin is in any way involved concerns me as he is a very reliable 180 indicator. If he is for something, thinks it’s great, etc., you need to head away from it at speed.
What is being done, and most especially WILL be done needs a lot of thought and consideration. I’ve got serious concerns even with this from a behavioral standpoint, much less others.
Thing is, we should have time to explore the ethical and moral issues as while this may be an early precursor step to restoring the Dire Wolf or any species, it is just that: an early precursor step. I hope time will be taken to explore the questions and develop a sound ethical and moral framework for such things. Given all, doubt it will but we can hope.
Meantime, we have some unique hybrids to study and hopefully learn from. And, I have to agree with Leslie, the howls are cute.
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I have real issues with them doing this . Where does it end ?