Woolly Mammoths: A Thing of the Past or the Future?

Article by Kayla Adames. Photo courtesy of Earth.com.

You may be seeing Manny from Ice Age on more than just your TV screen. Scientists across the globe are working to revive lost species, including the Woolly Mammoth. Studies have found that the Asian elephant is a 99.6% genetic match to the Woolly Mammoth. With a little bit of gene editing, scientists believe we can revive the 800,000 year old furry mammal. 

But what risks come with this? Given that the predators of this extinct species are also extinct, mammoths would have little to no competition in the wild. This means that one of two things could happen: the mammoth will be unrivaled in the wild or the mammoth would have to be held captive its whole life. Either way, the quality of life for the mammoth and the ecosystem of other animals around it would be negatively affected.

Is reviving the Woolly Mammoth and other extinct species good, bad or maybe not even worth trying? Only time will tell.

Kayla Adames is an 8th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge International School.