Bringing back the Wooly Mammoth

[Wing Commander MAD]

You know, this is probably cultural difference (NRA propaganda and prevalence of guns in USA resulted in need to justify reason for gun owning, leading to hunting/poaching being seen as okay and 'shoot them pesky varmint' as being reasonable solution, even when done by ignorant people attributing damage to wrong animal) but in Poland, wolves and lynxes, while sometimes seen by farmers as destructive are subject to complete and total hunting ban, shooting them being possible only after agreement of local environment conservation officer and general environment directorate in capital. Farmers are only allowed to use passive defences (fences, dogs, etc) with state paying compensation for eaten animals if wolves do attack cattle - and the attitudes are shifting as people are realizing that wild animals generally don't like to come into conflict with human interests unless forced to and wildlife can in fact generate more money for farmers if not ruthlessly and mindlessly exterminated.

No said attitude predates the NRA, by quite a bit. It easily goes back to the time when areas were first settled by Europeans and losing livestock could be a very real threat to your survival. Keep in mind that this was before many of the predators were exterminated. Broomstick, Alyrium Denryle, or Ziggy Stardust might know more, but the whole idea introducing predators back into areas where they were previously exterminated and compensating for losses caused by them is probably a very modern thing, at least in the United States. I'd not be surprised if any large scale attempts at it were not made until well into the 20th century, and thus having a good bit of cultural inertia to overcome. I also wouldn't be surprised if the state/federal government did everything in their power to avoid payouts, even in relatively clear cut cases. Combine those problems with attitudes of self-reliance and distrust of government (some of it well deserved) that are going to be more prevalent in rural populations, and you have quite a hurdle to overcome. It can be done, but expect setbacks, potential lack of public support, and greater expenditures of time and resources than planned. It is, however, still a worthwhile and worthy endeavor to undertake in my eyes.

[Broomstick]

I'd not be surprised if any large scale attempts at it were not made until well into the 20th century, and thus having a good bit of cultural inertia to overcome.

^ I'd say this was spot on. Bounties for "vermin" used to be common up until the early 20th Century. People who in childhood or young adulthood used to earn extra cash from bounties were then asked to protect what they were once encouraged to kill.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the state/federal government did everything in their power to avoid payouts, even in relatively clear cut cases.

Debatable. Some camps say the States/Feds pay out too easily, "wasting" taxpayer money. Others, of course, say they don't pay out readily enough.

It is, however, still a worthwhile and worthy endeavor to undertake in my eyes.

I feel the same, personally.

[Vehrec]

National Geographic is running an article on this for April, so look out for that, it might contain some new details. For one, they are talking about creating passenger pigeon stem cells, instead of eggs, then injecting them into rock pigeon embryos so they will form a chimera with cells of both species-especially in the gametes. Then you breed the chimera pigeons together-and about 1/4 of the offspring should look and preen and strut like the Passenger pigeon.

One species I'd like to see brought back would be the Pinta Island Tortoise-Lonesome George's species. Although no females were ever found we do seem to have ample genetic material to work with, and the return of the tortoises would greatly improve the habitat of the island's native birds.

[Erik von Nein]

The only problem reviving species is that you'll likely never have them with the same behaviors. Any learned mechanisms are completely lost, and if those involve mating rituals then they're long term survival could be really suspect.

[Darth Klingon]

I don't think we can bring back an entire population of Wooly Mammoths, even if we can make a clone out of a frozen body. Suppose we clone a Wooly Mammoth, the best case scenario is that it'll reproduce with an elephant, and we'll end up with a sterile hybrid.

[CaptainChewbacca]

If you can synthesize wooly mammoth DNA in varying combination you can start to use that to inseminate elephants and/or breed more true mammoths.

I've been following the 'clone the mammoth' story ever since I was ten, and I've told my fiancé that the day after they announce that its been born I will be on a plane to wherever it is to see it. I have savings set aside to finance the trip.

[Nitrophage]

It would certainly be interesting, though I'm guessing "For shits and giggles" is not a widely recognised reason in the scientific community for conducting an experiment. Mind you, beneath the surface I'm guessing it's a very common motivation indeed.