The damages inflicted by biological extinction left us with a deep pain that appeared irremediable. However, in recent years, the possibility has been broached that something can be done, but at what cost? Species negatively introduced in past decades by humans have lead to the widespread loss of habitat and the killing of large numbers of endemic species. In fact, “invasive species have contributed directly to the decline of 42% of the threatened and endangered species in the United States. The annual cost to the United States economy is estimated at $120 billion a year… with the annual cost of impacts and control efforts equaling five percent of the world’s economy” (Impacts of Invasive Species, 2017). The purpose of de-extinction is a tool to bring back genetically-similar animals that went extinct to help balance the loss of the original species to ecosystems. Invasive species are problematic pests that use up resources which native species then must directly compete against; therefore we should only be introducing new species if they do not negatively influence the niches of co-existing species.
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