While much time and energy has been depleted discussing how it would be accomplished and which species would serve as practical candidates for de-extinction, there has been little talk about how species would be reintroduced into the wild, or if it even has a place anymore. If an ecosystem has been altered significantly since a species went extinct, a reintroduced species could wreak havoc on existing species. De-extinct species would be alien and potentially invasive when introduced to their primitive terrans, resulting in further devastation to already crumbling ecosystems. Both old habitats and food sources have changed in their absence; therefore de-extinct species’ roles in these ecosystems have transformed as well. Passenger pigeons, which are a primary candidate for de-extinction, served as a keystone species and major food source for carnivores including foxes, lynx, raccoons, marten and mink, falcons, and hawks in North America during early 1800s (The Passenger Pigeon, Craig Kasnoff, 2017). Sadly, these beautiful birds were reduced to their last individual Martha who died in 1914- more than a century passing since their total demise. The environment has learned to exist without them, as this is more than a substantial amount of time for its natural environment to adapt to new resources in their absence. The truth of the matter is, the passenger pigeon’s homeland will be unrecognizable- the environment does not need passenger pigeons anymore, yet de-extinction would mean reintroducing them to a new world that does not need them. Some scientists suggest the use of self-contained mini ecosystems to gage how a resurrected species might interact with existing ones. This would be conducted under extremely controlled conditions where scientists can predict the safety to reintroducing the species to the target environment. However this would unfortunately only provide a broad estimate, and under the unpredictability and utter harshness of the natural world we cannot predict exactly what will happen when we release these hybrids to the delicate fabrication of the wild. If these new, genetically modified birds become invasive to U.S. lands, the damage will be irreversible. There are no “maybes” to such a precise decision, it either must be executed correctly and just, or not until we have concrete evidence of the benefits de-extinction holds first.
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