Extinction used to mean game over, but not anymore. Thanks to cloning, gene editing, and some serious scientific wizardry, scientists are working to bring back animals that haven’t walked the Earth in centuries—or even millennia. From giant woolly beasts to birds that disappeared before we had cameras, these are the 10 extinct animals that may make a comeback.
1. Woolly Mammoth
If there’s one extinct animal you’ve heard about scientists trying to bring back, it’s this shaggy, tusked behemoth. Using DNA from frozen mammoths, scientists are working to create an elephant-mammoth hybrid that could help restore Arctic ecosystems. Imagine seeing one of these walking around Alaska.
2. Dodo
This goofy, flightless bird vanished in the 1600s when sailors and invasive species ate them into extinction. Now, scientists have sequenced its DNA and are working to edit the genes of its closest living relative—the Nicobar pigeon—to bring the dodo back.
3. Tasmanian Tiger
The Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) was wiped out by humans in the 1930s, but its DNA is well-preserved. Scientists at Colossal Biosciences are using genetic engineering to recreate this wolf-like marsupial and bring it back to Australia’s forests.
4. Pyrenean Ibex
This wild goat went extinct in 2000, but in 2003, scientists cloned one back into existence, only for it to die minutes later. Now, with better cloning technology, they’re trying again. If successful, this would be the first species ever fully revived through cloning.
5. Passenger Pigeon
There were billions of these birds in the U.S. until humans hunted them to extinction in the 1900s. Scientists are now working to edit the DNA of modern pigeons to bring this species back and restore lost ecosystems.
6. Great Auk
The great auk was a large, flightless seabird that was hunted into extinction in the 1800s for its feathers. Now, with CRISPR gene editing, scientists are attempting to revive it by tweaking the DNA of its closest living relatives—the razorbills.
7. Cave Lion
Unlike modern lions, cave lions were huge and built for the Ice Age. Preserved fossils with well-preserved DNA have given scientists a shot at resurrecting this prehistoric predator and studying its role in ancient ecosystems.
8. Quagga
This rather odd-looking zebra subspecies was wiped out in the late 1800s, but geneticists have found a way to “back-breed” zebras to bring the quagga’s distinctive coat pattern and genes back. It’s already partially revived.
9. Stellar’s Sea Cow
Imagine a manatee—but twice the size. That was Stellar’s sea cow, a massive marine mammal that humans hunted to extinction in just 27 years. Scientists believe it could be brought back using DNA from preserved specimens and its closest relative, the dugong.
10. Moa
These towering, flightless birds were wiped out when humans first arrived in New Zealand. Scientists now have their full DNA sequence and are looking into ways to bring them back using gene-editing technology.
Should We Do This?
Bringing animals back from extinction sounds cool, but it also raises huge ethical and ecological questions. Where would they live? Would they even survive? While some scientists think it’s a bad idea, others believe it could restore lost ecosystems and even help combat climate change. One thing’s for sure though—the age of de-extinction is just getting started.
