Resurrection biology: Do we have the right to bring back certain species from the dead?

Scientists believe we may be a decade away from bringing back extinct species. But why not use this technology to save today’s struggling ecosystems and habitats, asks Ashley Coates

The great auk has been extinct since 1840 when locals stoned the last few to death (Rex)

Few people enjoying a walk on Scotland’s coast today know that it is missing a fascinating animal: a charismatic, large, flightless seabird that is Britain’s very own dodo. In July 1840, Britain’s last great auks were killed on the island of St Kilda. Having been captured alive, the islanders decided the birds were witches that had brought on a storm and they were promptly stoned to death.

The demise of the auk is one of the saddest episodes in the history of our interactions with nature. The auks went from flocks of millions to a single breeding pair, caught by Icelandic fishermen in June 1844, when the very last egg was accidentally crushed in the effort to capture and kill the adults. Our guilt over the violent end of such an impressive species is one of the reasons the auks are a candidate for de-extinction, and why de-extinction has such a strong appeal in general.

The idea of bringing back any species from the dead elicits reactions of excitement at the chance to see live animals we thought we had lost forever and perhaps the opportunity to right the wrongs inflicted by mankind on the natural world. Having caused the demise of these animals ourselves, usually through hunting or habitat loss, surely it is our duty to restore them and in-so-doing the ecosystems they used to inhabit?