Is There Life After Death? Yes, Ma'am. Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You

Traffic Alert:   Two pterodactyls were seen crossing I-75 near Ocala, Florida followed by a gangling herd of Brontosaurus babies.  Cars backed up for 50 miles in both directions.

Woolly Mammoth

Could the ancient species actually be returning to life?   According to Time magazine, 10,000 to 100,000 animal species die off each year, but scientists now have the means of bringing them back—though thankfully not the dinosaurs.   They need intact DNA, and the doddering giants have been gone too long to recreate.

But they can bring back the woolly mammoth, and other species are now ripe for re-introduction.   

Some are already in the de-extinction pipeline, like the passenger pigeons (extinct since 1914), the Tasmanian tiger (extinct since the 1930s), the Pyrenean Ibex that used to reside in Spain and Portugal until 2000, and the Gastric Brooding Frog, native to Australia and gone since the 1980s.

Tasmanian Tiger

Pyrenean Ibex

Gastric Brooding Frog

I never heard of the frog, but in January scientists had already developed its embryo.
 

So we're getting more frogs?  Is that a good thing?  And how about the passenger pigeon?  These beautiful birds were colorful and graceful, but will they fit into our already crowded environment?  And will their future upset the food chain so drastically that their reintroduction could cause other species to die, or will they themselves become extinct once again?

Passenger Pigeon

It’s dangerous to start playing God because someone or  something is bound to lose.

Many scientists rightly worry that people might suddenly stop caring about the environment, arguing that if animals become extinct, we can just bring them back again.

But naturalists tell it the other way.  Man has created a giant hole in nature, and it is our responsibility to repair it.   But can we accomplish this without destroying our present ecology?

  In the movie Jurassic Park the grand experiment backfired,  and Time magazine says that maybe the movie is a cautionary tale.  

Our neighbors up the road in Longwood fight a constant battle with wild brown bears.   The creatures lounge in trees overlooking their yards and break easily into screened porches searching for leftover food and other goodies.   Will people now start doing battle with the Tasmanian Tigers?  Will hunters poach the Pyrenean Ibex?   Man has encroached on almost every valuable nugget of land on this planet.  Where will there be anymore room for the new?

Still new species might be nice for a change.   Is the passenger pigeon faster than email?  Of course not, but it’s certainly way cooler.   I’d like to see one for real and be the first to post it on Facebook.  I bet I'll get a whole slew of new friends.