# How hard would it be to clone recently extinct animals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736 "2010-07-06T17:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/1 "2010-07-06T17:08:00Z")
I swear I have heard a story in france I think where a couple plans to get their dog cloned when it dies. We know its possible to clone it is just hard to do. I am not talking about Dinos but what about recently extinct species that we even have frozen specimens of. From reading wikipedia it seems their are a few species of birds scientists froze because they knew the extinction was inevitable ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/2 "2010-07-06T17:26:44Z")
[Thylacine cloning project does not appear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine#Modern_research_and_projects) to be going well. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/3 "2010-07-06T17:38:19Z")
The problem as I see it is where/how are the resurrected species going to live? If their habitat has been destroyed, are you going to keep them in labs or zoos? All that cloning technology is great, but it doesn’t seem right to re-create animals just to be toys or guinea pigs. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/4 "2010-07-06T17:42:37Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > The problem as I see it is where/how are the resurrected species going to live? If their habitat has been destroyed, are you going to keep them in labs or zoos? All that cloning technology is great, but it doesn’t seem right to re-create animals just to be toys or guinea pigs. A lot of species of interest aren’t extinct due to habitat loss. Many are gone from over hunting by early man or later human predation. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/5 "2010-07-06T17:55:45Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > I swear I have heard a story in france I think where a couple plans to get their dog cloned when it dies. We know its possible to clone it is just hard to do. I am not talking about Dinos but what about recently extinct species that we even have frozen specimens of. From reading wikipedia it seems their are a few species of birds scientists froze because they knew the extinction was inevitable Actually, the recently extinct [Pyrenean Ibex](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cloned-goat-dies-after-attempt-to-bring-species-back-from-extinction-1522974.html) has been cloned, although the offspring died at birth. In cases where it the complete, intact DNA of a recently extinct species has been preserved by freezing or other method, it is likely that it might be possible to clone it within the near future (say, the next decade). However, in cases where the DNA has been degraded (which will be the case when the specimen is preserved by drying, or in alcohol or formalin, or when it has been frozen for a long period) cloning becomes much more problematical. In the latter case, genetic engineering as well as cloning will be needed. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/6 "2010-07-06T18:00:19Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > The problem as I see it is where/how are the resurrected species going to live? If their habitat has been destroyed, are you going to keep them in labs or zoos? All that cloning technology is great, but it doesn’t seem right to re-create animals just to be toys or guinea pigs. What’s wrong with zoos? ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/7 "2010-07-07T16:30:58Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > The problem as I see it is where/how are the resurrected species going to live? If their habitat has been destroyed, are you going to keep them in labs or zoos? All that cloning technology is great, but it doesn’t seem right to re-create animals just to be toys or guinea pigs. I hate people like you. This does not come remotely close to providing an answer to his question. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-would-it-be-to-clone-recently-extinct-animals/545736/8 "2010-07-07T17:16:29Z")
> [@may\_be\_ignorant](#): > > I hate people like you. This does not come remotely close to providing an answer to his question. [Moderator Note] Let’s avoid personal comments like this in GQ. If you think another poster’s response is inappropriate, please report it the moderators. Colibri General Questions Moderator