# If they do re-create a mammoth are they going to have to keep it air conditioned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923 "2008-11-09T18:38:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/1 "2008-11-09T18:38:59Z")
[Increasing successes in using long term frozen cells to create viable clone embryos](http://gizmodo.com/5075899/scientists-clone-mouse-from-damaged-frozen-cells-mammoth-sabertooth-next-in-line)have made some speculate it’s only a matter of time unit they can use frozen mammoth cells to clone a mammoth using an elephant as the gestation engine. If this is done will you need to to provide an air conditioned environment for the woolly beast so it doesn’t overheat? ---
**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:** [November 9, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/2 "2008-11-09T18:44:23Z")
Probably not. It gets fairly warm in the Arctic during the summer. Polar bears, musk oxen, and caribou do fine in temperate-zone zoos during the summer even without AC. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/3 "2008-11-09T18:51:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Probably not. It gets fairly warm in the Arctic during the summer. Polar bears, musk oxen, and caribou do fine in temperate-zone zoos during the summer even without AC. Yes but elephants (I’m guessing) would have some far more serious heat retention issues than smaller beasts. Just as a point of comparison I wonder what was the average seasonal daily temperatures during the ice age? I’ve always assumed it was considerably “colder”, but never thought about _how_ cold. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/4 "2008-11-09T20:05:47Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Yes but elephants (I’m guessing) would have some far more serious heat retention issues than smaller beasts. True, which may be why modern tropical elephants are relatively hairless. But as I said mammoths would have had to be able to survive at least moderately warm temperatures during summers. > [@](#): > > Just as a point of comparison I wonder what was the average seasonal daily temperatures during the ice age? I’ve always assumed it was considerably “colder”, but never thought about _how_ cold. Global average temperatures were substantially lower, but bear in mind that this just meant that the climactic zones moved southward. Mammoths lived on the steppes south of the ice-sheets, which probably did not encounter temperatures much lower than those found in the high Arctic today (though of course lower than the contemporary conditions at those latitudes.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/5 "2008-11-09T21:18:21Z")
> [@astro](#): > > If this is done will you need to to provide an air conditioned environment for the woolly beast so it doesn’t overheat? Consider the musk ox which used to cohabit with the woolly mammoth . From the [World Association of Zoos and Aquariums](http://www.waza.org/virtualzoo/factsheet.php?id=119-009-040-001&view=Cattle%20and%20Musk%20Ox) > [@](#): > > How the Musk Ox should be kept > > Musk oxen live in harem groups of 10-20 females with their offspring and an adult male. Bulls may form bachelor groups. At the zoo, musk oxen should, therefroe, be kept in harem or bachelor groups. > > For up to 4 adults an outdoor enclosure of at least 500 m2 is required, which should be enlarged by 50 m2 per each additional adult. There should also be a smaller enclosure for temporarily separating individual animals as may be required. There must be some shelter protecting from rain, wind and sun, which must be large enough to accommodate all animals, but the animals are cold resistant and no closed stable is required, although a stable may be useful for trapping individual animals. No mention of air conditioning. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/6 "2008-11-09T23:00:32Z")
There’s a muskox farm in Fairbanks Alaska where I grew up. It routinely gets into 80s during the summer, sometimes even the 90s. The muskox don’t melt. It is very common for summer temperatures to be very high in continental arctic regions, and any arctic animal must be able to tolerate those temperatures or it will go extinct. The mammoths would have had to tolerate summer temperatures in the 80s and 90s even during the ice age. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/7 "2008-11-10T10:56:18Z")
What do they do in zoos? I don’t think I’ve been to any zoos with polar bears, but I have seen penguins just sitting out in the open in the summer time. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/8 "2008-11-10T15:29:27Z")
If heat turns out to be too much of a problem would giving it a hair cut help? Also if a breeding population is established how viable would it be to reintroduce them to the wild? ---
**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:** [November 10, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/9 "2008-11-10T15:52:00Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > What do they do in zoos? I don’t think I’ve been to any zoos with polar bears, but I have seen penguins just sitting out in the open in the summer time. Polar bears and other arctic animals are frequently kept in open-air enclosures in the temperate zone. Polar bears usually are provided with a big pool where they can cool off if needed. Note that many penguins, especially those most commonly seen in zoos, actually live in temperate areas in South America or Africa and normally have to deal with summer temperatures in their native environment. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/10 "2008-11-10T17:43:09Z")
I remember scientists finding buttercups in the stomach of a frozen mammoth which would suggest that they grazed fine in temperate climes where the weather at least went into the 70s or so. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/11 "2008-11-10T17:56:19Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > If heat turns out to be too much of a problem would giving it a hair cut help? > > Also if a breeding population is established how viable would it be to reintroduce them to the wild? If they’re anything like wild elephants in temperament, it would be a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/12 "2008-11-10T18:12:15Z")
With regards to controling the environment of the new baby mammoth, I would suggest a closed positive pressure clean air enclosure. Who knows what viruses have evolved in the last 10,000 years, that the mammoth is not prepared for. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-do-re-create-a-mammoth-are-they-going-to-have-to-keep-it-air-conditioned/471923/13 "2008-11-10T18:15:57Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > What do they do in zoos? I don’t think I’ve been to any zoos with polar bears, but I have seen penguins just sitting out in the open in the summer time. There’s a species of penguins that lives near the equator - the birds are more heat tolerant than they’re sometimes given credit for. Also, penguins are typically provided with water to swim in, which will greatly aid them in keeping cool. Likewise, Chicago zoos have polar bears which tolerate our summer heat. Again, there’s a big pool of water which the bears make use of. Needless to say, the bears LOVE our winters. Remember animals aren’t people - they aren’t stupid enough to force themselves to jog 5 miles at noon on a blazing hot day during an ozone alert. No, animals lay about in the shade in those conditions which also helps with heat tolerance. Heck, I had a housecat that was pretty stupid for a cat, but he learned to jump into a bucket of water or the bathtub to cool off on really hot days even if he wasn’t fond of water. He just disliked being overheated even more than being wet. Any resurrected mammoths would be monitored for signs of heat stress and given shade, water, etc. which should be sufficient to keep them healthy.