Vigliotti, J. (2023, April 23). De-extinction: Bringing animal species back from the brink. CBS News. Retrieved August 27, 2023, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/de-extinction-bringing-animal-species-back-from-the-brink/ 

Dr. Della Garelle, working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a leader in moving species away from extinction. The process of reproduction began with a breeding program in 1981 and has gained support since then due to more widespread knowledge of biodiversity. For some species, such as a black-footed ferret named Willa, DNA is stored and frozen to clone and research later. This process has led some to wonder about bringing species lost long ago back to life, such as the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth. 

This article explains how environmental science can help researchers understand which endangered species need to be helped the most and how we can contribute to genetic diversity. In 1981, the federal program to breed the black-footed ferret was led by scientists who cared about how extinct species can affect larger communities of animals, plants, and humans. By using frozen cells to hopefully clone species like the black-footed ferret in the future, wildlife biologist Robyn Bortner and other scientists interested in the environment can contribute to the future of these species. Without environmental science, this cloning process would not be possible, let alone of interest to anyone. However, because we know the drastic ramifications that can come from species going extinct— such as a lack of biodiversity or extreme overpopulation of the species’ prey— we are able to not only care but also help the natural world by repopulating old species. I found this article very inspiring because it shows how committed scientists are to the conservation of animal species.