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What extinct species would you clone if you were a billionaire?

Discussion in 'Speculative Zoo Design and Planning' started by DavidBrown, 31 May 2012.

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What species would you clone if you were a billionaire?

  1. Mammoth

    18.2%
  2. Thylacine

    30.7%
  3. Dodo

    8.0%
  4. Passenger Pigeon

    4.5%
  5. Elvis

    3.4%
  6. Megalania

    3.4%
  7. Carribean Monk Seal

    8.0%
  8. Great Auk

    6.8%
  9. Quagga

    11.4%
  10. Moa

    5.7%
  1. jusko88

    jusko88 Well-Known Member

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    I would bring back this one!!!
     
  2. ungulate nerd

    ungulate nerd Well-Known Member

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    other extinct animals I would clone would be

    Dorcatherium (an extinct traguild that was found in Pakistan and Europe)
    Harringtons mountain goat (Oreamnos harringtoni)
    Osbornoceros (an extinct genus of Antilocaprid)
     
  3. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  4. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  5. Monty

    Monty Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  6. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    It actually was never off the table. Just not that much press coverage lately. Notwithstanding that this find might give the programme a boost.
     
  7. ostrich

    ostrich Well-Known Member

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    I would have to say the giant moa species. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if they were alive!?! I wish I could see a living moa.
     
  8. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I believe there are some guys working on that.

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
  9. Cypselurus

    Cypselurus Well-Known Member

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    I would love to see a Thylacine, they always fascinated me- their doglike apperance, their stripes, and how they carried their babies in pouches just like kangaroos, and how they looked like a gigantic carnivorous Numbat. I wouldn't mind seeing some other, more prehistoric species back either. Small pterodactyls might be a nice addition to the skies, species like Dimorphodon and Pteradactylus. Irish elk and auroch might also be interesting, and someone cloning back a great auk would also be quite interesting.
     
  10. wensleydale

    wensleydale Well-Known Member

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    New World Stilt Legged Horse, but I see it isn't on your list. No Mastodons either, even though I would love to have them back. I'll just have to settle for mammoths instead. We can substitute Hawaiian Monk Seals if we ever want to get seals back in the Caribbean.
     
  11. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    2 candidates which realy would make a change for succesfull cloning would be Schomburgk deer and Japanese sealion, don't know however if any useable DNA could be obtained ??
     
  12. lowland anoa

    lowland anoa Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I will clone a quagga back to life and donate it to ZSL :D
     
  13. TheMightyOrca

    TheMightyOrca Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    If we're talking about animals that can be released into the wild, I'd go for Caribbean monk seal cause I really really really want them around. The Texas coast isn't much for whale watching (we've got plenty of bottlenose dolphins, but it's hard to find anything else on your average tour) but some seals would make up for it a little.

    For the same reason, I could also go for the Carolina parakeet.

    The Steller's sea cow is tempting as well, though. I mean, a 30-foot long manatee-like creature? Plus we know so little about them, they were driven to extinction, what, 27 years after discovery? They'd make for an amazing aquarium exhibit, and if a wild population could be established, all the better. If given the opportunity, my priority would be species that have been driven to extinction by humans.

    Now, if I were to go for a long-extinct species, the Irish elk. Wouldn't that be a spectacular sight? My roommate would be on board, she's a big Lord of the Rings fan and she was excited to hear that the elk the elf king rode resembled a real animal. If I want to go back even further, indricotherium. You'd need a big chunk of land to exhibit it in, but I imagine it would attract a lot of visitors.
     
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  14. TheMightyOrca

    TheMightyOrca Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I've wondered about the seal thing. There have been talks of releasing tigers into areas where now-extinct subspecies once lived. But if the seal thing is possible, we're a long way off from it. Hawaiian monk seals are still highly endangered, and I can't imagine a release plan being approved in a place that isn't a healthier, safer environment.
     
  15. AverageWalrus

    AverageWalrus Well-Known Member

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    The Walrus Whale, an extinct Whale with tusks like a Walrus, need I say more
     
  16. Meilimonkey

    Meilimonkey Well-Known Member

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    I would love to clone a Caribbean Monk Seal. I live in their former range, but the brackish waterways where I live are highly polluted, due to massive algae blooms, and the ocean is filled with motor boats.