So The 'Dire Wolves' Are Doing Well - Now Save Existing Species
Rome Points The Way As Rewilding Boosts the Creature Count
Dire Wolves Growing Big and Strong
A six-month health update has been released on Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi - the first dire wolves resurrected using ancient DNA.
Colossal Biosciences report that the male pups already top 90 lbs, which is 20% larger than grey-wolf peers; the female weighs 35 lbs at three months.
Veterinary CT scans show robust skeletal growth with no malformations, addressing early welfare concerns about hybrid genome stability. Colossal plans to transition the trio from formulated diets to whole prey this autumn to encourage natural hunting behaviour.
What do you think about this? I’m uneasy - more so because I wish more effort went into saving the species we might wave goodbye to in the next ten years. And of course, the creatures are actually genetically-engineered grey wolves, not pure dire wolves.
Here’s the Jurassic Park bit - Colossal Biosciences says it is designing a 3,000-acre “Pleistocene Reserve” in west Texas, where the wolves will eventually roam alongside cloned woolly mammoths and engineered American cheetahs. Investors have already funded it to the tune of $225 million, so it’s not going away.
Ethicists warn that ecological fit, disease risk and regulatory gaps remain unresolved. Positive points? Well, the project’s gene-editing breakthroughs could aid less controversial re-introductions, such as disease-resistant American chestnut or heat-tolerant coral. Watch this space.
Rome Rewilding Boosts Urban Wildlife
Kestrels, hedgehogs, starlings and even porcupines are thriving inside Rome’s ancient walls thanks to pockets of deliberate “micro-rewilding.”
City archaeologists now coordinate excavation schedules with ecologists, leaving rubble piles and native shrubs that create nesting niches across the Forum and Circus Maximus.
Researchers from Sapienza University have documented a 35% rise in small-mammal diversity since 2018, attributing the surge to reduced pesticide use and the city’s decision to replace manicured lawns with rough meadow strips around monuments.
Conservationists believe that Rome offers a template for other dense historic centres - demonstrating that small, linked habitats can knit together a functional corridor through an entirely built landscape, without major new construction.