{"id":491,"date":"2017-03-21T09:27:39","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T13:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/?p=491"},"modified":"2025-02-26T14:05:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:05:55","slug":"dr-bennett-in-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/2017\/dr-bennett-in-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Bennett in the New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-5xl  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n            <div class=\"cu-textmedia flex flex-col lg:flex-row mx-auto gap-6 md:gap-10 my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 max-w-5xl\">\n        <div class=\"justify-start cu-textmedia-content cu-prose-first-last\" style=\"flex: 0 0 100%;\">\n            <header class=\"font-light prose-xl cu-pageheader md:prose-2xl cu-component-updated cu-prose-first-last\">\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold !mt-2 mb-4 md:mb-6 relative after:absolute after:h-px after:bottom-0 after:bg-cu-red after:left-px text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] pb-5 after:w-10 text-cu-black-700 not-prose\">\n                        Dr. Bennett in the New York Times\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                                \n                            <\/header>\n\n                    <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<nav id=\"navigation\" class=\"navigation\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\"><span class=\"kicker-label\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/nav>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"page\" class=\"page\">\n<article id=\"story\" class=\"story theme-main \">\n<header id=\"story-header\" class=\"story-header\">\n<div id=\"story-meta\" class=\"story-meta \">\n<h1 class=\"headline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1\" target=\"_blank\">We Might Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. Is It Worth the Cost?<\/a><\/h1>\n<div class=\"story-translations\">\n<div class=\"story-translations-group\"><a class=\"story-translations-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/es\/2017\/03\/22\/los-cientificos-podrian-revivir-al-mamut-deberian-hacerlo\/\" data-version=\"es-LA\">&nbsp;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"story-meta-footer\" class=\"story-meta-footer\">\n<p class=\"byline-dateline\"><span class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"byline-author\" data-byline-name=\"STEPH YIN\">STEPH YIN<\/span><\/span><time class=\"dateline\" datetime=\"2017-03-22T10:24:52-04:00\">MARCH 20, 2017<\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"story-meta-footer-sharetools\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-viewer-candidate\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT1\/21EXTINCT1-master768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Florilegius, via Getty Images\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"An illustration of an extinct rat kangaroo, published in 1825. Researchers recently analyzed the costs and benefits of re-establishing and maintaining 16 species in Australia and New Zealand that went extinct in the last millennium.\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT1\/21EXTINCT1-superJumbo.jpg\"><\/figure><div id=\"sharetools-story-meta-footer\" class=\"sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story-meta-footer \" data-publish-date=\"March 20, 2017\" data-description=\"Scientists disagree about whether bringing extinct species back from the dead will result in a net loss of global biodiversity.\" data-media=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT1\/21EXTINCT1-jumbo.jpg\" data-author=\"By STEPH YIN\" data-title=\"We Might Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. Is It Worth the Cost?\" data-shares=\"facebook,twitter,email,show-all,save\" data-share-tools-initialized=\"1\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"story-body-supplemental\">\n<div class=\"story-body story-body-1\">\n<figure id=\"media-100000004995841\" class=\"media photo lede layout-large-horizontal\" data-media-action=\"modal\">\n<div class=\"image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption-text\">An illustration of an extinct rat kangaroo, published in 1825. Researchers recently analyzed the costs and benefits of re-establishing and maintaining 16 species in Australia and New Zealand that went extinct in the last millennium.<\/span> <span class=\"credit\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Credit<\/span> Florilegius, via Getty Images <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"289\" data-para-count=\"289\">With enough determination, money and smarts,<a href=\"http:\/\/arep.med.harvard.edu\/gmc\/\"> scientists<\/a> just might revive the woolly mammoth, or some version of it, by splicing genes from ancient mammoths into Asian elephant DNA. The ultimate dream is to generate a sustainable population of mammoths that can once again roam the tundra.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"479\" data-para-count=\"190\">But here\u2019s a sad irony to ponder: What if that dream came at the expense of today\u2019s Asian and African elephants, whose numbers are quickly dwindling because of habitat loss and poaching?<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"821\" data-para-count=\"342\">\u201cIn 50 years, we might not have those elephants,\u201d said<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/people\/joseph-bennett\/\"> Joseph Bennett<\/a>, an assistant professor and conservation researcher at Carleton University in Ontario. Dr. Bennett has spent his career asking hard questions about conservation priorities. With only so much funding to go around, deciding which species to save can be a game of triage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"1089\" data-para-count=\"268\">Recently, he and a team of colleagues confronted a new question: If molecular biologists can potentially<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/02\/magazine\/the-mammoth-cometh.html?_r=0\"> reconstruct extinct species<\/a>, such as the woolly mammoth, should society devote its limited resources to reversing past wrongs, or on preventing future extinctions?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"media-100000004995842\" class=\"media photo embedded layout-large-horizontal media-100000004995842 ratio-tall\" data-media-action=\"modal\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Photo<\/span><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"image\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-viewer-candidate\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT6\/21EXTINCT6-master675.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Rob Stothard\/Getty Images\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"A stuffed male passenger pigeon that was offered at auction in 2015. The species is one of three that the group Revive &amp;amp; Restore aims to bring back using biotechnology.\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT6\/21EXTINCT6-superJumbo.jpg\"><\/figure><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-action-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption-text\">A stuffed male passenger pigeon that was offered at auction in 2015. The species is one of three that the group Revive &amp; Restore aims to bring back using biotechnology.<\/span> <span class=\"credit\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Credit<\/span> Rob Stothard\/Getty Images <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"1267\" data-para-count=\"178\">In a paper <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41559-016-0053\">published<\/a> in Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution this month, the researchers concluded that the biodiversity costs and benefits almost never come out in favor of de-extinction<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"1267\" data-para-count=\"178\">\u201cIf you have the millions of dollars it would take to resurrect a species and choose to do that, you are making an ethical decision to bring one species back and let several others go extinct,\u201d Dr. Bennett said. \u201cIt would be one step forward, and three to eight steps back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"story-body-supplemental\">\n<div class=\"story-body story-body-2\">\n<div id=\"story-ad-1\" class=\"story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent hidden\">\n<div class=\"accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"visually-hidden skip-to-text-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1#story-continues-3\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-3\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"1777\" data-para-count=\"228\">But his team\u2019s findings do not fully resonate with all scientists. Some who are engaged in de-extinction efforts say that Dr. Bennett\u2019s analysis, and others like it, are too far removed from actual developments in the field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"2046\" data-para-count=\"269\">One leading group in the field is <a href=\"http:\/\/reviverestore.org\/\">Revive &amp; Restore<\/a>, a nonprofit initiative to rescue extinct and endangered species through genetic engineering and biotechnology. The San Francisco-based group is working to bring back the <a href=\"http:\/\/reviverestore.org\/projects\/the-great-passenger-pigeon-comeback\/\">passenger pigeon<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/reviverestore.org\/projects\/woolly-mammoth\/\">woolly mammoth<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2013\/03\/passenger-pigeon-de-extinction\/\">heath hen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"media-100000004995839\" class=\"media photo embedded layout-large-horizontal media-100000004995839\" data-media-action=\"modal\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Photo<\/span><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"image\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-viewer-candidate\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT5\/21EXTINCT5-master675.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Ethan Miller\/Getty Images\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"A woolly mammoth skeleton that was auctioned in 2009. Scientists have proposed splicing mammoth genes into Asian elephant DNA to bring the extinct mammals back to life.\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT5\/21EXTINCT5-superJumbo.jpg\"><\/figure><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-action-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption-text\">A woolly mammoth skeleton that was auctioned in 2009. Scientists have proposed splicing mammoth genes into Asian elephant DNA to bring the extinct mammals back to life.<\/span> <span class=\"credit\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Credit<\/span> Ethan Miller\/Getty Images <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"story-ad--aggro-4\" class=\"story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-4 aggro-only hidden\">\n<div class=\"accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"visually-hidden skip-to-text-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1#story-continues-4\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-4\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"2387\" data-para-count=\"341\">Conservation is central to Revive &amp; Restore\u2019s mission, said Ben Novak, the organization\u2019s lead researcher and science consultant, and there could be ecological benefits to restoring lost species. In some cases, he said, living species are endangered partly because of \u201cthe lack of an ecological partner or some link in the food web.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"2487\" data-para-count=\"100\">\u201cAny de-extinction effort must have long-term benefits that outweigh the costs,\u201d Mr. Novak said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"2783\" data-para-count=\"296\">He added that it is not accurate to assume, as Dr. Bennett does, that funding for de-extinction and conservation is a zero-sum game, noting that all of the funding for Revive &amp; Rescue\u2019s biotechnologies comes from private donors or institutional grants outside the realm of conservation efforts.<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-ad--aggro-6\" class=\"story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-6 aggro-only hidden\">\n<div class=\"accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"visually-hidden skip-to-text-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1#story-continues-5\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-5\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"3054\" data-para-count=\"271\">De-extinction may certainly have long-term gains, Dr. Bennett acknowledged, but he fears they are a luxury the world cannot currently afford. By some estimates, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2017\/feb\/25\/half-all-species-extinct-end-century-vatican-conference\">20 percent<\/a> of species on Earth now face extinction, and that may rise to 50 percent by the end of the century.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"3547\" data-para-count=\"493\">In their study, Dr. Bennett and his collaborators tried to approximate the costs of re-establishing and maintaining 16 species that went extinct in the last millennium, including the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.environment.gov.au\/cgi-bin\/sprat\/public\/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=25988\">Lord Howe pigeon<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.environment.gov.au\/cgi-bin\/sprat\/public\/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66656\">Eastern rat-kangaroo<\/a> from Australia, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/nzbirdsonline.org.nz\/species\/laughing-owl\">laughing owl<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.teara.govt.nz\/en\/frogs\/page-1\">Waitomo frog<\/a> from New Zealand. The researchers selected these animals because they could estimate what it would cost to conserve them based on proposed government expenditures to save similar living species that are endangered.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"media-100000004995847\" class=\"media photo embedded layout-large-vertical media-100000004995847\" data-media-action=\"modal\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Photo<\/span><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"image\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-viewer-candidate\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT2\/21EXTINCT2-blog427.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"C. Horwitz\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"Revive &amp;amp; Restore also aims to bring back the extinct Heath hen. &amp;ldquo;Any de-extinction effort must have long-term benefits that outweigh the costs,&amp;rdquo; said Ben Novak, the organization&amp;rsquo;s lead researcher.\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT2\/21EXTINCT2-superJumbo.jpg\"><\/figure><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-action-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption-text\">Revive &amp; Restore also aims to bring back the extinct Heath hen. \u201cAny de-extinction effort must have long-term benefits that outweigh the costs,\u201d said Ben Novak, the organization\u2019s lead researcher.<\/span> <span class=\"credit\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Credit<\/span> C. Horwitz <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"story-ad--aggro-8\" class=\"story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-4 ad-aggro-8 aggro-only hidden\">\n<div class=\"accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"visually-hidden skip-to-text-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1#story-continues-6\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-6\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"3767\" data-para-count=\"220\">Based on the price of conserving the endangered <a href=\"http:\/\/nzbirdsonline.org.nz\/species\/chatham-island-warbler\">Chatham Island warbler<\/a> from New Zealand, for instance, they determined that managing a new population of the extinct <a href=\"http:\/\/nzbirdsonline.org.nz\/species\/chatham-island-bellbird\">Chatham bellbird<\/a> would cost $360,000 in the first year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"4059\" data-para-count=\"292\">Because the price of genetically reconstructing extinct species is still unknown (although it could cost tens of millions of dollars), the scientists focused on how much it would cost just to reintroduce and maintain these particular species in the wild once they had already been engineered.<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-ad-2\" class=\"story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-10 hidden\">\n<div class=\"accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"visually-hidden skip-to-text-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1#story-continues-7\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-7\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"4320\" data-para-count=\"261\">In New Zealand, the researchers calculated, the funds required to conserve 11 extinct species would protect three times as many living species. In New South Wales, reviving five extinct species was similar to saving more than eight times as many living species.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"4687\" data-para-count=\"367\">The problem with this analysis, said Stewart Brand, co-founder of Revive &amp; Restore, is that \u201cthese are all species that would never be considered seriously for de-extinction in the first place,\u201d either because their ecological roles can be approximated by another living species or because the benefits of restoring them are not great enough to warrant the costs.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"media-100000004995836\" class=\"media photo embedded layout-large-vertical media-100000004995836\" data-media-action=\"modal\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Photo<\/span><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"image\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-viewer-candidate\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT3\/21EXTINCT3-blog427.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Encyclopaedia Britannica, via Getty Images\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"An illustration of an extinct huia, once found in New Zealand. The researchers who analyzed reviving extinct species found that many more living species could be conserved for the same cost.\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/03\/21\/science\/21EXTINCT3\/21EXTINCT3-superJumbo.jpg\"><\/figure><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-action-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption-text\">An illustration of an extinct huia, once found in New Zealand. The researchers who analyzed reviving extinct species found that many more living species could be conserved for the same cost.<\/span> <span class=\"credit\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Credit<\/span> Encyclopaedia Britannica, via Getty Images <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"story-ad--aggro-12\" class=\"story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-4 ad-aggro-6 aggro-only hidden\">\n<div class=\"accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"visually-hidden skip-to-text-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1#story-continues-8\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-8\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"4909\" data-para-count=\"222\">He argued that Revive &amp; Restore strictly assesses its de-extinction projects, through its <a href=\"http:\/\/reviverestore.org\/candidates\/revival-criteria\/\">own criteria<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/portals.iucn.org\/library\/sites\/library\/files\/documents\/Rep-2016-009.pdf\">international guidelines<\/a>, to ensure that they are worth doing and consistent with preserving existing biodiversity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"5329\" data-para-count=\"420\">The passenger pigeon, for instance, was a keystone species that helped regenerate Eastern deciduous forests by landing on trees in giant flocks, breaking down their branches and excreting layers of rich fertilizer that allowed new trees to grow \u2014 a role that other birds likely cannot fill. On top of that, Mr. Brand said, the passenger pigeon has unique symbolic value as \u201cone of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/08\/31\/opinion\/sunday\/saving-our-birds.html\">great stories<\/a> of extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"5729\" data-para-count=\"400\">But other scientists agree with Dr. Bennett that spending money on de-extinction is wasteful, even for a case like the passenger pigeon. <a href=\"https:\/\/ccb.stanford.edu\/paul-r-ehrlich\">Paul Ehrlich<\/a>, president of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University, and author of the controversial book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/06\/01\/us\/the-unrealized-horrors-of-population-explosion.html\">\u201cThe Population Bomb,\u201d<\/a> said that conservation is vastly underfunded and there is no guarantee that restoring extinct species will work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"6022\" data-para-count=\"293\">To restore the passenger pigeon, Dr. Ehrlich said, you would need a large breeding population \u2014 with possibly more genetic diversity than can be gleaned from the 1,500 or so pigeons preserved in museum collections \u2014 and even then there may \u201cnot be enough habitat left for them anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"6239\" data-para-count=\"217\">Dr. Bennett said \u201che wouldn\u2019t want to close the door on de-extinction forever.\u201d There may be some instances where it is worthwhile, he acknowledged, and pursuing it will advance research on genetic technologies.<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-ad--aggro-16\" class=\"story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-4 ad-aggro-8 aggro-only hidden\">\n<div class=\"accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"visually-hidden skip-to-text-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/20\/science\/revive-restore-extinct-species-dna-mammoth-passenger-pigeon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=science&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront&amp;_r=1#story-continues-9\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-9\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-total-count=\"6581\" data-para-count=\"342\" data-node-uid=\"1\">\u201cIf someone wants to work on de-extinction because it\u2019s technically fascinating, that\u2019s fine,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if the person is couching de-extinction in terms of conservation, then she or he needs to have a very sober look at what one could do with those millions of dollars with living species \u2014 there\u2019s already plenty to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<footer class=\"story-footer story-content\">\n<div class=\"story-meta\">\n<div class=\"story-info\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/on.fb.me\/1paTQ1h\">Like the Science Times page on Facebook.<\/a> | Sign up for the <a href=\"http:\/\/nyti.ms\/1MbHaRU\"> Science Times newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"story-print-citation\">A version of this article appears in print on March 21, 2017, on Page D3 of the New York edition with the headline: A Steep Price for Bringing Animals Back. <span class=\"story-footer-links\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytreprints.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Order Reprints<\/a><span class=\"pipe\">|<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/pages\/todayspaper\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Today&#8217;s Paper<\/a><span class=\"pipe\">|<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp839RF.html?campaignId=48JQY\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- close story-meta --><\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; We Might Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. Is It Worth the Cost? &nbsp; By STEPH YINMARCH 20, 2017 An illustration of an extinct rat kangaroo, published in 1825. Researchers recently analyzed the costs and benefits of re-establishing and maintaining 16 species in Australia and New Zealand that went extinct in the last millennium. Credit Florilegius, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":516,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/environmentalscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}