Is bringing back extinct animals a good idea? The dodo has been dead for hundreds of years. But now some scientists think it could walk the Earth again.
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We'll bring the dodo back, scientists claim
Is bringing back extinct animals a good idea? The dodo has been dead for hundreds of years. But now some scientists think it could walk the Earth again.
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<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper">What's happening?</h2>
The dodo is famous for being dead. The large flightlessFlightless creatures cannot fly. bird with a big beak was last seen nearly 400 years ago near MauritiusAn island and state in the Indian Ocean. in the Indian Ocean. But now, scientists say they could bring it back to life.
The last dodos were hunted by humans in the 1660s. They are now extinctA species that no longer has any living members.. There is even a saying - "as dead as a dodo".
Today, scientists have a plan to make the dodo walk again. One of the closest living relatives of the dodo is a type of pigeon called the Nicobar pigeon. Scientists hope they can make some changes to the Nicobar pigeon's genesSections of DNA strands that act as a kind of instruction manual for a human being. There is still a great deal we do not understand about how they work. to make it more like a dodo.
<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper">Find out more</h2>
Eventually, the pigeon could lay an egg and it would hatchBreak out of a shell. into something a bit like a dodo.
This is not a new idea. The scientists are working with a company that plans to bring back the woolly mammoth by joining its genes together with the genes of an elephant.
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<h5 class=" eplus-wrapper">Is bringing back extinct animals a good idea?</h5>
Yes! Most extinct animals were hunted to death by humans. If we can use science to bring them back, we should!
No! Bringing back the dodo will cost millions of pounds. It would be better to focus on saving animals that are still alive, like rhinos and tigers.
Flightless - Flightless creatures cannot fly.
Mauritius - An island and state in the Indian Ocean.
Extinct - A species that no longer has any living members.
Genes - Sections of DNA strands that act as a kind of instruction manual for a human being. There is still a great deal we do not understand about how they work.
Hatch - Break out of a shell.
We’ll bring the dodo back, scientists claim
Name game: The dodo was originally called a walghvogel, meaning "sickly bird" in Dutch. Glossary
Flightless - Flightless creatures cannot fly.
Mauritius - An island and state in the Indian Ocean.
Extinct - A species that no longer has any living members.
Genes - Sections of DNA strands that act as a kind of instruction manual for a human being. There is still a great deal we do not understand about how they work.
Hatch - Break out of a shell.