Bringing back the Woolly Mammoth

[Catherine]

The thing is, it has not been that long since woolly mammoths roamed the Canadian Arctic. It has only been thousands of years and in the history of the earth, that is nothing.

The article did point out that the mammoths may have been essential to the health of the arctic and bringing them back might make things more stable. Think of the video we watched about the effects of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park in the USA.  The wolves healed the ecology and made it more robust.

They have reintroduced buffalo to the Banff area of the Canadian Rockies. That area has suffered a lot of ecological damage. They are hoping the buffalo will help restore things.
Restoring Black Footed Ferrets to the prairies of western Canada is having a positive effect ecologically.

Maybe woolly mammoths are what the arctic needs. There would not be large herds of them. I don't think their numbers were large, but they would have impact.

If we can do this then there may be others situations where bringing back a species is very important.

We had Trumpeter Swans in Ontario. The last one was killed a long time ago. We brought in some of the same species from another part of the country. The reintroduction has gone well. They are gradually spreading out from the release points and the numbers are multiplying. This will help restore an ecological balance.

We would be introducing the Woolly Mammoth from a much greater distance. We would be bringing them back from the past. If we can do it we should. I would love to see a herd of mammoths roaming the arctic.