Why? Is there a wooly mammoth-shaped hole in our current ecosystem?

Nah. Seems like a waste of time and money, and I am deeply skeptical of any ecological benefit it’d have. I think it is far more pressing to protect today’s endangered species – which is something we can do RIGHT NOW.

One of the big economic arguments for the conservation species is bio-prospecting. When a species goes extinct, we lose the opportunity of learning about the potential biochemical and biomechanical tricks that the species might have. Conversely, if we are able to bring a species back from extinction we re-gain this potential. A large mammal like a mammoth has a good probability of teaching us some very valuable biology.

From the point of view of ethics, I consider it less unethical than breeding pugs to be sold as pets, which is a practice that the majority of humans are ok with. This is not to say that it would be ethical in an absolute sense, but I think that not much gets done if society adheres to strict moral absolutes.

If I get to chose, then yes, let’s bring them back. I think that it is worth it.

As an experiment in cloning, why not?

@tomasz - Do you think we should bring them back?