Question: Do you think you will get to the point where you can replicate an ecosystem and bring back exstinct animals?

Nicki Whitehouse answered on 11 Mar 2015:

I think we can do the first of these better than the second. I think we can introduce new animals that may be able to replace the actions of a previous species to mimic their behaviour and thus amend an ecosystem. These species are known as ecosystem engineers and introduced correctly can bring back to life ecosystems that had been degrading. One of the best examples of this is the re-introduction of wolf into Yellowstone Park in the US. As for extinct animals, there has been much talk of this but I’m not sure this will be possible in the near future now, more importantly, that it would be desirable. My view is that we cannot recreate the past and that we are better to conserve what we have remaining. Attention focused on recreating past species takes away attention from present species that desperately need to be loved after. In any case, what about the un-intended consequences of re-introducing extinct species on other aspects of the ecosystem?