Famous Comeback or Ecological Quandary: Bluebuck Revival Sparks Questions around Species Conservation

When Game of Thronesauthor George R.R. Martin had his stirring moment seeing 400 prehistoric direwolf skulls arrayed on a wall while visiting the La Brea Tar Pitsin Los Angeles, little did he know the symbolic and existential importance Aenocyon dirus would play to a family of beloved characters in his wildly successful novels and adaptations. Having yet to write the fantasy series that bewitched global audiences, none could have anticipated that the large American carnivores that existed until over 10,000 years ago were due to receive the untamed publicity that served as an inspiration for genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences to de-extinct the fossilised species. Now, South Africans are about to experience their very own rousing high-tech resurrection as the latex-gloved messiahs at Colossal recently announced their designs to bring back the bluebuck antelope, which roamed the foot-sole of the continent until around 200 years ago.