For the first time in thousands of years, dire wolves are alive – or at least a close approximation to them – as scientists claim to have achieved the world's first successful animal de-extinction. Colossal Biosciences announced the revival of the long-extinct wolf species in a news release on

Zoologist Philip Seddon from the University of Otago in New Zealand explained the animals are "genetically modified grey wolves". Colossal publicised its efforts to use similar cutting edge genetic techniques to bring back extinct animals including the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger.