The Truth About the ‘De-Extinction’ of the Dire Wolf After 10,000 Years

Imagine a world where animals that disappeared long ago could walk the Earth again. That’s the dream behind something called “de-extinction,” and recently, a company named Colossal Biosciences made big news. They said they brought back the dire wolf, a fierce predator that vanished over 10,000 years ago. You might know dire wolves from the TV show Game of Thrones, where they were huge, loyal companions to the Stark family. In real life, they were pretty impressive too—bigger than today’s gray wolves, with strong jaws and a taste for hunting giant animals like bison. So, did scientists really bring them back? Let’s dig into the truth.

What Happened?

Colossal Biosciences, a company based in Texas, announced on April 7, 2025, that they’d done something amazing. They claimed they’d “de-extincted” the dire wolf, meaning they made it live again after being gone for thousands of years. They introduced three wolf pups named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi (yes, another Game of Thrones nod). Two of them, the boys Romulus and Remus, were born on October 1, 2024. The girl, Khaleesi, came along later on January 30, 2025. These pups, according to the company, are the world’s first “de-extincted” animals. They even shared videos of the little wolves howling, saying it’s a sound we haven’t heard in over 10,000 years.

How did they do it? They didn’t just dig up a dire wolf and zap it back to life like in a sci-fi movie. Instead, they used old DNA—the building blocks of life—from dire wolf fossils. They found this DNA in a 13,000-year-old tooth from Ohio and a 72,000-year-old ear bone from Idaho. Scientists studied this ancient DNA and figured out what made dire wolves different from modern wolves. Then, they took cells from a living gray wolf (the dire wolf’s closest cousin today) and tweaked them using a tool called CRISPR. Think of CRISPR like a tiny pair of scissors that can cut and paste DNA. They changed about 20 spots in the gray wolf’s DNA to match the dire wolf’s, focusing on things like size, fur color, and muscle strength.

After editing the DNA, they put it into egg cells from a domestic dog (another close relative), grew those into embryos, and placed them in surrogate dog moms. Out came the three pups. Colossal says these wolves look like dire wolves—big, strong, with pale, thick fur—and they’re living in a secret 2,000-acre preserve somewhere in the northern United States, watched over by cameras, drones, and a team of caretakers.

Is It Really a Dire Wolf?

Here’s where things get tricky. Colossal calls these pups dire wolves, but not everyone agrees. The dire wolf, known scientifically as Aenocyon dirus, lived in North and South America during the Ice Age. It went extinct around 12,500 years ago, probably because the big animals it hunted—like mammoths and giant sloths—died out. Scientists have found tons of dire wolf bones, especially in places like the La Brea Tar Pits in California, so we know they were real and different from gray wolves. They were bigger, had wider heads, and stronger bites.

But the pups Colossal made? They started with gray wolf cells and only changed 20 small pieces of DNA out of billions. Gray wolves and dire wolves are related, sharing about 99.5% of their DNA, but they split apart millions of years ago. That means there are still lots of differences—way more than 20—between the two. Many scientists say these new pups are basically gray wolves with a few dire wolf features, like a makeover rather than a full revival. One expert, Jacquelyn Gill from the University of Maine, put it this way: “This is a designer dog, not a dire wolf.” Another scientist compared it to editing a chimpanzee a little and calling it a human—it doesn’t quite work that way.

Colossal’s team disagrees. Beth Shapiro, their chief scientist, says if it looks like a dire wolf and acts like one, then it’s close enough. They’re not trying to make an exact copy, just something that brings back the spirit of the dire wolf. Still, critics point out that these pups won’t behave like wild dire wolves. They’re raised in a fancy preserve, not hunting huge prey in the Ice Age wilderness, so they’re more like pampered pets than ancient predators.

How Did They Pull It Off?

The science behind this is pretty cool, even if it’s not perfect de-extinction. First, Colossal’s team had to get usable DNA from those old fossils. That’s tough because DNA breaks down over time, especially after 10,000 years. They managed to piece together a full dire wolf genome—like a complete instruction manual for building one—using the tooth and ear bone. They compared it to the gray wolf’s genome and spotted key differences, like genes that control body size or fur thickness.

Next, they used CRISPR to edit gray wolf cells. They picked 20 changes in 14 genes that they thought would make the biggest difference. After that, they put the edited DNA into dog eggs that had their own DNA removed, kind of like swapping out the engine in a car. Those eggs turned into embryos, which were implanted into surrogate dogs. It took a lot of tries—about 45 embryos per surrogate, and only three worked. The pups were born by C-section to keep things safe, and now they’re growing up fast, already bigger than typical gray wolf pups their age.

This isn’t cloning, like how Dolly the sheep was made from a living animal’s cells. Cloning needs perfect DNA, which you can’t get from fossils this old. Instead, it’s more like genetic engineering—taking something alive and tweaking it to look like something extinct. Colossal’s CEO, Ben Lamm, calls it a “massive milestone,” and they’re proud of the tech they built to make it happen.

Why Does It Matter?

So, why bother? Colossal says this isn’t just about dire wolves—it’s about proving we can bring back lost species and maybe even help ones that are still around but struggling. They’ve also cloned red wolves, a super-rare species with only a handful left in the wild, to boost their numbers. The idea is that this tech could save endangered animals by adding genetic variety or even bringing back species we’ve lost.

But there’s a bigger question: should we? Some people think it’s awesome—like living Jurassic Park (minus the chaos, hopefully). George R.R. Martin, the Game of Thrones author and a Colossal investor, loves it, saying dire wolves were real parts of America’s past. Others aren’t so sure. Scientists like Nic Rawlence from New Zealand argue we should focus on saving animals we still have, not remaking ones we’ve lost. Plus, where would these dire wolves live? The world’s different now—no mammoths to hunt, and modern ecosystems might not handle them.

There’s also the cost. Colossal’s worth over $10 billion and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s a lot of money that could go to protecting forests or endangered species instead. And what if something goes wrong? These wolves are in a preserve now, but if they got out or were released, could they mess up nature?

The Bottom Line

The truth is, Colossal didn’t fully bring back the dire wolf—not the exact animal that roamed the Ice Age. What they did was create a gray wolf with some dire wolf traits, a hybrid that looks the part. It’s an incredible feat of science, no doubt. Extracting ancient DNA, editing genes, and raising these pups is a huge deal, and it shows what humans might do in the future. But it’s not a time machine—it’s more like a remix.

For now, Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi are living cushy lives in their secret home, howling away and growing up under watchful eyes. Whether they’re “dire wolves” or just fancy gray wolves, they’ve got people talking. Some see a future where we rewrite nature’s story, bringing back mammoths, dodos, or more. Others see a distraction from the real work of saving what’s left. Either way, the dire wolf’s “return” is a glimpse into what’s possible—and a reminder that even with all our smarts, we can’t quite turn back time.