U.S. scientists are working to bring back this legendary African animal that went extinct 200 years ago

Until about 200 years ago, a species known as the bluebuck antelope roamed the open grasslands of South Africa. It got its name from its grayish coat, which had a bluish sheen. It was highly prized by colonial hunters arriving from Europe.

The species’ extinction was caused by multiple factors. Overhunting, habitat destruction to make way for livestock, and the introduction of domestic animals all contributed to the disappearance of this rare creature, which ultimately went extinct around 1800. The goal now is to bring it back.

The Dallas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences announced on April 30 that it is working on the “de-extinction” of the blue antelope using genetic reconstruction techniques. “This is a clear example of an extinction that is our fault, and that we have the technology now, and can develop the technology within the next several years, to reverse,” explained Beth Shapiro, the company’s chief science officer to CNN.

The process of “functional de-extinction” of the blue antelope does not rely directly on cloning. Instead, it involves sequencing a high-quality ancient genome, which was obtained from a historical specimen housed at the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

The next step is to use the roan antelope, the closest living relative of the blue antelope. Colossal Biosciences has created stem cells from the roan antelope, whose DNA will be edited to introduce key genetic traits of the blue antelope, such as its bluish-gray coat, skull structure, and size. A surrogate roan antelope mother would then carry the pregnancy for about nine months, eventually giving birth to what would be a new blue antelope, though its genetic sequence would not be identical to the original species.

A process that could take years

This would be the sixth project undertaken by the American company, which is also working on de-extinction efforts involving species such as the dire wolf, woolly mammoth, dodo, thylacine, and moa.

Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm says that editing the blue antelope’s genome will be more complex than the work done on the so-called “giant wolf,” although the birth of the first new specimen is expected to take years rather than decades. Over time, it may even be spotted in places like the viral “Namibia waterhole” featured on YouTube.

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