The dodo, extinct for over three centuries, could return to Mauritius thanks to an audacious plan from biotech company Colossal Biosciences and the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. If the partnership achieves its goal, the dodo would be following in the footsteps of other species once extinct in the wild but successfully returned to nature. Scroll through the gallery to learn more.

An audacious collaboration between geneticists and conservationists plans to bring back the extinct dodo and reintroduce it to its once-native habitat in Mauritius.

The Nicobar pigeon, native to the coastal regions from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is the closest living relative to the dodo. Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences, which is pursuing the “de-extinction” of multiple species, including the woolly mammoth, has entered a partnership with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to find a suitable location for the large flightless birds.

The dodo has been extinct since 1681; a combination of predation by humans and animals introduced by humans led to its downfall, turning it into a textbook case for extinction. But according to the partners, its return to Mauritius could benefit the dodo’s immediate environment and other species…

https://edition.cnn.com/dodo-de-extinction-mauritius-spc-intl-scn/index.html