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Kiwi film-maker Sir Peter Jackson has invested $10 million towards a start-up company aimed at reviving extinct animals such as the dodo bird.
The original species is “dead as a dodo” as the saying goes ... or is it?
The cash was put into the Texas company, Colossal Biosciences, a genetics and biosciences company known for trying to bring back animals like the woolly mammoth and the dodo.
The Lord of the Rings director, 62 and his wife Fran Walsh, 65, donated the money in a bid to prevent species from going extinct, including those native to New Zealand.
Sir Peter Jackson and Bernard Hill during the filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.
Jackson is just one of many celebrities from various fields who have collectively contributed $235m to the organisation.
Others include athletes such as Tom Brady and Tiger Woods, entertainers like Paris Hilton and Chris Hemsworth, and business figures like Tech billionaire Thomas Tull.
The dodo is one of many species Colossal Biosciences is aiming to bring back from the dead. The company, which is a collaboration between founder and businessman Ben Lamm, and geneticist George Church, was launched in 2021.
“The dodo is a symbol of man-made extinction,” Lamm told the AP last year.
The species was discovered in 1600 by Dutch soldiers on an island in the Indian Ocean, where it had no known predators. The dodo became extinct 80 years later when the species’ habitat was destroyed by deforestation and hunting.
Scientists across the globe believe the dodo is an explicit lesson in human-caused extinction.
The dodo takes its name from the Portuguese word for "fool" after sailors mocked it for its apparent lack of fear of armed hunters. Photo / 123rf
Colossal Biosciences has also collaborated with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to find potential locations for the initial batch of dodo birds.
Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean where dodo birds were originally found.
“We are so grateful for Colossal’s technologies and the promise to return this iconic species ... to its native environment,” said Mauritian Wildlife Foundation conservation director Vikash Tatayah.
Bloomberg reported the investors in Colossal Biosciences are gaining “equity for subsidiary conservation-based companies”.
Sir Peter Jackson has donated $10 million to a de-extinction start-up. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The dodo de-extinction project has been met with a healthy dose of scepticism from scientists and activists for a variety of reasons.
Some argue the project is an expensive distraction from the current climate threats facing living species. Others, like Peter Jackson, argue the project could help restore biodiversity and damaged eco-systems.
Jackson’s investment is motivated by “conservation and biodiversity restoration”, said Lamm.
“It’s a special privilege to helm Colossal and be supported by visionaries, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders,” Lamm told Forbes.
