The Lesson of the Thylacine

In some ways, de-extinction risks becoming a comforting fantasy. It lets us imagine that technology might save us from having to do the harder, less glamorous work of protection, restoration and care. Because biodiversity collapse won't be solved in a lab. It will be solved, if at all, by rapidly reducing carbon emissions, protecting habitat, listening to First Nations knowledge, reducing invasive species, funding ranger programs, and taking conservation seriously while species are still alive.

The Thylacine should not just be a symbol of loss. It should be a warning. And perhaps also a lesson. The people who knew this animal on Country understood something important straight away. Rather than indulging in techno-fantasies about resurrecting the dead, we should be protecting what remains. That is the real test of whether we have learned anything at all.