Could ‘Woolly Mammoth Millions’ be Headed South Dakotas Way?

Flashback to the movie theatres a few years ago to Jurrasic Park. As it turns out, some of the technology that was being tossed around over 20 years ago could be coming into play to bring back the Woolly Mammoth. Advances in genetics would appear to be making, just that, possible.

When I think of Mammoths roaming the earth in prehistoric times, I conjure up images of a group of hunters hitting the field with spears and such. You know, watch out for that Sabre Tooth Tiger Billy, I think I see a heard on the horizon.

But turns out it's true and 'could indeed happen. According to CNN.com;

The goal isn't to clone a mammoth -- the DNA that scientists have managed to extract from woolly mammoth remains frozen in permafrost is far too fragmented and degraded -- but to create, through genetic engineering, a living, walking elephant-mammoth hybrid that would be visually indistinguishable from its extinct forerunner.

Technology has indeed changed everything over the years and brings some exciting possibilities, the story added;

Geneticists, led by Harvard Medical School's George Church, aim to bring the woolly mammoth, which disappeared 4,000 years ago, back to life, imagining a future where the tusked ice age giant is restored to its natural habitat.

How does South Dakota possibly play a role in the Wolly Mammoth Reboot? According to Black Hills Badlands.com;

The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD is an active paleontological dig site, which boasts the largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world!  Our current mammoth count is 61, with 58 Columbian and 3 woolly mammoths.

It's yet to be determined if any of the privately funded 15 Million Dollars might be headed in the direction of South Dakota, but you can bet that our state will be included in the conversation. Keep your eye on the news. Who knows, the experts might be talking Wooly Mammoths and South Dakota soon.