Editing Passenger pigeon (section)

===Potential resurrection of the species===
[[File:Ectopistes migratorius ULaval 2.jpg|thumb|Taxidermied male and female, [[Laval University]] Library]]
Today, at least 1,532 passenger pigeon skins (along with 16 skeletons) still exist, spread across many institutions all over the world.<ref name=Greenway>{{cite book |last=Greenway |first=J. C. |title=Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World |publisher=American Committee for International Wild Life Protection 13 |location=New York |year=1967 |pages=304{{ndash}}311 |isbn=978-0-486-21869-4}}</ref><ref name="Aberrant"/> It has been suggested that the passenger pigeon should be revived when available technology allows it (a concept which has been termed "[[de-extinction]]"), using genetic material from such specimens. In 2003, the [[Pyrenean ibex]] (''Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica'', a subspecies of the [[Iberian ibex]]) was the first extinct animal to be cloned back to life; the clone lived for only seven minutes before dying of lung defects.<ref name="back to life"/><ref>{{cite web |title='Bringing Back the Passenger Pigeon' Meeting convened at Harvard Medical School in Boston |website=[[Long Now Foundation]] |date=2013-02-07 |url=http://longnow.org/revive/passenger-pigeon-workshop/ |access-date=April 10, 2015}}</ref> A hindrance to cloning the passenger pigeon is the fact that the DNA of museum specimens has been contaminated and fragmented, due to exposure to heat and oxygen. American geneticist [[George M. Church]] has proposed that the passenger pigeon genome can be reconstructed by piecing together DNA fragments from different specimens. The next step would be to splice these genes into the [[stem cell]]s of rock pigeons (or [[band-tailed pigeon]]s), which would then be transformed into egg and sperm cells, and placed into the eggs of rock pigeons, resulting in rock pigeons bearing passenger pigeon sperm and eggs. The offspring of these would have passenger pigeon traits, and would be further bred to favor unique features of the extinct species.<ref name="back to life"/><ref name="NatGeo 2013">{{cite web |last=Zimmer |first=C. |title=Bringing them back to life |website=National Geographic |year=2013 |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/125-species-revival/zimmer-text |access-date=October 29, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212002128/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/125-species-revival/zimmer-text |archive-date=December 12, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Landers |first1=J. |title=Scientists look to revive the long-extinct passenger pigeon |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |year=2013 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/scientists-look-to-revive-the-long-extinct-passenger-pigeon/2013/07/08/3d1323d4-b9a1-11e2-aa9e-a02b765ff0ea_story.html |access-date=November 6, 2014}}</ref> The American non-profit organization [[Revive & Restore]] is currently pursuing the idea.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Great Passenger Pigeon Comeback |language=en-US |url=https://reviverestore.org/about-the-passenger-pigeon/ |access-date=2023-08-10}}</ref>

The general idea of re-creating extinct species has been criticized, since the large funds needed could be spent on conserving currently threatened species and habitats, and because conservation efforts might be viewed as less urgent. In the case of the passenger pigeon, since it was very social, it is unlikely that enough birds could be created for revival to be successful, and it is unclear whether there is enough appropriate habitat left for its reintroduction. Furthermore, the parent pigeons that would raise the cloned passenger pigeons would belong to a different species, with a different way of rearing young.<ref name="back to life">{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=T. |website=NBC News |title=How to bring extinct animals back to life |year=2013 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/science/how-bring-extinct-animals-back-life-8C10995683 |access-date=August 25, 2013}}</ref><ref name="NatGeo 2013"/>