Project Mesozoic (AKA Project Dinotopia) was doing quite well even if it hadn't been officially unveiled yet. The retirement community from the former Effie Wilcox's land had come to Lyre to be transformed into anthro reptiles from before the dawn of man. However, that wasn't the only work that was going in recreating extinct species. With the initial success of Project Thylacine changing Ben Melbourne and his fiancé Tyree into Tasmanian Tigers, museums from around the world were collecting DNA samples from preserved specimens of other extinct species for Horizon to recreate more species.
However, there was many conservationists who saying that Horizon should do more with this preserved DNA. These extinct species shouldn't just be recreated as anthro versions of themselves. They should be restored to their original environments. The DNA of these new Animalian versions of extinct species were not perfect matches for the lost animals they came from, containing several human genes. However, the human genes could be tailored out and the remaining DNA could implanted inside the womb of the extinct animal's closest-related extant 'cousin'. For instance, the band-tailed pigeon could serve as a surrogate for the passenger pigeon until a large enough breeding population is made.
In comparison to the other two projects, Project Cenozoic (AKA Project Pleistocene) was rather neglected. It wasn't as though finding specimens from megafauna of the last ice age was difficult. It took significantly less samples from them than it took from fossilized dinosaur bones to recreate a complete strand. The bigger problem was that housing these beasts will be more complicated. While human hunting was a big factor in their extinction, it was also the warming of the earth as the last ice age ended that made these animals unable to adapt to their new world. As such, the Animalians recreations will require an environment that will be cooler most of the year. The current plan was to purchase some land in the northernmost part of Alaska or possibly Canada. But then another offer came for a possible colony.
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Melvin Qvite might not spend as much time in the laboratories anymore, but his work was still no less important. With the growing trans-global expansion of Animalia, Horizon Labs will have to expand as well to keep up with the growing civilization. Not that it wasn't too hard to expand to other countries, though establishing new colonies was still difficult work. There were possible colony locations in Australia, the northern part of Africa near Egypt, the southern part of Africa near the Serengeti, China and Japan were still competing on which could provide a better colony. At least the separate colony for Dinotopians would be easier to establish if the group running Dinosaur Valley State Park was able to get enough land. The actual establishment of colonies was mostly Animalia's government to decide, but Horizon has to keep pace with the decisions.
There was one particular proposition for a possible colony that could be beneficial in the long run. For the last few months, Qvite had been corresponding with scientists from Russia. Specifically from the northeastern side of Siberia, near Chersky. The discussions had not been anything truly political or related to the current governments of either nation, though they did get mentioned occasionally. Rather, it was about the current project that was going on in that area: Pleistocene Park.
Founded and led by Russian scientist Sergey Zimov, the project was focused on recreating the tundra environment to the way it was at the end of the last ice age. This was being achieved namely be transporting larger herbivores to the area and releasing them so they can adapt to the arctic environment. This wasn't just to restore the barren tundra, but also to prevent a major source of major global-warming. The permafrost found up there has become in more danger of thawing in recent years, and would release a massive amount of greenhouse gasses if it did thaw. But reestablishing browsing animals would restore the natural balance, their grazing plowing the soil enough that the permafrost would remain frozen.
Despite its name and the intent of recreating the mammoth steppe, Pleistocene Park featured no woolly mammoths or other animals from the Ice Age, at least not yet.
"You realize that the woolly mammoths we'll produce won't be like the other beasts at your park," said Qvite over Skype.
"No, having anthro mammoths won't do our project any good," said Zimov, "We would require mammoths that use their instincts. But you have the means of reconstructing mammoth DNA."
"In theory," said Qvite, "The genetic tailoring is still an uncertainty. Anyways, you already have two other possible sources for mammoths." There were two laboratories who were working on bringing back the woolly mammoth. There was a team of geneticists in the US led by George M. Church who were trying to recreate the mammoth by adding mammoth genes to elephant cells. There was also a lab in South Korea who were try to outright clone a mammoth. It was still too early for either group to produce any results.
"I am aware of that. But I also know that we'd need as much genetic diversity as possible if we want to maintain the mammoths when they're brought back," said Zimov, "And if it turns out the mammoths produced by one group are unreliable...well, we are just, as you Americans say, hedging our bets."
"I'm not saying I don't want your project to fail," said Qvite, "In fact, it looks like you're doing very well right now, with or without mammoths. But our interests are more than just bringing back woolly mammoths."
"You're wanting to bring back more Cenozoic megafauna, da? But you need a cooler place for them to live. I can help with that. There is plenty of empty land out in Siberia. I think my government can provide you territory for an Animalian colony in exchange for helping our park," said Zimov.
Qvite pursed his lips at that. Siberia was a very cold land, but it would be an ideal habitat for ice age mammals. In fact, despite consisting of most of the northern half of Asia, Russia was sparsely populated because so much of it was too cold. However, the Russian government had demanding access to the Animalia virus for quite some time, almost doubtlessly for military purposes. China's motivations were probably similar, but at least they weren't intending to forcibly draft Animalians to their army and were working on a colony for them. Russia might be doing the same now, but Qvite wasn't certain how trustworthy they were.
"Well, the decision isn't up to me alone," said Qvite, "This will have to be settled by the Animalian Council themselves. And we both have to answer to our respective governments and we're certainly not speaking on their behalves."
Zimov nodded and said, "I understand. You are distrustful of my government. I'm not surprised. I would distrust them too. And forgive me for saying so, but your current head of office is not someone I'd trust either."
"Well, I didn't vote for him," said Qvite with a shrug, "Democracy can be a double-edged sword."
"Try living under autocrats sometime," said Zimov dryly, "I think we can at least try to work something out."
"It may take some time," said Qvite, "We may be establishing territories in Alaska and Canada whether or not this works out. But I think we can at least help promote your park. You're still doing good work."
"Thank you. I hope we can work something out," said Zimov before signing off.
Qvite pondered over the discussion for a while. This could be a good opportunity for Project Pleistocene and Animalia as a whole. But Horizon Labs will first have to produce non-morphic mammoth DNA that could be used. Recreating extincts species is going to be a bit more complicated outside of dinosaurs.
Author's note: Everything about Pleistocene Park not about Animalia is true. Information about it and the attempts to restore the woolly mammoth can be found online.