The dire wolf has been brought back from extinction – kind of

Forget the Game of Thrones CGI because dire wolves are back… sort of.

The extinct species has resurfaced with the help of the company Colossal Biosciences, a biology research company based in Texas.

On Monday, the company, which describes itself as the “world’s only de-extinction company,” announced the rebirth of the once-extinct dire wolf. The Texas-based bioengineering company used DNA extracted from two fossils as well as 20 edits of the genetic code of a grey wolf- similar to a technique used in the movie Jurassic Park, where dinosaurs were brought back to life by using the DNA of frogs to fill in genetic gaps- to bring the species back to life.

The dire wolf was made famous by the show Game of Thrones and had been extinct for more than 12,500 years. In a press release, the company revealed the successful birth of three dire wolves, sharing the massive accomplishment and celebrating the world’s first successfully “de-extincted” animal.

The three dire wolves are two adolescent males named Romulus and Remus and one female pup named Khaleesi, in homage to the Game of Thrones character played by Emilia Clarke.

Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi are being raised in an undisclosed nature preserve, and Colossal has 10 full-time animal care staff to support the wolves’ mental and physical well-being. The preserve has on-site live cameras, security personnel, and drone tracking to ensure the safety and welfare of the wolves’.

Colossal Biosciences has also made it well known that besides the dire wolf, they plan on bringing back three other animals from extinction. Those three are the dodo bird, the thylacine (commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger) and the woolly mammoth, with the company already revealing a “woolly mouse,” a genetically engineered rodent with key mammoth-like traits.