Colossal Biosciences’ red wolf cloning: A biotech spectacle obscuring ecological debt and Indigenous dispossession

The red wolf’s near-extinction is tied to the violent displacement of Indigenous peoples from the Southeastern U.S., whose traditional ecological knowledge included coexistence with wolves. Modern conservation efforts have often excluded Indigenous voices, treating land as a resource to be managed rather than a relative to be respected. Cloning projects like Colossal’s risk further erasing Indigenous relationships with wolves by framing them as biotech products rather than sacred kin.

The red wolf’s decline began with 19th-century bounties and habitat destruction under U.S. expansion, followed by a failed federal recovery program that prioritized captive breeding over ecosystem restoration. The species was declared extinct in the wild in 1980, with the last 14 individuals captured for a captive breeding program—many of which were hybrids with coyotes, a consequence of habitat fragmentation. This history mirrors other 'conservation failures' where state intervention exacerbated rather than solved ecological crises.

In contrast to Western conservation’s focus on genetic purity, many Indigenous cultures view hybridization as a natural and even sacred process. The Māori concept of *whakapapa* (genealogical connection) acknowledges fluidity between species, while the Navajo *Hózhǫ́* (harmony) framework emphasizes balance over control. These perspectives challenge the assumption that cloning can 'restore' a species without addressing the deeper ecological and cultural ruptures that caused its decline.

Cloning red wolves is technically feasible but ecologically and ethically fraught. The species’ genetic diversity is already critically low due to inbreeding in captivity, and cloning cannot reintroduce lost ecological functions or behaviors. Studies show that successful reintroduction requires intact habitats, prey availability, and social structures—none of which are addressed by cloning. Moreover, the technology’s high cost diverts resources from proven conservation methods like habitat protection and community-led restoration.

Artists like Jaune Quick-to-See Smith have long critiqued the commodification of Indigenous cultures and species, framing such acts as extensions of colonial violence. In Indigenous storytelling, wolves often embody resilience and wisdom, qualities that cannot be cloned or patented. The spiritual dimensions of wolf conservation are often sidelined in favor of measurable, marketable outcomes, erasing the sacred relationships that sustain biodiversity.

If cloning becomes normalized, it risks creating a 'techno-fix' industry where extinction is treated as a business opportunity rather than a systemic failure. Future scenarios could see corporations patenting 'resurrected' species, leading to biopiracy and further marginalization of Indigenous knowledge. Meanwhile, climate change and habitat loss will continue to outpace de-extinction efforts, making cloning a symbolic rather than substantive solution.

Eastern Band of Cherokee and other Southeastern tribes have long advocated for wolf conservation but are rarely consulted in projects like Colossal’s. Their knowledge of wolf behavior and ecology is dismissed in favor of Western scientific paradigms. Additionally, rural communities in the red wolf’s historic range—often poor and marginalized—bear the brunt of human-wildlife conflict but have no say in conservation strategies that prioritize corporate biotech over their livelihoods.