Prioritizing conservation over species ‘de-extinction’

Prioritizing conservation over species ‘de-extinction’

Prioritizing conservation over species ‘de-extinction’
Since 2022, 94 sand gazelles had been born under the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve's rewilding program. (SPA)
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Scientists have long dreamed of regenerating extinct animals — a dream that is now reality thanks to advances in molecular science and genetic techniques. However, the cost, value, and significance of such efforts have always been questionable.

The recent news about the “resurrection” of the dire wolf is captivating — but somewhat misleading. Scientists used ancient DNA from dire wolf fossils to modify a small segment of the gray wolf genome, recreating certain physical traits reminiscent of the extinct dire wolf.

But this does not mean the species has been revived. The dire wolf and gray wolf diverged more than 5 million years ago. A genetically modified gray wolf exhibiting some traits of the dire wolf has been developed — but it is not a resurrection.

Genetic engineering is a contentious issue because it is invasive and permanently alters an organism’s genetic profile. The process of genetically engineering mammals is slow, tedious, and expensive. The insertion, modification and deletion of genes are often heritable, producing new strains or breeds that do not occur naturally.

This raises questions about their biological, psychological and social characteristics, as well as their adaptability and disease resistance.

While cloning can help save endangered species from extinction, it may also lead to genetic homogeneity, weakening their long-term survival in the wild.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature predicts that by the end of this century nearly all critically endangered species worldwide — and 67 percent of endangered species — could be lost forever.

In Saudi Arabia, the rise of motor vehicles and the widespread ownership of firearms after the Second World War led to an explosion in hunting. This led to a significant decline in wild species — some now facing imminent extinction.

Examples include the Arabian ostrich, the onager and the Saudi gazelle. Sadly, some carnivorous species, such as the Arabian cheetah and lion, have long gone extinct in the Kingdom.

Several conservation organizations argue that resources would be better spent on saving endangered species by mitigating human impact on ecosystems.

Hany Tatwany 

In 1989, we launched a worldwide campaign to find the Saudi gazelle, dubbed “Operation Saudi Gazelle,” to locate living specimens of this unique animal, found exclusively in the Kingdom. The gazelle was extinct in the wild and known only from museum skin samples.

After failing to locate living gazelles in the wild, we redirected our efforts to protecting endangered species that still exist in the Kingdom.

Several conservation organizations argue that resources would be better spent on saving endangered species by mitigating human impact on ecosystems.

After all, pouring scientific and financial capital into reviving extinct species like the dire wolf — not to mention the woolly mammoth, thylacine or even the dodo — does nothing to help the millions of species alive today that urgently need our support.

Science can — and should — support conservation. But it must be grounded in ethics and responsibility. Misleading headlines do more harm than good.

What is lacking is not technology but support, funding and consistent care for the biodiversity that still survives.

We are losing species every day at an alarming rate, while simultaneously spending millions trying to bring back animals that no longer exist.

Instead, scientists should be fighting to protect the animals still clinging to existence. They are not extinct or mythical. They are just overlooked.

Hany Tatwany is a conservationist with more than 38 years of experience in biodiversity conservation.

 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Power outage hits Cannes Film Festival and traffic in southeastern France

Power outage hits Cannes Film Festival and traffic in southeastern France
Updated 30 sec ago
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Power outage hits Cannes Film Festival and traffic in southeastern France

Power outage hits Cannes Film Festival and traffic in southeastern France
  • A power outage in southeast France disrupts traffic and the Cannes Film Festival
  • Restorations are underway as officials urge residents in the area to take caution

CANNES: A major power outage struck southeastern France on Saturday, disrupting traffic and briefly halting events at the Cannes Film Festival as the prestigious event prepared to hand out its top prize.
About 160,000 households in the Alpes-Maritimes department lost electricity after a high-voltage line fell Saturday morning, electricity network operator RTE said on X. The outage came hours after a fire at an electrical substation near Cannes overnight had already weakened the grid.
Cannes Film Festival organizers confirmed the outage affected the early activities of Saturday and said the Palais des Festivals — the Croisette’s main venue — had switched to an independent power supply.
“All scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, will proceed as planned and under normal conditions,” the statement said. “At this stage, the cause of the outage has not yet been identified. Restoration efforts are underway.”
Still, screenings at the Cineum, one of the festival’s satellite venues, were briefly suspended, the festival added.
Traffic lights in parts of Cannes and the surrounding city of Antibes stopped working after 10 a.m., leading to traffic jams and confusion in city centers. Most shops along the Croisette remained closed, and local food kiosks were only accepting cash. Train service in Cannes was also disrupted.
Authorities said restoration efforts were ongoing and urged residents to remain cautious during travel.


Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul

Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul
Updated 25 min 15 sec ago
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Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul

Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul
  • Video footage on Turkish television showed Erdogan shaking hands with Sharaa
  • The two countries’ foreign ministers also attended the talks

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was holding talks with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday, news channel CNN Turk and state media said, broadcasting video of the two leaders greeting each other.

The visit comes the day after US President Donald Trump’s administration issued orders that it said would effectively lift sanctions on Syria. Trump had pledged to unwind the measures to help the country rebuild after its devastating civil war.

Video footage on Turkish television showed Erdogan shaking hands with Sharaa as he emerged from his car at the Dolmabahce Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus Strait in Turkiye’s largest city.

The two countries’ foreign ministers also attended the talks, as well as Turkiye’s defense minister and the head of the Turkish MIT intelligence agency, according to Turkiye’s state-owned Anadolu news agency.

The Syrian delegation also included Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

MIT chief Ibrahim Kalin and Sharaa this week held talks in Syria on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militant group laying down its weapons and integrating into Syrian security forces, a Turkish security source said previously.


Former Minneapolis police chief recalls ‘absolutely gut-wrenching’ moment of seeing George Floyd video

Former Minneapolis police chief recalls ‘absolutely gut-wrenching’ moment of seeing George Floyd video
Updated 43 min 33 sec ago
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Former Minneapolis police chief recalls ‘absolutely gut-wrenching’ moment of seeing George Floyd video

Former Minneapolis police chief recalls ‘absolutely gut-wrenching’ moment of seeing George Floyd video
  • What he saw conflicted with what his own people had told him about the deadly encounter
  • The video shows Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, pinning him to the pavement

MINNEAPOLIS: Former Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo vividly remembers receiving a call around midnight from a community activist. The caller told him to watch a video spreading on social media of a white officer pinning a Black man to the ground, despite his fading pleas of “I can’t breathe.”
The dying man was George Floyd. The officer was Derek Chauvin. And Arradondo was the city’s first Black police chief.
“It was absolutely gut-wrenching,” Arradondo, 58, recalled in an interview ahead of the fifth anniversary of Floyd’s murder.
What he saw conflicted with what his own people had told him about the deadly encounter, and he knew immediately it would mean changes for his department and city. But he acknowledged he didn’t immediately foresee how deeply Floyd’s death would reverberate in the US and around the world.
“I served for 32 years,” he said. “But there’s no doubt May 25th, 2020, is a defining moment for me in my public service career.”
The video shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, pinning him to the pavement outside a convenience store where Floyd had tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Chauvin maintained the pressure for 9-1/2 minutes despite pleas from onlookers to stop, even after an off-duty firefighter tried to intervene and another officer said he couldn’t find a pulse.
‘Remnants of pain and anger’
Arradondo sat for the interview in a public library that was heavily damaged in the unrest that followed Floyd’s death. It’s on Lake Street, a major artery that saw some of the worst destruction, a street that he says still bears “remnants of the pain and anger of what occurred five years ago.”
Just down the block, there’s the empty shell of a police station that was torched during the riots. And within sight is a Target store and a Cub Foods supermarket that were looted. Storefronts remain boarded up. While some businesses were rebuilt, empty lots sit where others did not.
Arradondo still stands by his and Mayor Jacob Frey’s decision to abandon the Third Precinct and let it burn. Protesters breached the building, and police — who were spread thin — didn’t have the resources to hold it. So he ordered his officers to evacuate.
“During the most significant crisis we’ve ever experienced, arguably in the state, when it’s life or death, I’ve got to go on the side of keeping people alive and safe,” he said.
Police reform
Arradondo subsequently helped launch an overhaul of policing in the city despite a resistant police culture and a powerful officers union. He testified against Chauvin in his 2021 murder trial, a rare breach of the “blue wall” that traditionally protects officers from being held accountable for wrongdoing.
Five years on, Arradondo, who retired in 2022, said he believes law enforcement agencies nationwide have made progress on police accountability — albeit incremental progress — and that police chiefs and sheriffs now move faster to hold officers responsible for egregious misconduct.
Arradondo was promoted to chief in 2017, and his elevation was greeted with hope among local African Americans who affectionately called him “Rondo.” But his department had a reputation for being too quick to use force and many were angry about police killing young Black men in Minnesota and beyond.
Arradondo said he wishes he had made more changes to the police department before Floyd was killed.
“I would have pushed harder and sooner at trying to dismantle some of the toxic culture that allowed that indifference to exist that evening, on May 25th, 2020,” he said. “I certainly would have invested more time elevating the voices in our community that had been pleading with police departments for decades to listen to us and change.”
Making amends
Arradondo just published a book, “Chief Rondo: Securing Justice for the Murder of George Floyd,” that explores leadership, justice and race, the broader impacts of policing, and the challenges of working within a flawed system. He closes it with a letter dedicated to Floyd’s daughter, Gianna.
“I never had an opportunity to meet Gianna, but I wanted her to know that, even though I was not out there that evening, at that intersection when her father was pleading for help, that I heard him, and I was going to do everything I could to bring him justice,” he said.
He wanted to say the words that she has not heard from the four former officers who were convicted for their roles in George Floyd’s death:
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for your father being taken from you.”


Fire in Nairobi informal settlement kills eight

Fire in Nairobi informal settlement kills eight
Updated 42 min 7 sec ago
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Fire in Nairobi informal settlement kills eight

Fire in Nairobi informal settlement kills eight
  • The fire in the city’s Makina area began at around 5:00 am
  • The cause has not been established

NAIROBI: A fire tore through an informal settlement in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Saturday, killing at least eight people, police said.

The fire in the city’s Makina area began at around 5:00 am (0200 GMT), said police official Patricia Yegon.


“Eight people were burnt to death, while several others were injured,” she said, without specifying how many were hurt.

The cause has not been established, but fires frequently occur in the capital’s overcrowded and impoverished informal settlements.

The Kenyan Red Cross said 40 houses were affected before firefighters contained the blaze with the help of the local community.


US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources

US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources
Updated 53 min 22 sec ago
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US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources

US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources
  • “Five Al-Qaeda members were eliminated,” said a security source in Abyan
  • Washington once regarded the group as the militant network’s most dangerous branch

DUBAI: Five Al-Qaeda members have been killed in a strike blamed on the United States in southern Yemen, two Yemeni security sources told AFP on Saturday.

“Residents of the area informed us of the US strike... five Al-Qaeda members were eliminated,” said a security source in Abyan province, which borders the seat of Yemen’s internationally-recognized government in Aden.

“The US strike on Friday evening north of Khabar Al-Maraqsha killed five,” said a second source, referring to a mountainous area known to be used by Al-Qaeda.

The second security source added that, though the names of those killed in the strike were not known, it was believed one of Al-Qaeda’s local leaders was among the dead.

Washington once regarded the group, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as the militant network’s most dangerous branch.

Born in 2009 from the merger of Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi factions, AQAP grew and developed in the chaos of Yemen’s war, which since 2015 has pitted the Iran-backed Houthi militants against a Saudi-led coalition backing the government.

Earlier this month, the United States agreed a ceasefire with the Houthis, who have controlled large swathes of Yemen for more than a decade, ending weeks of intense American strikes on militant-held areas of the country.

The Houthis began firing at shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, prompting military strikes by the US and Britain beginning in January 2024.

The conflict in Yemen has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, although fighting decreased significantly after a UN-negotiated six-month truce in 2022.