Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Biotech, cloning and de-extinction · United States · 2022–2026

Colossal Biosciences: de-extinction ventures, funding and the Burgum remark

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 5 insufficient · 1 not measured · 3 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Does the project contribute to conservation of living species?
  • International bodies IUCN Canid Specialist Group: The project does not contribute to conservation and could threaten the grey wolf's conservation status. International Wolf Center
  • Government and regulators Doug Burgum, US Secretary of the Interior: Used the announcement to criticise the endangered species list, comparing it to “Hotel California”. People via AOL
  • Researchers Bennett and colleagues (2017): Public funding for 11 extinct species in New Zealand would mean forgoing protection of 31 living species.

Colossal Biosciences announced in April 2025 pups it presented as dire wolves; the IUCN Canid Specialist Group said they were not, and the company's chief scientist later described them as cloned grey wolves with 20 edits. The company announced a valuation of US$10.2 billion in January 2025, up from US$1.5 billion, and the US Interior Secretary cited the announcement while criticising the endangered species list.

US$10.2 billionColossal's valuation announced with its Series C round (January 2025)
Company-announced. Reported as US$10.32 billion in September 2025; talks at US$20–30 billion were reported in July 2026 and had not closed.

Status As of July 2026: a round at a US$20–30 billion valuation was reported under discussion and not closed; the Endangered Species Act “harm” definition was rescinded in a rule published 14 July 2026 and challenged in three lawsuits.

What?
Colossal Biosciences announced pups it presented as dire wolves, which the IUCN Canid Specialist Group said were not dire wolves, while raising funds at a valuation of US$10.2 billion; the US Interior Secretary cited the announcement against the endangered species list. International Wolf Center
Where?
Colossal is based in Dallas, United States; the BioVault was opened in Dubai with funding from the United Arab Emirates. The Debrief
When?
The announcement was on 7 April 2025; funding rounds ran from October 2022 to July 2026. Dallas Innovates
Who?
Gained
  • TWG Global, In-Q-Tel, Draper Associates and other investors — Hold stakes in a company whose valuation rose from US$1.5 billion to US$10.2 billion between the earlier round and January 2025. TechCrunch
  • Colossal Biosciences — Raised a total of US$435 million by January 2025 and reported further funding rounds through 2026, including US$60 million from the UAE. Colossal Biosciences
Lost
  • Living species that would go unfunded in the scenarios modelled by Bennett and colleagues (2017) — The study calculated that funding 11 extinct species in New Zealand would mean forgoing protection of 31 living species.
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The company defines its mission as making extinction a thing of the past and has set a 2028 target for a mammoth; its chief executive lists spin-outs, conservation technology and biodiversity credits as revenue sources. Colossal Biosciences
How?
The pups are cloned grey wolves with 20 edits, per the company's chief scientist; the company raised funds from investors including TWG Global and In-Q-Tel, with an announcement managed through embargoed access for selected journalists. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Colossal Biosciences, a company based in Dallas, announced in April 2025 pups that it presented as dire wolves, a canid reported to have gone extinct about 12,000 years ago. Its chief scientist, Beth Shapiro, later told New Scientist that the animals were cloned grey wolves with 20 edits. The company has set a 2028 target for a mammoth.

On 18 April 2025 the IUCN Canid Specialist Group stated that the two species differ in thousands of genes and that the pups were not dire wolves. According to the group, the project does not meet IUCN's guideline on proxy species, does not contribute to conservation and could threaten the conservation status of the grey wolf.

In January 2025 Colossal closed a US$200 million Series C round led by TWG Global, the company of Mark Walter and Thomas Tull, at a US$10.2 billion valuation, bringing total funding to US$435 million. TechCrunch reported that the previous valuation was US$1.5 billion and that the company had no revenue. Investors named include Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, Paul Tudor Jones, Breyer Capital, Draper Associates and In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the US Central Intelligence Agency. A further US$120 million was raised in September 2025 at a valuation of US$10.32 billion, bringing the total to more than US$555 million. In February 2026 a US$60 million investment from the United Arab Emirates accompanied the opening of a biological sample vault, the BioVault, in Dubai's Museum of the Future, bringing the total to US$615 million. In July 2026 Axios, as relayed by Dealroom, reported talks to raise at a valuation of US$20–30 billion. The company's chief executive, Ben Lamm, listed three sources of future revenue: spin-out companies, conservation technology sold to governments, and biodiversity credits to be sold when a species is released.

On 7 April 2025 the US Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, wrote on X that the endangered species list was like “Hotel California” and that the only thing he wanted to see go extinct was the need for such a list. On 25 June 2026 Colossal signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Fish and Wildlife Service on biobanking and conservation genomics. On 14 July 2026 the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service published a rule removing the definition of “harm” from Endangered Species Act regulations, citing the Supreme Court's 2024 Loper Bright decision; three lawsuits followed. The sources reviewed do not link the rule to Colossal, and no statement by Colossal about it is on record.

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a small number of journalists were given access to the April 2025 announcement under non-disclosure agreements and an embargo, and the first wave of coverage included no outside scientific criticism. In November 2025 Colossal acquired ViaGen Pets & Equine, an animal-cloning business; the price was not disclosed.

  1. 2022In-Q-Tel invests in Colossal (reported October)
  2. 2025Series C of US$200 million at a US$10.2 billion valuation (January); dire wolf announcement and Burgum post (7 April); IUCN Canid Specialist Group statement (18 April); chief scientist describes the animals as cloned grey wolves with 20 edits (May); a further US$120 million (September); acquisition of ViaGen Pets & Equine (November)
  3. 2026US$60 million from the UAE and BioVault in Dubai (February); memorandum of understanding with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (25 June); Endangered Species Act “harm” definition rescinded (published 14 July); Axios reports talks at a US$20–30 billion valuation (20 July)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“Hotel California”

Doug Burgum, US Secretary of the Interior, comparing the endangered species list to the song, on X · 7 April 2025 · People via AOL

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Are the animals dire wolves?
Company or project
Colossal Biosciences

Presented the pups as dire wolves in April 2025; its chief scientist later described them as cloned grey wolves with 20 edits.

International bodies
IUCN Canid Specialist Group

The two species differ in thousands of genes and the pups are not dire wolves (18 April 2025).

International Wolf Center
Researchers
Jacquelyn Gill, palaeoecologist

Said, quoted by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, that science is not done by press release without a paper.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Press and investigations
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Reported that the announcement was managed with embargoed access for selected journalists and that early coverage lacked outside scientific criticism.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Does the project contribute to conservation of living species?
International bodies
IUCN Canid Specialist Group

The project does not contribute to conservation and could threaten the grey wolf's conservation status.

International Wolf Center
Government and regulators
Doug Burgum, US Secretary of the Interior

Used the announcement to criticise the endangered species list, comparing it to “Hotel California”.

People via AOL
Researchers
Bennett and colleagues (2017)

Public funding for 11 extinct species in New Zealand would mean forgoing protection of 31 living species.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Pups presented as dire wolves returned from extinction
    Colossal Biosciences, announcement of April 2025 · Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
  • A mission to “put extinction in the past” and a target date of 2028 for a mammoth
    Colossal Biosciences · Colossal Biosciences
  • A BioVault in Dubai presented as a “modern Noah's Ark”
    Ben Lamm, Colossal chief executive · The Debrief

Recorded

  • The two species differ in thousands of genes; the pups are not dire wolves; the project does not meet IUCN's proxy-species guideline, does not contribute to conservation and could threaten the grey wolf's conservation status (IUCN Canid Specialist Group, 18 April 2025)
    International Wolf Center
  • Colossal's chief scientist described the animals as cloned grey wolves with 20 edits (New Scientist, May 2025)
  • Selected journalists signed non-disclosure agreements and received embargoed access; the first wave of coverage included no outside scientific criticism
    Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
  • Total funding rose from US$435 million (January 2025) to more than US$555 million (September 2025) and US$615 million (February 2026)
    Colossal Biosciences
  • Colossal had no revenue in January 2025; its previous valuation was US$1.5 billion
    TechCrunch
  • A figure of more than 22 billion impressions comes from a 2023 promotional email of an investment fund and is not an independent measurement
    Webworm
  • In 2022 In-Q-Tel said the investment was more about capability than about mammoths (as rendered in the Dallas Innovates report)
    Dallas Innovates
  • The Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service removed the Endangered Species Act regulatory definition of “harm”; the old definition covered significant habitat modification that actually kills or injures wildlife and had been upheld by the Supreme Court in 1995; three lawsuits were filed
    EPOnline
  • A 2017 study (Bennett and colleagues, Nature Ecology & Evolution) calculated that public funding to protect 11 extinct species in New Zealand would mean forgoing protection of 31 living species, and 5 versus 42 in New South Wales
  • The sources reviewed show no measurable conservation output on the company's page

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Series C (January 2025)$200m
Further round (September 2025)$120m
UAE investment (February 2026)$60m
Currency: USD · Window: 2025–2026. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Colossal Biosciences (May 2025): Its chief scientist, Beth Shapiro, described the animals as cloned grey wolves with 20 edits.
  • In-Q-Tel (October 2022): Said, as rendered in the Dallas Innovates report, that the investment was more about capability than about mammoths. · Dallas Innovates
  • IUCN Canid Specialist Group (18 April 2025): Said the pups are not dire wolves and that the project does not contribute to conservation. · International Wolf Center

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2026–Ongoing
    Lawsuits over the rescission of the Endangered Species Act “harm” definition
    Not specified in the sources reviewed · Administrative · Not named in the sources reviewed → Not named in the sources reviewed

    Three lawsuits were filed after the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service rescinded the regulatory definition of “harm” on 14 July 2026. The sources reviewed record no link between these cases and Colossal. EPOnline

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Valuation after Series C
US$10.2bn
January 2025, from US$1.5bn previously (TechCrunch)
Species identity of the animals
Grey wolves, 20 edits
Colossal's chief scientist, May 2025; the IUCN Canid Specialist Group said they are not dire wolves
Contribution to conservation
None, per IUCN group
IUCN Canid Specialist Group, 18 April 2025; no measurable conservation output on the company's page in the sources reviewed
Endangered Species Act “harm” definition
Removed
FWS and NMFS rule published 14 July 2026; habitat modification alone is no longer prohibited

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluationKey earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
  • Disputed Does the project contribute to conservation of living species?

Figures

  • Insufficient Valuation talks: Reported talks of July 2026, not closed; total funding reported as US$625 million.
  • Insufficient Impressions claimed: From a promotional email of an investment fund; not an independent measurement.

Accounts

Record

  • None on record Colossal's actual revenue and the lead investor of the round under discussion in July 2026 have not been disclosed; the round had not closed.
  • Disputed The effective date of the Endangered Species Act harm rescission differs between sources (13 August, 12 September or 14 September 2026).
  • Not disclosed The purchase price of ViaGen Pets & Equine was not disclosed.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the number of pups, their names, the description of the animals as the first return from extinction, and the detail of 20 edits across 14 genes in grey wolf cells.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that Colossal was founded in 2021.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that Burgum told staff to pick a favourite species and call Colossal. The primary source was not found.
  • None on record Reported in a secondary summary only: a September 2026 order by President Trump asking for a decision within 90 days on removing the grey wolf and Mexican wolf from protection. No direct link to Colossal is on record.
  • None on record A figure of 22 billion impressions appeared in a 2023 investment-fund email; it is not an independent measurement.
  • None on record No response from Colossal to the IUCN statement or to the Burgum remark is on record in the sources reviewed.

Did the harm stop?

The sources reviewed record no harm to nature caused directly by the funding rounds or by the pups; the announcement was cited in an argument against the endangered species list.

Who paid?

Not established in the sources. A 2017 study calculated that public funding for 11 extinct species in New Zealand would mean forgoing protection of 31 living species.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ International bodies

Company or project

Press and investigations

  7. Dire wolf or Colossal misrepresentation?
    Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists · 2025-04-10

International bodies

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Institutions

IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its global list assessing species' risk of extinction.
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