The creation of three "dire wolf" pups has raised hopes that it may be possible to resurrect extinct animals. But some scientists have grave concerns.

When news broke that Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotechnology company, had resurrected three extinct dire wolves, the internet reacted with awe. It is a species that last roamed the earth some 13,000 years ago, but has found recent fame thanks to Game of Thrones, which features fictional dire wolves.

The story was stoked further when a photograph of Game of Thrones author George R R Martin holding one of the adorable white pups was released. "I have to say the rebirth of the direwolf has stirred me as no scientific news has since Neil Armstrong [walked] on the moon," Martin wrote on his blog.

Martin, who is an investor in Colossal, added that more extinct species were on the way, including the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger and dodo.

Colossal – which is currently valued at $10bn (£7.6bn) and is backed by high-profile donors such as Chris Hemsworth, Paris Hilton and the CIA – boldly states on its website that it's "going to fix" the problem of extinction.

According to Matt James, the company's chief animal officer, the aim is not to create a Jurassic Park-like zoo full of extinct animals, but to reintroduce lost species back into the habitats they once occupied. Once those animals are settled in, Colossal expects them to exert positive change on their habitats. "We're trying to focus on species that can have cascading effects on an ecosystem to improve stability, lift biodiversity and maybe even help with climate change buffering," James tells the BBC.

De-extinction has been talked about for decades. But Colossal's three dire wolves – which are actually grey wolves that possess 20 edited genes that are meant to give them dire wolf-like features – represent the most serious effort to date to make that lofty vision a reality.

In the wake of the dire wolf announcement, however, many scientists have criticised Colossal's approach. They see efforts to bring back long-extinct species as costly wastes of resources and a distraction from the significant work that's needed to save still-living species.

The BBC spoke with several experts in fields ranging from conservation biology to paleontology about efforts to resurrect species from extinction and whether they are likely to achieve the goals that Colossal hopes.

Chief among the concerns raised was that claiming it is possible to bring back extinct species may actually lead to more existing species being lost. It could give politicians and industries the idea that damage to the environment can be fixed by resurrecting species.

Such a message could be particularly damaging at a time when the US is withdrawing from international agreements on climate change and revoking measures intended protect the environment and wildlife, says David Shiffman, a marine conservation biologist and independent consultant based in Washington, DC.

"It's beyond irresponsible for these people [Colossal] to be claiming some sort of conservation victory in this environment," he says.

This worry was quickly reinforced when Doug Burgum, the US Secretary of the Interior – who the Colossal team met with in advance of their dire wolf announcement – praised the company's work on X as a new "bedrock for modern species conservation". Burgum also criticised the ineffectiveness of the "endangered species list" – presumably a reference to the Red List of Threatened Species, drawn up by the International Union of Conservation (IUCN) or the list of threatened & endangered species maintained by branches of the US Government – thanks to what he characterised as a focus on regulation. "Since the dawn of our nation, it has been innovation – not regulation – that has spawned American greatness," he wrote.

Biodiversity is under a seemingly endless onslaught of threats, virtually all of which are imposed by humans. The leading reasons, according to the IUCN, are habitat destruction, invasive species, overexploitation from fishing and hunting, illegal wildlife trade, pollution and climate change.

Colossal claims that its de-extinction work will directly benefit........

© BBC