De-Extinct Dire Wolves Are Officially Larger Than Modern Grey Wolves, And There Are Plans to Make More

The dire wolves brought back from extinction earlier this year are already surpassing expectations, both in growth and in size compared to modern wolves.

On Wednesday, Sept. 3, Rob Keyes of ScreenRant visited Colossal Biosciences at its Dallas headquarters, which is set to officially open in October. During the visit, Colossal’s chief animal officer Matt James confirmed that the three dire wolves — Khaleesi, Romulus, and Remus — are hitting their milestones faster than expected.

“They’re growing rapidly,” James explained. “Right now, the boys weigh over 115 pounds. For comparison, an adult gray wolf in Yellowstone usually weighs around 100 to 105 pounds. These dire wolves are only 10 months old and already heavier than that.”

James said the company has a small, dedicated team living with the wolves full-time to care for them.

Colossal Biosciences, co-founded by CEO Ben Lamm, is already preparing for more dire wolf births. The company plans to keep improving its research on the dire wolf genome, but James said most of the original process will remain unchanged because of its success.

“We’ll keep digging into the genome to see if there are any other traits we should bring back,” James said. “But overall, things went so well the first time, we only expect minor adjustments.”

He also explained that timing is important when raising new packs. “There’s a trick to mixing different age groups. We need to be careful about when we introduce new wolves so they fit into the pack naturally.”

Khaleesi, Romulus, and Remus were first revealed to the public in April. At the time, Lamm shared that his team used DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull to create the healthy wolf pups.

“It was once said, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,’” Lamm said in a statement. “Today, our team gets to share some of that magic and its bigger role in conservation.”

Since then, Colossal has posted regular updates about the wolves’ progress. Earlier this month, Khaleesi was introduced to Romulus and Remus after initially being kept separate for safety reasons. Trainers said the wolves showed playful personalities when brought together, though Khaleesi was a little hesitant at first.

After successful one-on-one introductions, the three dire wolves were able to interact as a group.

Beyond dire wolves, Colossal has also announced plans to revive the extinct moa bird, a giant flightless bird that once lived in New Zealand. The project will be developed with the help of filmmaker Peter Jackson.