The Cloning Company Trying to Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth Enlists ‘Paw Patrol’ in Its Efforts (Exclusive)
Colossal Biosciences, the de-extinction company known for its efforts to revive the Woolly Mammoth, has partnered with Paramount and Spin Master to use the children's franchise Paw Patrol to promote real-world conservation. The campaign, timed alongside Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, aims to teach children that endangered animals face genuine threats such as disease and human activity, rather than the cartoonish villains their favourite pups typically rescue them from.
The tie-in includes a call-to-action video featuring Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty and Carter Young, who voices the character Marshall, encouraging children to see themselves as real-life protectors of the planet. Colossal has previously used genetic technology to help bring back Red Wolves, of which only 14 remain in the wild, and employs AI-enabled bioacoustic sensors to study animal calls; it says it is also involved in more than 25 AI and biotechnology conservation projects to protect species including rhinos and amphibians.
- Colossal Biosciences partners with Paw Patrol on a conservation campaign for children.
- Campaign coincides with release of Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie.
- Colossal has helped revive Red Wolves and backs 25+ conservation projects.
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Colossal Biosciences is a biotechnology company pursuing “de-extinction”: using genetic techniques to try to recreate traits of extinct animals, including the woolly mammoth. The company also says it works on conservation projects aimed at helping living species at risk.
Paw Patrol is a children’s entertainment franchise about a team of rescue dogs, made by Spin Master and shown by Paramount. Its stories often feature imaginary dangers and villains, while real endangered animals face threats such as disease and human activity.
The partnership brings together a children’s franchise and a biotechnology company to introduce conservation to young audiences. It reflects wider efforts to use media and technology to raise awareness and support for wildlife.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The partnership translates Paw Patrol's unprecedented audience reach into conservation awareness for millions of children who wouldn't otherwise learn about endangered species. Colossal's track record—protecting Red Wolves, developing bioacoustic monitoring, managing 25+ conservation projects—demonstrates this is substantive work beyond marketing, with the partnership amplifying legitimate efforts already underway. Entertainment partnerships are pragmatically effective at generating both public engagement and funding for conservation that traditionally struggles to command attention in a crowded media landscape.
The case against
Whilst Colossal undertakes genuine conservation work, the partnership risks greenwashing by lending a beloved children's brand's moral authority to a commercial biotech company without meaningful scrutiny of whether de-extinction represents sound conservation strategy. Resources devoted to speculative mammoth resurrection are resources not protecting hundreds of currently endangered species facing imminent extinction—a more achievable and urgent goal. Such entertainment partnerships may also trivialise genuine environmental challenges by suggesting they're solvable through consumer brand alignment rather than the harder systemic work conservation truly requires.