The billionaire says the reappearance of dire wolves is “cool”—but he has his eyes set on an even frostier, furrier companion.
Elon Musk is once again lighting up the internet, this time not for rockets or Teslas, but for extinct animals. After a biotech firm claimed it had successfully brought back dire wolves—yes, the same iconic beasts from the Ice Age—Musk said he was impressed. But, of course, he didn’t stop there. The billionaire now says he wants a miniature woolly mammoth as his next pet.
He shared the idea in a string of tongue-in-cheek posts on X (formerly Twitter), reacting to footage of wolf-like cubs said to be genetically engineered to resemble dire wolves. Musk’s online antics have always stirred buzz, but this one? It’s barking mad—in the best way.
The Viral Video That Started It All
The now-viral clip shows three muscular, white-haired cubs trotting, snoozing, and howling. The aesthetics? Straight out of Game of Thrones. In fact, one of the follow-up images posted by Musk himself showed the cubs Photoshopped lounging on the Iron Throne.
The source? A de-extinction startup—name still undisclosed—claims these creatures are lab-grown lookalikes of the prehistoric dire wolf.
No official scientific review has yet confirmed their DNA makeup. But that didn’t stop Musk.
Musk’s Next Wish: A Tiny Ice Age Throwback
His post, unsurprisingly, has sparked a flood of reactions online. Some users cheered the idea. Others questioned the ethics. One person asked, “Would it fit in a Cybertruck?” Another said, “Elon just wants his own Flintstones zoo.”
There’s no word on whether he’s serious. But with Musk, it’s hard to tell where the joke ends and the roadmap begins.
Dire Wolves: Real, Fictional, or Bio-Engineered?
But it wasn’t just a bigger version of the gray wolf. Scientifically, it was a separate species, with thicker bones and a much stronger bite force. They went extinct around 10,000 years ago—until now, supposedly.
The biotech firm says they didn’t clone an actual dire wolf. Instead, they combined wolf, dog, and some ancient DNA fragments to engineer a new breed that looks and acts like one. Think of it as Jurassic Park with a dash of Photoshop.
Here’s a quick contrast of old vs. new:
| Feature | Original Dire Wolf | Engineered “Dire Wolf” |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Larger, heavier skull | Similar body structure |
| DNA | Pure ancient genome | Hybrid with modern DNA |
| Fur | Darker shades | Snow-white coat |
| Status | Extinct ~10,000 years | Lab-born 2025 |
The animals, currently just cubs, are being monitored in a secure facility. No reports yet on whether they’re open for adoption—or how much they cost.
Not Musk’s First Rodeo with Weird Pets
This isn’t Elon’s first dip into the exotic animal pool.
Remember when he tweeted about building a “real” dragon? Or his public fascination with Neuralink making “telepathic monkeys”? Yeah, this guy doesn’t really stick to the pet store aisle.
And now, a mammoth joins his wishlist.
The woolly mammoth, by the way, is already in the sights of a real biotech firm: Colossal Biosciences. The company, backed by multiple investors, has been working on inserting mammoth genes into Asian elephant embryos, aiming for a revival by 2028.
So technically, Musk isn’t too far off.
Whether he’s trolling or placing a down payment—we’ll see.
The Internet Reacts: Memes, Cheers, and Facepalms
It didn’t take long for Musk’s posts to blow up.
Thousands of users reposted, commented, and added their own extinct-animal wishlist.
Some highlights from X:
-
“Miniature mammoth? I barely have room for my cat.”
-
“He’s one Neuralink upgrade away from Jurassic Park.”
-
“Dire wolves today, dinosaurs tomorrow. Elon never rests.”
Others were less amused. Animal rights groups have voiced concerns in the past about de-extinction projects, especially when animals are brought back for novelty or status rather than conservation.
But none of that has slowed the meme train. Someone already Photoshopped Musk riding a baby mammoth through the streets of Austin.
