Scientists Hit Big Milestone In Quest To Bring Back Wooly Mammoth, Despite Warning From 6 Jurassic Park Films

Scientists have taken a big step forward in bringing back the wooly mammoth, the giant, hairy, Mr. Snuffleupagus-looking beast that went extinct thousands of years ago.

According to NPR, Dallas-based bioscience company Colossal Biosciences says they've taken a big step toward bringing the elephant-like animal back from extinction.

That step is that the company has created induced pluripotent stem cells for the Asian elephant, which happens to be the wooly mammoth's closest living relatives.

There's a long way to go before we see a full-blown wooly mammoth clone, which gives us ample time to ask the biggest question: why?

Sure mammoths are pretty sweet, but aren't there smaller extinct animals we could practice cloning first? (Getty Images)

Why Are We Trying To Bring Back Mammoths Instead Of Anything Else?

Trust me, if someone cloned a mammoth and I had the chance to see it, I would. We all would, even if just for the story and maybe an Instagram photo.

You think the post of you and your buddies on the golf course was raking in likes, imagine what a mammoth could do.

But I still can't figure out why we're going down the prehistoric animal cloning road when there are six Jurassic Park/World films — with a seventh on the way —‚ warning about this exact thing.

If you haven't seen those — *Spoiler Alert* — it never goes swimmingly.

Which then begs the question, if we've never brought an animal back from extinction why are we starting with the mammoth?

Sure, they're super badass, but they were big. I get that elephants being such close relatives makes them an appealing option, but is there not some sort of small prehistoric mouse we could bring back first? Maybe get some reps in with a docile prehistoric turtle?

Mammoths didn't have sharp teeth, but they had some gnarly tusks and were well, mammoth. I don't think a cloned mammoth would bite some dude in half while he hides in a port-a-potty like a tyrannosaurus would, but a mammoth would still cause some problems if it had a bad day.

What if It gored some dude with a tusk? What if it charged at someone? What if you dropped your phone and the mammoth accidentally steps on it? 

What a nightmare.

We're a long way from the return of the mammoth, and while the science is fascinating, that might be a good thing.