section_path: Extinction/Revival efforts/Dire Wolf Project
section_name: Dire Wolf Project
paragraph_text: Dire Wolf Project
  
  There have been attempts to recreate the dire wolf or its phenotype. The first, the Dire Wolf Project, is a program initiated in 1988 by Lois Schwarz of the American Alsatian Breeders Association, aiming to selectively breed dogs to present a dire wolf-like appearance and sell them to private owners. The dogs were originally produced by crossing German shepherds and Alaskan malamutes, with English mastiffs and great Pyrenees added for mass and proportions, Akitas for shorter ears and Irish wolfhounds for height and length. As Schwarz herself acknowledges, the project is not based on the scientific method, with the dogs being selected purely on "wishful and fantasy-oriented" aesthetic and practical grounds "matched more to the needs of prospective owners than prehistoric fact".