The Christmas Island forest skink was first described in 1887 and was the most abundant lizard on the island. It was the stereotypical lizard, being midsized with no distinctive markings. These skinks were known to back in the sunlight that made its way to clearings on the forest floor. It was not uncommon to see dozens of these lizards skittering across the forest floor hunting insects. As recently as the late 1990’s, their numbers were listed as abundant. The exact cause of their rapid decline is unknown and was probably a combination of things. In the late 1900’s, up to a third of the forests were cleared for phosphate mining which affected the ecosystem. The addition of invasive species to Christmas Island also had an impact. The crazy yellow ants competed with these lizards for food. For most of its history, Christmas Island forest skinks had few predators and seemed to succumb to the giant centipedes, wolf snakes, and feral cats that came to the island. These factors have also led to the extinctions of other native species such as the Christmas Island pipistrelle, which was a bat that was last seen in 2009. The blue-tailed skink and Lister’s gecko are presumed extinct in the wild, but specimens were collected in time to establish captive breeding programs for both species. For the Christmas Island forest skink, help came a little too late. In 2009 scientists began collecting specimens to save the species, but only three females were found. Two of these females died when they accidentally got out of the cage, leaving a lone survivor, Gump. Named after the movie character Forrest Gump, Gump lived out her final few years as the last of her species. She died on May 31, 2014 marking the extinction of the Christmas Island forest skink and claiming the unfortunate title of being “the first reptile to go extinct in Australia since European colonization”. Gump died just four months after the Christmas Island forest skink was officially listed as ‘endangered’. Although Jurassic Park is fiction, scientists are working on several de-extinction projects. In fact, in 2003 scientists did bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of wild goat, for 7 minutes before it died, showing de-extinction is possible. The Christmas Island forest skink might be a candidate. Scientists would potentially use DNA from the last individual, Gump, that died in 2014. The Christmas Island forest skink was officially declared extinct in 2017 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Australian government has been working on initiatives to protect its native wildlife by restoring lost habitat and eliminating invasive species which have plagued the continent and surrounding island territories. Feral cats, crazy yellow ants, wolf snakes, and giant centipedes are just a few of the non-native species that have led to the extinction of so many animals. Australia has set up a Threatened Species Commissioner and federal environment minister to study these problems and look for solutions to save species currently at risk. Some people are trying to get Christmas Island to be labeled ‘World Heritage Site” to bring more public attention to the problems there. An island biodiversity monitoring program has been set up in Christmas Island as well. If the Christmas Island forest skink was brought back to life, could it ever be reintroduced to its native homeland in Christmas Island or would it be able to reestablish a captive breeding population like the Lister’s gecko or blue-tailed skink?