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Reintroduce Megafauna to North America?
sneakers563 writes "A team of scientists is proposing reintroducing large mammals such as elephants, lions, cheetahs and wild horses to North America to replace populations lost 13,000 years ago. The scientists say that parks could be set up as breeding sanctuaries for species of large wild animals under threat in Africa and Asia, and that such ecological history parks could be major tourist attractions. 'Africa and parts of Asia are now the only places where megafauna are relatively intact, and the loss of many of these species within this century seems likely,' the team said."
So 13,000 years after relatives of these megafauna disappeared from North America, they want to import their cousins?
Seems the continent has had 13,000 years for it's ecosystems to adapt to the current state of things, why screw it up with sudden introduction of species that weren't actually here in the first place? And if so why stop there? I'm sure Velociraptors wandered Texas long ago.
Now if they wanted to bring back to vast herds of buffalo, sure.
Then we can just let Darwin take care of the rest.
Because, you know, some people out there actually think this might be a good idea.
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
We have enough problems keeping the native species alive. Yes, it's important to save these animals, but should we be putting more effort into saving the animals than we put into bringing animals here from half a world away? I'd be more interested in seeing them hunting free/tamper free zones for native animals.
Here's to losing my Karma Bonus again....
Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey has a huge drive-through safari with all of these animals, as well. It's almost a right of passage around here to have an ostrich eat at the gasket around your car window.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
I was at The Wilds not long ago. In answer to the question: "Will you ever have Elephants here?" the guide said, "No."
She went on to explain that, although they have paddocks with high electric fences to keep their current populations where they want them, they are inadequate for elephants. In other words, electric fence or not, elephants will just roll right on through. The investment, she said, needed to implement proper barriers to keep the elephants from just trampling into whatever area of the park they so desire (and to keep them from simply exiting the park) is too cost prohibitive to make any economic sense.
So, long story short, no elephants at the wilds. She did say they were considering getting some big cats. I don't know if she meant tigers or lions or what. Personally, I hope they get ligers. They're my favorite animal.
It is a very neat experience to go there, especially for the kids. (Don't take your merc or bimmer though, you'll be pissed at the monkeys if you do ;)
However, it's also sad and depressing in a way. It's certainly better than seeing them cooped up in cages at a zoo, but at the same time, it is not a natural environment.
For true re-introduction of these species in North America, we would absolutely _have_ to provide an enourmous amount of space for a proper reserve to have any chance of these animals being able to exist 'in the wild'. IE, independant of reliance on humans to survive at the basic level.
Another point to be made is that we do have mega-fauna in North America that I would like to give this chance to well before I would want to see us importing animals from other continents. The North American mega-fauna that went extinct here is NOT the same as the mega-fauna that currently exists in other parts of the world.
It would be wonderful to have a massive wild reserve in North America where Grizzlies, Wolves, Buffalo and numerous other endangered North American species could actually exist in their natural state devoid of human pressure.
No Comment.
North America is no stranger to large, free roaming, wild cats. Most of the time, we get along just fine (read: leave each other alone).
Oh man... I was working as a cereal chemist in the summer/fall while I was on 'summer' break between my freshman and sophomore year of university. One of the things was collecting grain samples during harvest since the U of MN started later than North Dakota State University.
So I was collecting barley and wheat samples where ND, SD, and MN meet. Talked to the farmer and he pointed out the grain bin I could snag a sample. Drive out, pull out my bags, look up... and see what looked like tiger... about 300 yards out. Scrambled for my camera, but it was gone by the time I had the lens off. (better judgment off) So after a few minutes of nothing I get out of the car, climb to the top of the bin, collect my samples, and look around. No tiger. A couple more stops and I would go home for the weekend.
Walking back to the car -*POW*- I find myself face down in the dirt with something on my back purring. The lowest rumble I've ever heard/felt. Role over and am face to face with a cougar. It let me up and it is still there purring like crazy. I scratched it behind the ears like a cat.
The farmer drives up and looks with a bit of surprise. He then tells me the cougar was a pet when it was young, but broke its leg when it slid off the kitchen table. It was declawed, but (amazingly) ended up getting to big for an indoor pet even with the stunted growth. They let it go on the property. The farmer tells me usually it hides from strangers, but one of its favorite games was pounce. He shows me. Turns his back on the cat, and watched that thing go into hunt mode. Took a bunch of pictures with the cat, loaded up my samples, and about five minutes down the road just stopped the car because I was shaking so bad. Nothing like almost finding yourself lower on the food chain. The stunned silence was something else when I called in and gave a status update on how things went. Well, I got jumped by a cougar today...
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
In Oregon there are quite a few mountain lions whose ranges extend into urban areas, but attacks are extremely rare. People don't even know when they're around, except perhaps when a pet goes missing. This is especially true since our forests extend right into our cities and towns; even Portland is this way (and is large enough to have its own internal forests). A cougar can be hiding in a clump of bushes along your property line as you're walking from the house to your car in the morning and you'll never know it's there.
About a month ago I encountered a cougar that was crouched along the edge of a nearby forest (about forty feet from the nearest building). I see all sorts of other animals in that area, but the cougar was a real surprise; I was in the area, about twenty-five feet from the cougar, for about five minutes before I noticed that the forest line didn't look quite right. Stared at it for a bit and finally made out the head and ears. It was just watching me, apparently waiting for me to leave so it could continue on it's merry way. It noticed that I had seen it and froze with a wide-eyed "oh shit!" look and since I didn't want him to panic I backed out of the area and left. I wasn't concerned since mountain lion attacks are extremely rare, and when they do happen it's almost always when the animal has the element of surprise, which this one clearly didn't.
Haven't seen him since, but that doesn't mean he isn't around. There've been fewer deer coming by so I think he's still in the general area. In any event, it's common for cougars to be near and for people to walk right by them without noticing them because they're so good at remaining hidden. Nothing to be alarmed about.
Max
My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?