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Cow Could Soon Be Largest Land Mammal Left Due To Human Activity, Says Study (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The cow could be left as the biggest land mammal on Earth in a few centuries, according to a new study that examines the extinction of large mammals as humans spread around the world. The spread of hominims -- early humans and related species such as Neanderthals -- from Africa thousands of years ago coincided with the extinction of megafauna such as the mammoth, the sabre-toothed tiger and the glyptodon, an armadillo-like creature the size of a car. "There is a very clear pattern of size-biased extinction that follows the migration of hominims out of Africa," the study's lead author, Felisa Smith, of the University of New Mexico, said of the study published in the journal Science on Thursday. Humans apparently targeted big species for meat, while smaller creatures such as rodents escaped, according the report, which examined trends over 125,000 years. In North America, for instance, the mean body mass of land-based mammals has shrunk to 7.6kg (17lb) from 98kg after humans arrived. If the trend continues "the largest mammal on Earth in a few hundred years may well be a domestic cow at about 900kg", the researchers wrote. That would mean the loss of elephants, giraffes and hippos. In March, the world's last male northern white rhino died in Kenya.
And the end of the cows will come when meat and milk substitutes become cheaper and better than 'cow'
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
Take species that are alive right now, and re-introduce tem in areas where animals similar to those species became extint.
This is not unprecedented. In the pleistocene, there were horses in America, those became extint, and later re-introduced, with little or no effect in the ecosystem
Same with the Hippos in colombia (imported by no other than Pablo Escobar Gaviria, of "Narco" fame). Here, the efect on the ecosystem is low, but since the animals are very territorial, the populalition has a relationship with them of "Awe and respect"
In Venezuela there used to be an animal called Mixotoxodon Larensis, similar (but not related to) rhinos and hippos. It went all the way from brazil to Texas (the toxodon originated in patagonia, but our variation traveled more). We could re-introduce rhinos in venezuela and Brazil. Rhinos eat grass, like cows, so no biggie for the ecosystem, and are not a huge problem for humans (unlike Hippos hicha are VERY territorial).
In Venezuela we used to have a thinguie called the mastodons (other parts of america had them too, they came from the north), similar to elephants, so we may as well adopt elephants, either african, assian or both. Again, vegetarians, big, no biggie for the environmet.
Also, we used to have gavialoids (there are crocodiles, aligators, and gavials), but they became extinct, so may as well get gavials and "fake gavials" (which, funny enough, turned out to be true gavials ;-) ) which are on the brink to extintion, and re-deploy. Since they eat only fish, are no danger to humans, and could deploy in places with "bad" fish (think piranha or electric eels).
I think a similar case could be made about the other continents.
The opportunities are plentyfull, is just the disposition.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
>> If the trend of hunting the larger animals for meat continues for 300+ years..
Here in the US the primary threat to large (wild) mammal population is habitat loss, not hunting. The hunting permit system is such that Hunters spend giant piles of money on conservation to combat this problem.
There is a fantastic example of this working in my home state, Tennessee. Elk were hunted out of the state more than a century ago, but hunters paid to reintroduce them in 2000. There are ~500 in the state now. ... And yes, you can hunt them, if you are willing to drop the price of a decent used car to buy the permit.
Want more Moose? Take up hunting.
there: https://xkcd.com/1338/