Posted on 08/17/2005 10:56:34 AM PDT by 11th_VA
Elephants, lions, cheetahs and camels could one day roam the western US under a proposal to recreate North American landscapes as they existed more than 13,000 years ago, when humans first encountered them.
The plan, proposed in a commentary in Nature and co-authored by 13 ecologists and conservation biologists, would help enrich a North American ecosystem that was left almost devoid of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene period. It would also help preserve wildlife that faces the threat of extinction in Africa and Asia.
Between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, 97 of 150 genera of large mammals disappeared from around the world. Although a warming climate played its part, the consensus is that over-hunting by humans probably had a significant role.
In North America, by about 13,000 years ago, humans were leaving evidence of big-game hunting using sophisticated stone tools. This hunting probably helped to drive many animals to extinction, including North American mammoths and mastodons, lions, cheetahs, camelops (a relative of the modern camel), horses and asses.
50-year plan
Although those animals are gone forever, related African and Asian species could serve as proxies, the authors say. They propose introducing the animals over 50 years, starting with horses, asses and camels, working up to elephants, and finally bringing in the big cats.
Eventually, the animals could roam in preserves hundreds of thousands of hectares in size. The best place to create this “Pleistocene Park” would be in the North American Great Plains, where the human population is relatively low and the grazing animals would have a ready supply of food.
But other conservationists think it is a bad idea. Chris Haney, a conservation biologist at Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, DC, US, says that substituting modern equivalents of extinct species will not be the same as restoring the ancient ecosystem. And he thinks it would detract from more pressing and “realistic” goals, such as restoring wolves, grizzlies, elk and other animals to their historic North American ranges. Even those reintroductions have faced bitter opposition from ranchers, farmers, and residents.
"I need to work on wolves, not mastodons," agrees Douglas Inkley, senior science adviser to the National Wildlife Federation in Reston, Virginia, US.
Journal reference: Nature (vol 436, p 913)
These people are idiots.
http://www.gprc.org/Million_Acre_Project/Rieke_NCUR.pdf
Original paper on the subject. 24 pages. Large file size due to graphics.
Interesting fact, a large section of land they want to buy has been losing human population for over 2 decades.
California went on a mountain lion protection binge. Now the mountain lions are so numerous that they are coming into populated areas to find food after cleaning out the wild lands. More contact with people. More attacks and killings.
There is no end to what tree hugging nutcases will propose. The fish huggers want to breach dams that provide drinking water, agricultural irrigation and electricity generation...so we can have a few more salmon of the type that are found in many other rivers and streams.
These people really need to re-evaluate their career choices.
lol! I like the way you think :)
Danke. I try not to make a habit of it. Thinking that is. Could get a guy into trouble. ;-)
5.56mm
This could work. Yesterday, we had a long story about "Catman" a decendent of the blond haired Huron-Lakota band of the GoonyBird tribe. He could be the head ranger. Move him unto the reservation where he could commune with the big cats and their other prey. He could guard the elefunks and camels and donkeys (no, not the donkeys) from the lions and tigers and leopards and such. Hell, he could move in with pride and suckle at the teat of the momma lion and really become one with them. Infact he could become part of their digestive tract.
IMHO we already have too many Asses and Elephants in our country, usually found slinking around government buildings looking for a handout ;-)
That's a cool study - can't believe that map showing unploughed areas though ...
Easy. Didn't you see Jurassic Park?
So, all of the Survivor and Amazing Race fans were right...
Rob'n' Amber really is the end of our civilization.
SD
I like this idea. Build one fence along the whole length of the Mexican border, and a second fence 10 miles inland. Take everything in between and make it a "prehistoric preserve" stocked with lions, tigers, and other warm weather big cats :)
Why only go back 13,000 years? I say we restore the earth to it's pristine state by exterminating all life on the planet.
I think it said they would be in "preserves" so the jokes about hunting them or being attacked by them probably wouldn't be realistic, I still think it's a stupid idea anyway I would rather do it with more traditional North American Wildlife, I like how preserves work in comparison to zoos because they can roam around and do whatever they do and interact but are protected and can't get out, kind of like those parks where you drive through and feed them with a bucket out your window haha but bigger and not sectioned off and with better safari like tours, I also like the idea of preserving elephants for obvious reasons.
Are people just losing their minds?
It's Bush's fault!
Mark
saltwater crocodiles
Cheers!
Do we get to hunt em'...?
Only if they've been eating too many frijoles refritos.
These people obviously need to get a life of their own, and quit trying to F up everyone elses. This type of project would render many people's property essentially worthless, due to preditors. Even if it were public property, there would be many places, if not most, that would be inaccessable to humans due to the every present danger.
Can't express how contemptable I find this suggestion to be.
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