Posted on 08/18/2005 5:52:59 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
Lions stalking deer in the stubble of a Nebraska cornfield. Elephants trumpeting across Colorado’s high plains. Cheetah slouching through the West Texas scrub.
Prominent ecologists are floating an audacious plan that sounds like a “Jumanji” sequel — transplant African wildlife to the Great Plains of North America.
Their radical proposal is greeted with gasps and groans from other scientists and conservationists who recall previous efforts to relocate foreign species halfway around the world, often with disastrous results.
The authors contend it could help save Africa’s poster species from extinction, where protection is spotty and habitat is vanishing.
“We aren’t backing a truck up to some dump site in the dark and turning lose a bunch of elephants,” said Cornell University ecologist Harry W. Greene, one of the plan’s authors.
While most modern African species never lived on the American prairie, the scientists think today’s animals could duplicate the natural roles played by their departed, even larger cousins — mastodons, camels and saber-toothed cats — that roamed for more than 1 million years alongside antelope and bison.
But the scientists’ plan, which appears in today’s issue of the journal Nature, is triggering thunderclaps of criticism, with discouraging words such as “stupid” and “defeatist” raining down.
Critics point to Australia, which was overrun by rabbits and poisonous cane toads after misguided species relocations.
Some conservationists said the plan would further damage the prospects of African species on their native turf, as well as that continent’s hopes for sustainable economic development.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestate.com ...
Belgium would be pretty expensive. Plus, I don't think it would be a good site for my African Game Preserve/Neolithic Animal/Battle Re-enactment Park.
Belgium is about 30,500 square kilometers, which comes out to about 7,533,500 acres. How much do you think that would cost to buy out on the Great Plains? No more than $1000/acre, I imagine. Probably less. Say, $7 Billion. Warren Buffet or Bill Gates could afford that, easy.
I don't think this is that bad an idea, but they are going to have to purchase reserve land. I have been out to western Nebraska, and besides that lone golf course, there is not a damn thing there.
I once killed a mouse with a Glock .40S&W.
Took three shots though.
Tough lil' bastard!!
Special circumstance.
Feral West Texas Attack Mouse had the audacity to set up a squatters
homestead in one of the stands to be used for hunting this year.
He was a pretty big one, but Eaker Glockified his rack so we didn't mount him.
You peed on the mouse!!!
And yet we still didn't mount it.
Right on.
Doudtful about the .45-70 putting pacyderm in the freezer but several shots to the head from head on with .308 ball directly into the brain works for poachers in Africa. On both the pacyderms & dorks from Cornell University.
IMHO, the .375 H&H going from perfection to perfection, is a larger .30'06. The 270 gr. bullet's trajectory is about the same as an '06s 180 grain bullet, as I recall. A beautiful thing.
It has a wonderfully low and deep boooom, and in a heavy enough rifle, is a pleasure to shoot.
I would not hesitate to shoot it at deer for meat, since it is not an extremely high velocity cartridge, but relies on bullet weight to be effective, and with a heavily constructed bullet, may not even expand in a deer, on it's way out the other side...leaving a .375 caliber hole. Another good thing, to get the job done well, and quickly.
Again, placement....and Murphy, is almost everything. It wouldn't be a "sport" otherwise, and the sportsman's challenge that it is. A clean kill is proper, respectful harvesting, a success. Having to run around and try to murder wounded game is highly unpleasant, to say the least, and nothing to brag about, unless the quarry has the ability and interest in murdering YOU!
What a great post, spatznaz. Thank you very much for it.
Animals like that make one's firearm seem truly deficient, or too powerful to recover and fight it out with in the event of a miss, or failure to stop.
Gulp.
Tiger Kills Teen During Photo Shoot
Breitbart.com ^ | August 18, 2005 | The Associated Press
Posted on 08/18/2005 6:38:13 PM EDT by xjcsa
MOUND VALLEY, Kan.
A Bengal tiger attacked and killed a teenage girl who was posing for her senior high school pictures at an animal sanctuary Thursday in southeast Kansas, authorities said.
The Labette County Sheriff's office identified the victim as Haley R. Hilderbrand, 17, of Altamont. A news release said Hilderbrand was at the Lost Creek Animal Sanctuary posing for a photo with the 7-year-old tiger, which was being restrained by its handler, when the animal attacked her.
Officers and handlers killed the animal. Emergency personnel were not able to revive Hilderbrand.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1466195/posts
How do you feel about Yale ;-)?
Where? Cornell?
Yeah. Hard sciences though. Pretty apolitical.
I know some good scientists at Cornell.
Freeper AFPhys is a Cornell physicist.
I said Mauser not Mouser......40 Short & Whimpy is a bit light for mouse huntin ain't it ?........:o)
(Near the ecology department would be best ...so that the lions could be properly 'understood'.)
As I recall, Carl Sagan was able to make the hard sciences fairly political.
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