Big game 'could roam US plains'

BBC News ^ | August 18, 2005 | Unsigned

[aculeus]

If a group of US researchers have their way, lions, cheetahs, elephants and camels could soon roam parts of North America, Nature magazine reports.

The plan, which is called Pleistocene re-wilding, is intended to be a proactive approach to conservation.

The initiative would help endangered African animals while creating jobs, the Cornell University scientists say.

Evidence also suggests, they claim, that "megafauna" can help maintain ecosystems and boost biodiversity.

"If we only have 10 minutes to present this idea, people think we're nuts," said Harry Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University, US.

"But if people hear the one-hour version, they realise they haven't thought about this as much as we have. Right now we are investing all our megafauna hopes on one continent - Africa."

Wild America

During the Pleistocene era - between 1.8 million to about 10,000 years ago - North America was home to a myriad of mega fauna.

Once, American cheetah ( Acinonyx trumani ) prowled the plains hunting pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana ) - an antelope-like animal found throughout the deserts of the American Southwest - and Camelops , an extinct camelid, browsed on arid land.

But man's arrival on the continent - about 13,000 ago, according to one prevalent theory - pushed many of these impressive creatures to extinction.

Their disappearance left glaring gaps in the complex web of interactions, upon which a healthy ecosystem depends. The pronghorn, for example, has lost its natural predator and only its startling speed - of up to about 60mph - hints at its now forgotten foe.

By introducing living counterparts to the extinct animals, the researchers say, these voids could be filled. So, by introducing free-ranging African cheetahs to the Southwest, strong interactions with pronghorns could be restored, while providing cheetahs with a new habitat.

Public acceptance

Other living species that could "stand in" for Pleistocene-era animals in North America include feral horses ( Equus caballus ), wild asses ( E. asinus ), Bactrian camels ( Camelus bactrianus ), Asian ( Elephas maximus ) and African ( Loxodonta africana ) elephants and lions ( Panthera leo ).

"Obviously, gaining public acceptance is going to be a huge issue, especially when you talk about reintroducing predators," said lead author Josh Donlan, of Cornell University. "There are going to have to be some major attitude shifts. That includes realising predation is a natural role, and that people are going to have to take precautions."

However Americans might do more than put up with their new compatriots - they might actually welcome them.

According to Dr Donlan and his colleagues, the re-wilding plan would offer ecotourism and land-management jobs to help the struggling economies of the Great Plains and Southwest.

Dr Donlan said that large tracts of private land are probably the most promising place to start, with each step carefully guided by the fossil record and the involvement of experts and research.

"We are not advocating backing up a van and letting elephants and cheetah out into the landscape," he said. "All of this would be science driven."

Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2005/08/18 09:24:50 GMT

© BBC MMV

[Dog]

This is nuts.

[ClearCase_guy]

the re-wilding plan would offer ecotourism and land-management jobs

And medical jobs. And lawyer jobs.

[freedomcrusader]

A solution in search of a problem. And a ludicrous solution at that.

[yoe]

Oh Brother! Who will give grants and funding for this totally hair brained idea? Can't they just be happy with the bobcat or the Coyote - the animal de jure, who needs no care, funding, or grants, just your pet cat or dog occasionally?

[tfecw]

So they think that by letting lions and elephants run around it'll stop global warming or something?

Doesn't the Sahara creep up on the African planes every year? If so, I'd say you need more than Lions and Elephants.

[phil1750]

Read this in our local paper here in Missouri. These people are nuts.

[wmileo]

I agree. The only big game we should have in the USA are the existing game animals indigenous to North America. We are already full with animals which the Environmental Extremist say we can not hunt as it is. If a continent as big as Africa can not sustain there natural population of Wildlife, try some other wasteland, like France.

[babyface00]

If we can hunt and kill them, this might not be such a bad idea...

[KarlInOhio]

Only native species allowed. If we start importing cheetahs and elephants, they may spread like kudzu.

We need to recover the DNA of wolly mammoths. However, since it has warmed up since the last ice age, we'll need to genetically engineer them to be short haired.

[KarlInOhio]

If a continent as big as Africa can not sustain there natural population of Wildlife, try some other wasteland, like France.

Great. One roar and the French will be organizing their population to be eaten by their new lion-overlords.

[babyface00]

Would they still be wooley mammoths without the hair? Maybe we'd have to rename them "naked mammoths" or something...

[Smokin' Joe]

I guess this bunch of distinguished biologists does not recognize the Indian Elephant as "megafauna" no the tiger, etc., etc.... Geniuses, every one.

[PoorMuttly]

Fine...but forget the Predators.

WE can take care of that even better. Science, you know.

FOOD science.

[babyface00]

...or "fuzzy mammoths"

[Dominick]

I agree!

I am all for it, if we can hunt them.

[PJammers]

"Dr Donlan said that large tracts of private land are probably the most promising place to start, with each step carefully guided by the fossil record and the involvement of experts and research."


Can you say "land grab". If they can prove that this project could increase tax revenue then they have the full backing of the supreme court.

v/r

[KarlInOhio]

If they range far enough south, they could be Mexican Hairless Woolly Mammoths. Like Chihuahuas, only huge and with trunks and tusks.

[big'ol_freeper]

There is precedence for this. I was stationed at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and when I arrived there I was fascinated that African Oryx has been introduced to the range. From the WSMR website:

"Because White Sands is a military installation which is off-limits to the public, much of its 3,200 square miles acts as a de facto wildlife refuge.

One of the more interesting animals found on the missile range is the oryx. This antelope is from the Kalahari region of Africa. It is a big animal, weighing between 400 and 500 pounds and is noted for its long black horns.

The animals were first introduced onto White Sands in 1969 by the New Mexico Game and Fish Department as part of its exotic game animal introduction program. Ibex and barbary sheep were introduced elsewhere in the state as part of the program."

[Clemenza]

I knew a guy who wanted to release monkeys throughout the state of Florida. Of course, this guy can often be seen asking for spare change these days.