General Chat / The American Savanna?

DENVER (Aug. 17) - If a group of prominent ecologists have their way, lions and elephants could someday be roaming the Great Plains of North America.

The idea of transplanting African wildlife to this continent is being 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.

But the proposal's supporters say it could help save some species from extinction in Africa, where protection is spotty and habitats are vanishing. They say the relocated animals could also restore the biodiversity in North America to a condition closer to what it was before humans overran the landscape more than 10,000 years ago.

Most modern African species never lived on the American prairie, the scientists acknowledge. But some of their biological cousins like mastodons, camels and saber-toothed cats, roamed for more than 1 million years alongside antelope and herds of bison until Ice Age glaciers retreated and humans started arriving.

The rapid extinction of dozens of large mammal species in North America - perhaps due to a combination of climate change and overhunting - triggered a landslide of changes to the environmental landscape. Relocating large animals to vast ecological parks and private reserves would begin to repair the damage, proponents say, while offering new ecotourism opportunities to a withering region.

The scientists' plan appears in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. It is attracting interest from some influential circles, including media mogul Ted Turner, America's largest private landowner. He owns huge ranches in several states to support his commercial bison operation and personal conservation initiatives.

But the plan is also generating criticism on both sides of the conservation debate.

Media mogul Ted Turner is interested in the idea, but many scientists say it's misguided. 

"It is not restoration to introduce animals that were never here," said University of Washington anthropologist Donald K. Grayson. "Why introduce Old World camels and lions when there are North American species that could benefit from the same kind of effort?"

Others wonder whether people would support African lions making a home on the range, given the opposition to the reintroduction of native wolves in the rural West.

"Just when you think the world has gotten as weird as it can get, something like this comes along," said Steve Pilcher, executive vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association.

"I wonder how many calves or lambs it would take to feed a family of lions for a month?" Pilcher mused. "We sort of know what it takes for wolves, but something tells me we would be in a whole new ball game."

Some wildlife conservationists said the idea would further damage the prospects of both threatened species and Africa's hopes for sustainable economic development.

"Such relocations would affect future tourism opportunities for Africa," said Elizabeth Wamba, the East Africa spokeswoman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Nairobi, Kenya. "The welfare of the animals would have been reduced by transporting and exposing them to different eco-climatic conditions."

Critics also point to calamitous relocations of foreign species in Australia. Rabbits brought from Europe swarmed across parts of the Outback, and noxious cane toads brought from South America to control bugs in sugar cane fields killed native wildlife.

The authors of the new plan say they are not discouraged.

"We are not saying this is going to be easy," said Cornell University ecologist Josh Donlan, the lead author of the proposal. "There are huge and substantial risks and obstacles."

The plan grew from a retreat at Turner's New Mexico ranch - a 155,000-acre property in the foothills of the Gila Mountains that contains a mix of ecosystems ranging from desert grasslands to pine forests.

Ecologists are using the ranch to experiment with reintroducing the Bolson tortoise to the region. These 100-pound burrowers were once found across the Southwest, but now survive only in a corner of northern Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert.

The scientists' discussion expanded to consider long-extinct Pleistocene species that have modern counterparts elsewhere in the world.



For example, a larger American cheetah once stalked pronghorn on these lands, with both species evolving special features that enabled them to accelerate to 60 mph. Today, pronghorns rarely are chased, except by the occasional pickup truck.

In Africa, modern cheetahs are being exterminated as vermin, with fewer than 2,000 remaining in some countries. Relocation could help both species retain important traits, the plan's proponents say.

Other living species that are counterparts to Pleistocene-era animals in North America include wild horses and asses, Bactrian camels, elephants and lions.

Donlan concedes that lions would be a tough sell to Americans.

"Lions eat people," he said. "There has to be a pretty serious attitude shift on how you view predators."

I can see it now.... a cheetah chasing a Native American on a reservation. WTF are these people thinking?

Put them on a large wildlife preserve here....sure. Put them in the WILD?!?! They're nuts.

I spose its all natural

but then again i wouldn't want to wake up to an elephant roaming about

that would be so cool...
i want a leopard in my backyard...

Good heart... bad idea.

(If you don't believe in evolution and/or think Darwin was a blasphemer, don't read this post, thanks.)

(Oh, and if you're black, you should probably skip it, too.)

Um. African animals are programmed to live in Africa. African climates aren't really comparable to Nebraska. This could lead to all kinds of problems, and probably kill all the animals off even quicker than if they just stayed in Africa.

Besides, last time we brought creatures from Africa to the States, look what happened.

Besides, last time we brought creatures from Africa to the States, look what happened.

LMAO. Wrong, but in some cases, true.

Meh seems like a bad idea.... aren't deers enough to look out for already when driving? All we need is more animals to run into the streets in the middle of night only to be hit and killed by drivers

Why, that's a great idea! And while we're at it, lets introduce polar bears to Florida and Piranas to city swimming pools!

Oh come on! This would be such an ecological boost it's not even funny. First oof, America wouldn't be soo fat; and second, morons like MackChunk/2 w/e would virtually be gone from the combinations of their behavior and the lions' hunger. See? It all works out.

^
I'm with stupid.

Besides, last time we brought creatures from Africa to the States, look what happened.

Your grandmother was black.

and they never told you...

Well. This isn't going to help their cause, is it.

At Labette County High School, where student pictures including the tigers line the walls of the guidance office, crisis teams were set up to help students cope on the first day of school, which is Monday.

School starts on mondays? wow.
I can't believe they killed the tiger! 1. it's not its fault that it's acted in its natural way while being 'restrained'. 2. it's not like killing it is gonna solve anything. 3. just send it to a proper nature reserve where it will actually have a nice life rather than getting photos taken with stupid kids.

This reminds me of when I went to the Night Safari in Singapore, which on the whole is a really well run place. They continually say 'dont take flash photos', except idiots STILL do it...i've been in the dark for about 3 hours and then had someone take a flash photo of me, and it blinds you for like 3 minutes. NOT FUN. Retards.

All I'll say is last time we interfered with wildlife to this extent, we managed to kill off 95% of Australian native species, as feral creatures like foxes and rabbits ate/out competed them.

All I'll say is last time we interfered with wildlife to this extent, we managed to kill off 95% of Australian native species, as feral creatures like foxes and rabbits ate/out competed them.

Key point there. Stop fucking with the wildlife. I would love to shoot a giraffe or lion with the bow but doing this could fuck up what we got.

pretty poorly thought out plan, considering the weather changes and the surrounding ecosystems.
i can only assume that is is a hoax.

Key point there. Stop fucking with the wildlife. I would love to shoot a giraffe or lion with the bow but doing this could fuck up what we got.

Dude, that's what South Africa's there for. Get on a plane.

do they let you shoot that stuff? that's horrible.