A couple of days ago the New York Times had an interview<\/A> with Dr. Ullas Karanth, a wildlife biologist\/conservationist from India who is desperately trying to save the tiger from extinction (thanks for the tip Yamini):<\/P>\n Q.<\/STRONG> Do we know how many wild tigers still exist in India? <\/P>\n A.<\/STRONG> We don’t. The government claims that there are over 3,000. But that figure is based on a flawed counting method that officials developed for themselves. There are preservation groups who claim the number is more like 1,000. It’s probably not that low. \n We believe that if India is to have tigers, these wildlife reserves must be rigorously protected<\/STRONG>.<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n Josh Dolan<\/A> of Cornell University publishes a paper<\/A> in this week’s Nature (paid subscription required) that proposes a solution for animals faced with the same prospects as the tigers in India:<\/P>\n <\/P>\n Our vision begins immediately, spans the coming century, and is justified on ecological, evolutionary, economic, aesthetic and ethical grounds. The idea is to actively promote the restoration of large wild vertebrates into North America in preference to the ‘pests and weeds’ (rats and dandelions) that will otherwise come to dominate the landscape.<\/STRONG> This ‘Pleistocene re-wilding’ would be achieved through a series of carefully managed ecosystem manipulations using closely related species as proxies for extinct large vertebrates…<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n Bold plan? Are you kidding me! You guys get what he is saying? They want to reintroduce lions and tigers and…elephants from Africa into North America<\/STRONG> so that they have a chance to survive the seemingly inevitable extinction they face in Africa (and most likely India). This is just ballsy. There are a dozen reasons why this is a very very bad idea<\/STRONG> but I like big thinkers. \n \n\n <\/P>\n An article at CNN<\/A> provides the reality check:<\/P>\n “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. \n “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.” \n Some wildlife conservationists said the idea would further damage the prospects of both threatened species and Africa’s hopes for sustainable economic development.<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n \n I think this is a great idea, especially since most of the states that would be ideal for these animals are “Red States.” Plus this plan has echos of Star Trek IV<\/A> all over it. For real though, who else has driven across Kansas? I’ve driven the entire length four times. It is mind-numbingly boring. Can you imagine what a few Indian tigers would do for the drive? <\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A couple of days ago the New York Times had an interview with Dr. Ullas Karanth, a wildlife biologist\/conservationist from India who is desperately trying to save the tiger from extinction (thanks for the tip Yamini): Dr. Karanth, 57, was in … Continue reading Dr. Karanth, 57, was in New York on a recent summer afternoon to attend a conference at the Bronx Zoo, a subsidiary of the conservation society, on the future of tigers in the wild. In a break in the proceedings, he spoke of his favorite feline. <\/P>\n
North America lost most of its large vertebrate species — its megafauna — some 13,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene. And now Africa’s large mammals are dying, stranded on a continent where wars are waging over scarce resources. However much we would wish otherwise, humans will continue to cause extinctions, change ecosystems and alter the course of evolution. Here, we outline a bold plan<\/STRONG> for preserving some of our global megafaunal heritage… \n
Others wonder whether people would support African lions making a home on the range<\/STRONG>, given the opposition to the reintroduction of native wolves in the rural West.<\/P>\n