Cornell Scientists Want to Introduce Megafauna to North America

Cornell University researchers Harry Greene and Josh Donlan published a paper in Nature in August in which they argued on behalf of introducing megafauna in the United States in order to conserve and protect endangered African species.

A press release from Cornell summed up the proposal thusly,

Greene and a number of other highly eminent ecologists and conservationists have authored a paper, published in the latest issue of Nature (Vol. 436, No. 7053), advocating the establishment of vast ecological history parks with large mammals, mostly from Africa, that are close relatives or counterparts to extinct Pleistocene-period animals that once roamed the Great Plains.

What sort of mammals might Green and Donlan like to see at these ecological parks? Well, according to the Cornell press release,

Introducing free-ranging African cheetahs back to the Southwest, the scientists assert, could restore strong interactions with pronghorns and provide endangered cheetahs with new habitat.

Other living species that are counterparts to 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).

Hmm…might not introducing cheetahs or lions pose a threat to humans? Probably, but tough luck. As Donlan says in the press release,

There are going to have to be some major attitude shifts. That includes realizing predation is a natural role, and that people are going to have to take precautions.

People can start taking such precautions by making sure such an idiotic idea never goes forward. Fortunately Donlan and company are starting their grandiose plans with a small scale study of releasing an endangered tortoise on a private New Mexico ranch.

Hopefully, Donlan and Greene won’t restrict themselves to megafauna. After all, malaria existed in parts of the United States going back hundreds of years but was all but wiped out. Isn’t it time for more meaningful parasite/mammal interactions? Sure, people could get sick, but they’ll just have to learn to take precautions.

Sources:

Big game ‘could roam US plains’. The BBC, August 18, 2005.

Leave a Reply