There is an absolutely fascinating idea in the news today of a proposal, by a professor at Cornell University and published in Nature, to repopulate the open spaces of North America and Canada with a variety of endangered species from other countries. Animals like lions, cheetahs and elephants could fill gaps in the ecosystem which could have major environmental benefits. The idea is to fill the continent with large mammals similar to those wiped out 13,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene era, when human beings reached North America. The full story can be found in The Times and the BBC.
I find this an absolutely fascinating idea, well worth investigating further. What comes to my mind is that over here wild boar were hunted to extinction a couple of centuries or more ago. Since then wild boars, which had been bred in captivity have escaped from farms and have now established themselves in Great Britain. I understand that they are absolutely thriving in certain areas. It would be wonderful if some endangered species could be established in the wild areas of the US/Canada - provided, of couse, that the whole thing is properly managed and the creatures protected.
7 comments:
Egad, Val, nearly any species that has been introduced to our continent (including Europeans--lol) have become a liability by proliferating beyond all control. They become invasive due to lack of native controls. We have Africaanized killer bees. We have house sparrows (a weaver finch that was brought over and that has displaced our native finches), rock pigeons, and European starlings beyond number. Kudzoo has taken over the south and zebra clams are clogging the intake pipes to our municipal water systems. There are too many species for me to name them all--including ivies of various types.
I may have nightmares, tonight--lol.
Cop Car
When I made the previous comment, I hadn't yet read this morning's newspaper. There was an article about the suggested transplanting of endangered species--and it included the vociferous protests of environmentalist and naturalists.
Cop Car
COP Car,
This was, of course, just a proposal made by one individual. IF not a goofd idea I suspect that it would soon be booted offside.
I have to admit I had forgotten some of the damage caused by my forbears' ignorance of introducing birds and animals into the ecosystems of other countries, especially the Australasian countiries some of which are suffering badly from the unwitting introduction of rats and cats. I was not aware that there was a symilar problem in the US.
OH well, it was just a suggestion.
If we went back far enough, I'd bet any amount of money that you and I have common ancestry, Val. I have a strong contingent of Scotch/Irish (and, probably, English) in addition to German and (I suspect) American Indian. Oh, and my Viking blood, of course! Mary Queen of Scots and I probably share common ancestry in the Viking blood even if I am not, as my mother insisted, descended from MQofS.
Cop Car
P.S. The point is that it is my own ancesters who were heedless of the damage they were doing--as I am probably heedless in some things (like planting invasive species!)
Hmmm, Well, I am a blond blue eyed type so I imagine tht there may be some Viking bllod in my veins (Celts were dark haired and brown eyed). I have to admit that I've never been interested in genealogy. All I do know is that my mother's family wer Londoners, born and bred. I have no idea where my paternal grandmother came from at all (she died when my father was 8 years old). My paternal grandfather came from Tasmania during the First World War and I believe his family had originally gone out there from Scotland, during the clearances.
Over here, as I assume in the US, we all tend to be a hodge -podge of nationalities all blended together.
Planting invasive species is something we have been guilty of too. Giant Hogweed is a case in point. The Victorians planted it as an ornamental plant. Their descendants are still trying to get rid of it. Like introducing birds and animals into ecosystems that are not suitable. There was a feeling in the past that man could bend Nature to his will. We have learnt otherwise.
Amen, Val. If I didn't live around other people, my "yard" would be whatever happened to grow there. I would probably have fruit trees/bushes and a vegetable garden, but I have no real longing for perfectly manicured surroundings. Nature's better than I am at arranging things.
Cop Car
P.S. Just guess whether HH likes "natural settings" or "perfectly manicured" in his yard. You get three guesses and the first two don't count!
One school of thought in gardening over here is the "natural" look, where you grow plants and trees that are native to the area of the garden and with nothing that has been transplanted from other countries. I love that type of gardening, which naturally seems to become the English Country Garden look. Wonderful.
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