- If a group of US researchers have their way, lions, cheetahs,
elephants and camels could soon roam parts of North America, Nature magazine
reports.
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- The plan, which is called Pleistocene re-wilding, is
intended to be a proactive approach to conservation.
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- The initiative would help endangered African animals
while creating jobs, the Cornell University scientists say.
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- Evidence also suggests, they claim, that "megafauna"
can help maintain ecosystems and boost biodiversity.
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- "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.
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- "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."
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- Wild America
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- During the Pleistocene era - between 1.8 million to about
10,000 years ago - North America was home to a myriad of mega fauna.
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- 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.
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- But man's arrival on the continent - about 13,000 ago,
according to one prevalent theory - pushed many of these impressive creatures
to extinction.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- Public acceptance
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- 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 ).
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- "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."
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- However Americans might do more than put up with their
new compatriots - they might actually welcome them.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- © BBC MMV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4160560.stm
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