http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050817/ap_on_sc/wild_america Fuck yeah. I just sent them a hundred bucks.
1) I like the idea 2) Lions don't "eat people"...any more than, say, American bears and pumas. 3) Fun fact: More names for pumas: mountain lion, catamount, cougar.
Isn't the biggest problem for people Hippos? I'm sure I saw some documentary that they were the number one killer of humans by animals. It doesn't bother me, as I doubt any of the animals they are thinking of bringing over would make the migration up here to Boston. If anything I'm more concerned by the Black Bears that are getting spotted closer and closer to the city. I hope they leave all the poisonous creatures in Africa though. This is just one step in turning the Discovery Channel Animal Face-Off into a reality show. The Grizzly Bear vs. Lion!
Is that what you do? Imagine going on hunting trips with Bush? As if he'd ever want to take you out in the woods with him? Armed? Or in this case, out on the Plains. As for the article, I think I agree more with the critics. I see the goodwill in the proposal, but I'm not so sure it's such a great idea in practice. Who knows before you try it however, it could be a hit? Is there vast amounts of land "out there" that is unused?
"Their radical proposal 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." Isn't that how the South originally got ********ed with kudzu?
So I went to the San Francisco Zoo a couple of weeks ago, and they had an "African Plains" exhibit, where there were a number of different African species living together in a fairly large enclosed area. Of course, there weren't any lions or cheetahs there, since seeing grisly death up close might offend the core customer base of parents, but they had elephants, giraffes, ostriches, and a couple of different types of deer-like critters, living together in harmony. So if the Great Plains was, like, a really big version of that, it would be cool. Plus, we might get to hunt them and eat them. Of course, they would probably all die from excessive cold the first winter, and if they managed to survive and prosper, they would probably out-compete the native animals like buffalo and moose. They may even multiply and take over like the rabbits in Australia and then we'd have hordes of rampaging giraffes advancing on Omaha. Mother Nature has a cruel sense of humor about these things.
Damn it, these people are stealing my ideas! Sort of...they're like backwards. See, I want to employ all the starving Africans to move all of animals from North America, South America, Europe and Asia to parts of AFrica where they could live, and turn Africa into a huge game reserve. Then, we give all of the Africans tracts of land to farm where they animals used to live. It's brilliant, I say, ********ing brilliant.
When my brother-in-law, who works as a guide, took my wife and I on a boat on Lake Nakuru, amongst the hippos, the subject came up. He said, with that unique Kenyan sense of humor...don't worry, he'll only bite you one time. Of course, those tusks would leave like a 4 inch hole in your stomach or chest or whatever, and that would be that. And the hippos don't like intruders.
An interesting concept. It's not like we have any native species that originally inhabited the place and could use help. And we all know that importing non-native species could never do anything to upset the balance of the ecosystem. So, seriously, it's a great idea... FOR ME TO POOP ON!
Seriously though, how f-ing cool would that be? "Now, I hunt the most dangerous game..................man." *loads rifle* *rears elephant back on hind legs for dramatic pose*
Many counties in the western plains might have to close shop since there aren't enough taxpayers to keep the county government running.