Researchers at Cornell University propose that the US plains should be home to mammals such as lions, elephants, camels, extinct animals that that roamed parts of the Americas. Their scheme, called "Pleistocene re-wilding", was presented in this week's journal Nature (Vol. 436, No. 7053); "Re-wilding North America". The Financial Times Science Briefing (emphasis on brief) reports that Harry Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and one of the authors, said about the program:
"If we only have 10 minutes to present this idea, people think we're nuts, but if people hear the one-hour version they realize they haven't thought about this as much as we have."
Apparently the authors will test their theory with a pilot study that will reintroduce the endangered Bolson tortoise on a private ranch in New Mexico. The tortoise once thrived in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico but now can be found only in New Mexico.
The authors propose re-wilding as a way to encourage biodiversity. In a National Geographic interview they explain their reasoning:
"The ecological justification is restoring these important species [and their] interactions. We know that these animals play a really important role in how they interact with the environment-through predation, for example and how they maintain biodiversity. A lot of that was lost 13,000 years ago in North America when we lost most of our large mammals."
They have faced some criticism, and admit that changing people's attitudes about the idea might take some time. Fitting then, that they start with the tortoise.
