Lions and Tigers and Elephants

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10240033.post-1124842294828117562005-08-25T14:00:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:37:06.886-04:00Lions and Tigers and Elephants - oh, why?!Does anybody else think this sounds like a really, really bad idea? I'm talking about a plan to reintroduce lions and other "megafauna" to the American Great Plains. In an article published August 2005 in <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050815/full/436913a.html">Nature</a>, a group of conservationist researchers are suggesting what they call "Pleistocene re-wilding" - supposedly a proactive approach to conservation. They maintain that this will help restore the balance of biodiversity destroyed my human hunting and habitation-encroachment.<br /><br />Okay, I'm all for conservation and for keeping species from disappearing, but didn't these guys see <strong>Jurassic Park</strong> or <strong>The Ghost and the Darkness</strong> ?! There's a good reason that humans killed these large critters: not only did they taste really good, but they were damned dangerous to live with.<br /><br />Imagine for a moment, you're on a family outing. You're about to settle down for a nice picnic at a quiet rest area in, say, Kansas. When out of nowhere, a half a ton of lion comes out of the bushes and grabs one of the kiddies for his own picnic. Or maybe you're driving along at night when an elephant steps in front of your car. If you survive the encounter, your insurance premiums are going through what's left of the roof.<br /><br />The proponents of this idea say the 'precautions will be taken' to prevent encounters like the above. Personally, the best precaution I'd take (besides calling Ted Nugent) would be to not do this!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </div>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06577617317617824737noreply@blogger.com