African wildlife park

[KGAINES]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050818/sc_af...ce_050818172543

[BASS]

"Come see the majestic African Elephant in it's natural habitat, in America!"

 

 

Why do we think we are so much better off here? We need to leave everyone's business to them, and learn to take care of our own. I hope Kenya stands it's ground and tells us no.

[Benbrown]

Right now, ungulates (hoofed animals, including elephants and rhinos) cannot be imported and released in the United States. They must be quarantined for life in an approved zoological park or zoo. All of the exotic ungulates that populate ranches in Texas (and increasingly elsewhere) are offspring of captive animals. By and large, the "ecological generalists" such as nilgai, blackbuck, sambar deer, axis deer from India and the smaller plains antelope from Africa have done the best job of adapting to diverse habitats in the U.S.

 

Back in the early part of the 20th century, the San Diego Zoo was given a ranch by the Hearst family that was situated about 20 miles north of what was then San Diego. The zoo used this as a breeding facility to breed captive animals and these were traded and/or sold to other zoos. By the late 1920s, some species were becoming so abundant that there was no market at other zoos, and Belle Benchley (the director of the San Diego Zoological Society) began marketing surplus animals to wealthy hobby ranchers around San Antonio, Texas. About this time, some animals were also sold to the King Ranch in south Texas. Many other zoos around the country also have excess numbers of these animals that are sold and traded wherever a home for them can be found.

 

There are now about 27-30 species of free-ranging exotic ungulates in Texas. Some species are now so abundant that it is not worth the expense to try and trap them and sell live animals, and the few trophy males that are taken have little or no effect on the size of the growing populations. Oryx introduced into White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico have become so abundant that they have not been controlled by year-round hunting off the missle range. White Sands National Monument has issued a "shoot on sight" directive on Park Service property. The missing element is, of course, their natural predators that co-evolved with these animals in their native habitats.

 

Dr. Paul Martin, an anthropologist with the University of Arizona, has proposed that there are "vacant ecological niches" as a result of the late Pleistocene extinction of large mammals that occured in North America 10,000-25,000 years ago. He (and others) have suggested that moving large animals from Africa and Asia that are struggling in their native habitats would have a positive ecological effect on plant communities in North America. However, one of the reasons that many of these animals are struggling is that they do not match up with habitats that arise as the result of human occupation and economic enterprises. Elephants in Africa are being "controlled" (i.e., killed) because they have expanded into areas where their presence conflicts with farming and livestock husbandry.

 

The proposed scenario could only succeed if large predators were reintroduced along with their prey. What all this would do to native animals such as white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, cougars and wolves (not to mention ranches and farms) boggles the mind!

 

Don't hold your breath...

[JVS]

Good hellamighty. If I think that is a dumb idea, wait till the hippies get ahold of it! That's just what we need is for some stinkin' hyenas, cheetahs and lions to get loose and roam our country and reproduce like rabbits and eat every last deer and elk on the continent. Gazelles are fast and agile for a reason! Way to go smarty pants.

[az4life]

Maybe it ain't such a bad idea. These critters need a home too! I think maybe some lions and tigers and cheetahs and such could live right nice on some land along the AZ Mexico border.

 

Turn em loose and they will have plenty to eat, until they deter the illegal border crossers! Chupacabra won't be the only thing the illegals have to worry about!

[bcoover]

I don't see why we have to give something like 100 million to Africa to help preserve these animals when we can bring them here spend the same amount of money to do the job right. Where does all that money go after we give it to them. I bet only a 1/4 of it makes it to the animals. I don't know about having these animals all over the us but in a controled envioment what could go wrong. The goal would be to preserve the animals. Why do we have all our eggs in one basket. Because when they are gone they are gone.

[GRONG]

Az4life, that was hilarious and a good idea!

[crotalus]

Points well made, BASS and Benbrown. There is a reason why these animals belong in Africa and not North America. Benbrown, pretty much nailed it. There is so much involved with the transplanting of species that even in a "controlled environment" much will go wrong. Remember the monkey pox outbreak we had a couple of years ago. The vectors in this outbreak were "pets" who where supposed to stay in a controlled environment. Since we're talking fantasy, how 'bout Jurrasic Park's "controlled environment", that worked real well didn't it...

Teach the Africans how to "properly" manage the mentioned species, add on genetic banking as done in some zoos here and put some very tight purse strings on the funds is a good start. I'm willing to bet not everyone on the contienent is heck bent on destroying their natural resources and bright enough to control the project. Heck we have enough problems managing/aiding our native species, inluding the human species, much less imports(that includes the illegal kind as well,Az4life and Josh ). "B" for effort, "F" for creativity...

Ernest