I watched a TV show recently on the concept of RE-WILDING, sometimes described as the return of natural habitats or the reversal of human 'domestication'. The program was highlighting various examples where top predators are re-introduced to an ecology to 're-balance' the eco system. The example of wolves in Yellowstone was cited as a very successful example. Other examples were re-introducing the panther to Florida to keep down the wild hog population, or brown bears back into the mountains of Northern Italy. Question is, how thoroughly has this been thought through? In the example of the brown bears, local villagers are furious as the bears are not only scavenging in the villages, destroying small businesses like bee-keeping and poultry farming by breaking in for bees and chickens to eat, but are now trying to break into houses too. Pretty scary stuff! But the thing which alarmed me most was another suggestion currently under serious debate as to whether they should re-introduce the African lion to Montana, USA. Can you believe that?
It seems that there is such a large herd of wild horses that some scientists have come up with the bright idea that they should be 'controlled' by letting loose lions which in Africa like to eat zebras! There have not been lions roaming in the US for about 12,000 years!I found this a very bizarre line of thinking ....surely if there is a population of wild horses, which can't sustain itself, then humans have the brains and ability to manage the situation? Haven't we, with all our technology and weaponry, already taken over as the 'top predator'? And if we won't do that, then hard as it is to say, nature will do it for us as the weakest horses will simply not survive and the herd will find a balance that works.
It struck me that humans love to play God in these situations, and even the examples which are currently cited as 'success' stories are only 15 years old....a blink of an eye in ecological terms.
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