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HUBRIS
Species Reintroduction: Why it is a BAD IDEA
Reintroduction: Playing Dr. Frankenstein
with Community Biology
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Does not guarantee survival of the population
Does not necessarily re-establish keystone species
Disrupts emerging ecological balance
Frustrates natural selection and adaptation (fig.1)
Does not alleviate the original cause of extirpation
Extinction is a natural part of ecology.
Mexican Gray Wolf. A Case Study
The Mexican subspecies of gray wolf was listed as
endangered in 1976; and in 1998 the subspecies was down to
175 animals, all in captivity. A federal program to reintroduce
the wolf in the American southwest has run into problems
similar to those in Yellowstone. The wolves are being
released in the Blue Range of the Apache National Forest
within the Gila Headwaters Ecosystem along the Arizona New Mexico border. Of 11 wolves released in January 1998,
one was shot by a threatened camper, three were shot by
unknown individuals, one disappeared and three had to be
recaptured because they did not adjust well to life in the wild.
The remaining three were all males.
The Mexican Wolf is very Rar, but we are using this
stuffed plushed toy as a visual aid. See how fierce and
dangetrous this wolf can be?
The second release involved nine wolves in two packs
released in March 1998, of which four are still in the
wild. Two more were released in November 1998 and four
more in March 1999.
Following the Yellowstone example, the livestock industry
has used a lawsuit to try to stop the Mexican gray wolf
recovery program. The industry claims that the wolves
should be removed from the Gila Headwaters Ecosystem,
because wild wolves already exist there, and because the
introduced wolves are coyote/wolf hybrids. Federal and
academic scientists dispute both claims.
(fig.1)
Species
Adaptation
Hey, how about we not play God?
Reintroduction is:
Expensive
Artificial
Politically untenable
Hubris, Jurassic Park
& Moral Relativism
The Human Attitude toward
Wildlife
The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
"May we live long and die out"