As an attempt to introduce these animals into the wild and let them become part of the ecosystem, I think it’s a bad idea, but if it’s a preserve where the animals are allowed to live in a relatively natural environment safe from poaching, then I think it should be considered.  Large animals all over the world are endangered, and if we can keep a genetically diverse population on this continent it might be worthwhile.  It will be an enormous cost because they will have to be sustained artificially, at least to some extent, but that would be part of the overall research done on this idea.

http://www.twp.org/cms/index.cfm?group_id=1000

Maegan - 24 August 2005 12:04 PM

Well, I guess if the tables were turned, the Incas might well have brought disease and pestilence (sp?) to Europe, with their little paddle boats.

Actually, perhaps they did, in the colonist own boats however: although disputed lately, syphilis might have a New World origin

Maegan - 24 August 2005 11:07 AM

Maybe the lions could eat the elephants.  Sorry.  This is a HORRENDOUS idea.  First off, the climate is absolutely wrong.  Even in NM, IT SNOWS!  I dunno, but I thought that mammals like Elephants and Lions didn’t handle the cold to well, that’s why they’re in f*cking AFRICA.

Not really. In the Pleistocene, both lions and elephant were present in the cold Eurasian steppes (which were colder than America is today). And in the American steppes actually! They have no trouble with cold. They need a particular make-up of their environment. Elephants need tall grasses. Lions need lost of game animals, with a succesion of grazers oover the seasons. They need particular structures of the buildup of their surroundings.