Critics Dismiss Plan to Bring Lions, Elephants to U.S. Plains

James Owen
for National Geographic News

August 24, 2005

A plan to populate U.S. grasslands with wild lions, cheetahs,
elephants and other African safari favorites has been slammed by
conservation groups.

Put forward by a team of U.S. biologists, the plan argues for restoring giant mammals, or megafauna, that roamed North America during the last Ice Age. Because animals such as mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and the American cheetah are now extinct, proponents say the animal's closest African and Asian counterparts could be brought in.

Writing last week in the journal Nature, the Cornell University-led team said their "rewilding" plan could help mend the ecology of degraded grassland habitats in the U.S. They also hope to protect big mammal species that are threatened in their native countries. (See "Lions, Elephants to Roam the U.S. Plains?")

But wildlife experts say the idea reads more like a tourist attraction proposal than a serious conservation effort.

"Essentially, you'd be running it like a zoo," says Eric Dinerstein, chief scientist of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Washington, D.C. "Why not just encourage Disney to run a theme park?"

Iain Douglas-Hamilton, chairman of wildlife conservation group Save the Elephants in Kenya, East Africa, calls the plan "ridiculous."

"I understand the regret at the passing of the grand megafauna of America and the desire to reconstruct it. But right now, and for a tiny fraction of the cost, megafauna in Africa can be put back on their feet," he said.

Best Home for Big Mammals

Douglas-Hamilton says large African mammals, such as elephants, are still widespread and aren't under immediate threat in their native ranges. He doesn't see how U.S. wildlife reserves could help "unless there are radical, unforeseen disasters."

"The main thrust to save [giant mammals] should be on this continent [Africa]," he said in a telephone interview from Kenya.

Douglas-Hamilton adds that the costs of setting up large mammal parks in North America could mean less conservation money for wild animals in other parts of the world.

Eric Dinerstein agrees, saying that WWF, Princeton University, and other institutions have recently identified more than 30 places in Africa where new reserves could be set up.

"If we're serious about conserving the Pleistocene megafauna, then Africa and Asia offer us many opportunities to do that in a cost-effective way," he added.

The WWF scientist says the conservation record of the U.S. doesn't suggest it's a great place for preserving big, endangered mammals.

"African and Asian conservation agencies are doing a better job of conserving their mammals than we are," he said.

He points out that the U.S. is having problems enough in attempting to reestablish native mammals to their former ranges.

"Currently we are trying to reestablish mountain lions in places and are meeting serious opposition," he says. "And you could question whether the wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park could ever have happened under the current [White House] administration."

"If we can't even conserve an endangered U.S. species like the tiger salamander, what about a lion or a tiger introduced to North American grasslands? The salamander's a little less threat to human life."

In an interview last week with National Geographic News, the rewilding plan's lead author, Josh Dolan, admitted that the project would "take a lot of work" to implement and to gain public support. But he and other proponents see long-term ecological and economical benefits to the plan.

"By having these large mammals on another continent besides Africa and Asia, we're preserving the evolutionary potential of large mammals," he said. "We also lay out what we see as the potential for economic justifications, the most obvious being ecotourism."

Rewilding With Native Species

If the so-named strategy of rewilding is to be successful in the Great Plains areas, Dinerstein argues, it should be done with North American species.

He cites the example of the American Prairie Foundation (a nonprofit set up by the WWF), which has purchased ranches in eastern Montana to use for conservation efforts. The foundation is to release its first herd of genetically pure bison in the next two months.

In the longer term Dinerstein hopes wolves and grizzly bears will also be reintroduced to the western prairie lands.

"We think of these as Rocky Mountain species, but that's only because they've been pushed out of their natural habitat," he said. "There used to be grizzly bears within 500 miles [800 kilometers] of Chicago several hundred years ago."

And unlike Asian elephants or African cheetahs, North American animals are equipped to survive the harsh winters of the Great Plains states without human help, he says.

Dinerstein believes bears, wolves, bison, and elk are the way to go if the goal is to restore the grandeur of the Pleistocene to the Great Plains.

"Safaris [in the U.S.] are a great idea, but let's do it with native American wildlife."

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