Dangerous Dan

Environmentalists can come up with some really kooky ideas. The latest is a proposal to introduce African savannah species to America's Great Plains. And when I say 'species,' I mean lions and elephants. Now this may seem stupid on its face, but at least allow them to give more in-depth reasons for why it's stupid:

But the proposal's supporters say it could help save some species from extinction in Africa, where protection is spotty and habitats are vanishing. They say the relocated animals could also restore the biodiversity in North America to a condition closer to what it was before humans overran the landscape more than 10,000 years ago.

I'm used to folks wanting to restore biodiversity before man's interference disrupted things. Normally that's in the range of 10-200 years, though. 10,000 years is pushing it a bit. By the time we reach the 1,000 year mark of a species’ extinction at the hand of man, I think it's time to just let it go.

Putting that aside, one of the nice things about North America is that we don't have an abundance of deadly animals. Sure, there are some mountain lions, gators, bears, and a few varieties of rattlesnakes, but we don't have the lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, water buffalo, hippos, cobras, etc. So it's somewhat amazing that people seriously entertain the notion that we introduce these animals to the continent. But not to worry. It's all just a matter of perception:

"Lions eat people," he said. "There has to be a pretty serious attitude shift on how you view predators."

Hmmm… sorry, it's a little difficult to change my attitude on things that might eat me. Try as I might, I just don't like 'em. I might temporarily be able to change my attitude, but I fear I would just revert to my old prejudices once a lion has me by the thigh.

Did I mention Ted Turner supports this?

Frank J. at IMAO has the word:

Now, as amusing as it may be to watch from my window golfers fleeing from a charging elephant, what if the elephant comes crashing through my wall? Does my insurance cover that?

And I already have alligators and sharks to deal with in Florida; are people really going to add lions to the mix? I mean, when my kitten, Sydney, bites me, that hurts enough. A lions gotta be even ten times more painful!

And you know what happens when new species are introduced to a foreign ecosystem: the animals often over breeds from a lack of natural predators. Is the alligator going to take down an elephant? The common fox? Even the few packs of wolves we have left wouldn't dare touch one. We'll be overrun with elephants until they're worse than pigeons. And, I do not have a carry gun that could take down an angry elephant.

Sorry, but we American are just to used to animals like squirrels and deer – cute fuzzy animals who can't hurt us but we occasionally run over. Adding a beast to the mix that can run us over is just a little too interesting.