(Last) Lecture 27 1. Pleistocene Rewilding – A controversial Idea 2. The ultimate sacrifice for Wildlife – Dian Fossey and the Gorillas in the Mist

1. Pleistocene Rewilding – A controversial Idea…or “an ‘optimistic alternative’ to the grim projected losses of biodiversity”?

Woolly mammoths were driven to extinction by climate change and human impacts. (Credit: Mauricio Anton)

10,000 years ago in North America: 5 genera of elephants, 2 species of bison, 4 camels, ground sloths, giant beaver, giant armadillos, 10 species of wild horses, 1 wild cow, woodland musk ox, tapirs….

1. Pleistocene Rewilding  

1. Earth is not pristine – Human impact pervades every ecosystem  

Rationale (Donlan et al. 2005):  

4. Humans probably partly responsible for the Late Pleistocene extinctions in North America à Ethical responsibility for restoration  

2. Environmentalists are caricatured as purveyors of doom and gloom “documenting the decline…”  

3. In some areas - like the Great Plains – human land –use patterns are declining  

Argument: Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) evolved its speed in co-evolution with the now extinct American Cheetah (Miracinonyx trumani)

1st Step: Reintroduction of Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) IUCN Vulnerable, once widespread in SW US, survives only in Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

1. Pleistocene Rewilding using African and Asian Species

1. Pleistocene Rewilding using African and Asian Species

1. Pleistocene Rewilding using African and Asian Species

1. Pleistocene Rewilding

Ted Turner – 2nd largest individual landowner in North America. Turner Enterprises manages over 55,000 head of bison across the various Turner ranches

1. Pleistocene Rewilding – A controversial Idea

Pleistocene re-wilding in North America. Symbols represent horses (Equus caballus and E. asinus in black; E. przewalskii and E. hemionus in grey), Bolson tortoises, camelids, cheetahs, Asian (grey) and African (black) elephants, and lions. a) The likely timescale and area required to restore proxies for extinct large vertebrates. b) Conservation value and ecological role (interactivity with other species) on the landscape. c) Potential economic/cultural value versus potential conflict.

1. Pleistocene Rewilding – Critique (Rubenstein et al. 2006)

3. Reality of large mammal introduction: Potential conflicts

1. Economic Impact on ongoing conservation Efforts in Africa and Asia etc.

2. Evolutionarily questionable (“Playing God”)

5. Resources better spent on preserving threatened organisms in their native habitat

4. Jeopardizes indigenous species & ecosystems

1. Pleistocene Rewilding – Ongoing Experiment: Pleistocene Park, Siberia (Zimov 2005) using mostly native Eurasian Species.

http://www.pleistocenepark.ru/en/ Animals already present in the park: Carnivores: Eurasian Lynx, Grey Wolf, Arctic Fox, Eurasian Brown Bear, Wolverine, Red Fox, Herbivores: Reindeer, Elk, European Bison, Moose, Yakutian horse, Muskox Animals considered or suggested for reintroduction: Carnivores: Amur Leopard, Siberian Tiger, Asiatic Lion, Spotted Hyena (?) Herbivores: Yak, Snow Sheep, Saiga antelope, Bactrian Camel, Siberian Roe Deer, Woolly Mammoth, Rhinoceros.

2. The ultimate Sacrifice for Wildlife - Dian Fossey (1932 – 1985) One of anthropologist Louis Leakey’s three primatologist protégés: • Jane Goodall (Chimps) • Biruté Galdikas (Orang-Utans) • Dian Fossey (Mountain Gorillas) Studied Mountain Gorillas in the montane forests of Rwanda for 18 years. She was murdered in 1985 possibly in retaliation for her aggressive and controversial anti-poaching actions andher resistance to a lucrative gorilla tourism favored by the Rwandan government.. Bestselling Book by D. Fossey: Gorillas in the Mist (1983).

Dian Fossey in November 1985; photograph by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

2. The ultimate Sacrifice for Wildlife Gorillas in the Mist - 1988 American drama film directed by Michael Apted and starring Sigourney Weaver as naturalist Dian Fossey. (the gorillas are playing themselves ;-)

Movie still with Sigourney Weaver as Dian Fossey