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According to 9News.com, a group of scientists have proposed relocating some species of African wildlife — such as elephants and lions – to the Great Plains of North America.
Supporters of the proposal say it could help save some species from extinction in Africa, where protection is limited and natural habitats are vanishing. Scientists acknowledge that most modern African species never lived on the American prairie. However, some of their biological cousins like mastodons, camels and saber-toothed cats, roamed for more than 1 million years alongside antelope and herds of bison until Ice Age glaciers retreated and humans started arriving. Experts say the relocated animals could help restore biodiversity in North America to a condition similar to what it was before humans overran the region. “We do see a century-long vision where we would have this vast ecological park in the Midwest with free roaming carnivores, free roaming elephants and the other large biodiversity that we once had 13,000 years ago,” says Josh Donlan, a biologist from Cornell University.
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Other than the fact that this sounds completely insane, I don’t have a problem with it. I live near the foothills, so it will be a long time before the lions eat their way through all of the people east of my neighborhood.