Reintroducing an Apex Predator

[NVP]

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.co.u...rrect-the-extinct-tasmanian-tiger-get-a-boost

A radical idea to support the recovery of damaged ecosystems has been gathering steam: resurrect species that have gone extinct and reintroduce them to the wild. Proponents of “de-extinction” argue that by returning species that played an important ecological role to their old habitats, entire regions could benefit.

The suggestion is to clone a Thylacine and reintroduce them into Tasmania.

The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was a marsupial, carrying its young in a pouch just like a kangaroo—Thylacinus comes from the Greek word thulakos meaning pouch—but it looked more like a slim dog with a stiff, thick tail. The animal was nicknamed the Tasmanian tiger for its characteristic striped lower back. It roamed the Earth for millions of years, likely since the early Pleistocene epoch, ranging across much of Australia and New Guinea.

Semi-nocturnal and mostly solitary, thylacine was likely an ambush predator, hunting small- to medium-size prey at night. Sometime in the last few thousand years, however, the animal disappeared from New Guinea and the Australian mainland, likely due to human hunting and competition with the dingo, which was brought to Australia from Asia some 4,000 years ago. For hundreds of years, the animal clung to the island of Tasmania as its final refuge.

Before you start thinking, as I did, 'what about the wallabies?!'

Today Tasmania’s ecosystems are threatened due to the disappearance of its “tiger.” The loss of an apex predator has left an over-abundance of small macropods, a family of marsupials such as red-necked wallabies and Tasmanian pademelons. These animals have damaged local vegetation through over-grazing, creating ecological instability and threatening other herbivores.

Bringing the thylacine back could, in theory, help keep these smaller animals in check. Apex predators also help curb the spread of disease among their prey, such as devil facial tumour disease, a transmissible cancer currently spreading among Tasmanian devils.

There are many other articles out there which go into further details on the cloning process if anyone is interested.


What are peoples thoughts on this type of thing? A good idea in theory, but potential moral quandaries?

 

[NVP]

Thanks for moving it to GD Mr Mod

 

[NVP]

I mean you could have gone a bit closer to home with the lynx, bison or even beavers!

Mad! I was completely unaware: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_reintroduction_in_Great_Britain