A solution for disappeared wildlife ? :
Rewilding: Bring in the big beasts to fix ecosystems - environment - 04 March 2014 - New Scientist
Rewilding: Bring in the big beasts to fix ecosystems - environment - 04 March 2014 - New Scientist
Rewilding
- Thread starter vogelcommando
- Start date
Rewilding the UK ? :
Is Rewilding The UK Really A Good Idea? - James Borrell
Is Rewilding The UK Really A Good Idea? - James Borrell
Nice article about the Wisent :
The triumph of the bison: Europe's biggest animal bounces back a century after vanishing
The triumph of the bison: Europe's biggest animal bounces back a century after vanishing
Some critical notes on rewilding :
https://cosmosmagazine.com/life-sciences/rewilding-may-be-death-sentence-other-animals
https://cosmosmagazine.com/life-sciences/rewilding-may-be-death-sentence-other-animals
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In general even those in support of rewilding admit fully that you can't predict what will happen. In fact because each ecosystem is different; at both a general and local level, its an area where its REALLY hard for science to predict the outcome.
What I think is important is that many of these species being considered are not extinct for, as the article Vogel links to, "thousands of years". In fact many are only hundreds of years extinct and those extinct for decades are often not even thought of in rewilding concepts but purely reintroduction concepts.
My personal feeling is that rewilding as an overall concept (including but not limited to reintroduction of species) is a positive movement. I also think that its attempting to push out a lot of the conserve and preserve mindset that exists within conservation that creeps in ever so easily until we have organisations preserving an ecosystem in a state the ecosystem doesn't want to be in; but also because that's "what it was" rather than what the land wants it to be and rather than what the land "should be" naturally. A great example is conservation of many sheep-grazed hillsides - totally part of many conservation schemes and certainly meadow species deserve protection ;but at the same time (in the UK) a sheep-grazed landscape isn't natural. Indeed many times the present system is degraded in the extreme down to just grasses and not much more. Certainly not enough species of unique and endangered status to justify the vast expanses used.
UK side rewilding has brought beavers back, though its battling. What's worse is that it uncovers a vast amount of disconnection of the public to the wildworld. The city-folk are often supporting because its events happening that are removed from their daily lives; whilst the country folk are often the ones to take the brunt of any costs. However it also shows that people really don't know much; beavers are oft said to be eating fish stocks by some (even some key people in charge of large organisations who should know better).
Against a barrier of costs and ignorance its a hard battle to win.
UK side we've got beavers; we've got wild boar (mostly because they escaped and no one caught them all - so they are somewhat unofficial); lynx is the focus of many campaigns at present and are potential but would be a major reintroduction. Wolves are the famous icon of rewilding, but are also the most unlikely and if we do get them Scotland is about the only place they'd be released into and likely the only place they could survive in the wild away from becoming humanized and ending up urban wolves.
For the UK the biggest barrier is that we are not really used to living with wildlife. The only "big stuff" we have are deer and wild boar; both of which pretty much keep to themselves and the latter are extremely restricted. Deer are widespread, but are secretive and non-predatory so are not seen as a threat by people at large. So for something like a lynx which is a predator or a beaver which can build dams* it starts to be an up-hill battle.
*which most people envision as vast super-structures blocking huge rivers
What I think is important is that many of these species being considered are not extinct for, as the article Vogel links to, "thousands of years". In fact many are only hundreds of years extinct and those extinct for decades are often not even thought of in rewilding concepts but purely reintroduction concepts.
My personal feeling is that rewilding as an overall concept (including but not limited to reintroduction of species) is a positive movement. I also think that its attempting to push out a lot of the conserve and preserve mindset that exists within conservation that creeps in ever so easily until we have organisations preserving an ecosystem in a state the ecosystem doesn't want to be in; but also because that's "what it was" rather than what the land wants it to be and rather than what the land "should be" naturally. A great example is conservation of many sheep-grazed hillsides - totally part of many conservation schemes and certainly meadow species deserve protection ;but at the same time (in the UK) a sheep-grazed landscape isn't natural. Indeed many times the present system is degraded in the extreme down to just grasses and not much more. Certainly not enough species of unique and endangered status to justify the vast expanses used.
UK side rewilding has brought beavers back, though its battling. What's worse is that it uncovers a vast amount of disconnection of the public to the wildworld. The city-folk are often supporting because its events happening that are removed from their daily lives; whilst the country folk are often the ones to take the brunt of any costs. However it also shows that people really don't know much; beavers are oft said to be eating fish stocks by some (even some key people in charge of large organisations who should know better).
Against a barrier of costs and ignorance its a hard battle to win.
UK side we've got beavers; we've got wild boar (mostly because they escaped and no one caught them all - so they are somewhat unofficial); lynx is the focus of many campaigns at present and are potential but would be a major reintroduction. Wolves are the famous icon of rewilding, but are also the most unlikely and if we do get them Scotland is about the only place they'd be released into and likely the only place they could survive in the wild away from becoming humanized and ending up urban wolves.
For the UK the biggest barrier is that we are not really used to living with wildlife. The only "big stuff" we have are deer and wild boar; both of which pretty much keep to themselves and the latter are extremely restricted. Deer are widespread, but are secretive and non-predatory so are not seen as a threat by people at large. So for something like a lynx which is a predator or a beaver which can build dams* it starts to be an up-hill battle.
*which most people envision as vast super-structures blocking huge rivers
Again Wisents released in the Netherlands 
:
https://www.rewildingeurope.com/news/new-release-of-european-bison-in-the-netherlands/
:https://www.rewildingeurope.com/news/new-release-of-european-bison-in-the-netherlands/
Succes-story of the wisent :
The triumph of the bison: Europe's biggest animal bounces back a century after vanishing
The triumph of the bison: Europe's biggest animal bounces back a century after vanishing
Last month again 4 Wisents released in Romania. The population there now counts more then 50 animals :
Bison rewilding programme in Romania enjoys new success - Emerging Europe | News, Intelligence, Community
Bison rewilding programme in Romania enjoys new success - Emerging Europe | News, Intelligence, Community
I think Wisent will never be truly safe in few big herds in remote parts of Europe, because they are easily killed by illegal hunting. They should be released in reserves or fenced areas in Western Europe in more places than now. There is now an excess of Wisent which can be released to the wild. I hope more places in Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland etc accept small herds in their mountains or forests.
I think more zoos should be more involved in rewilding projects. At present, many zoos breed 'popular' animals and then arrange for some/all of the progeny to go to other zoos to aid their breeding projects. This leads to there not being enough space for the individuals of some species, so some zoos increase enclosure size at the expense of other species. Recently, Barcelona Zoo announced a plan to just keep species that could be released into the wild. Surely this is a better way to conserve as many species as possible, rather than keeping large populations of species that will never be involved in rewilding projects.
Release of a Beaver-pair at Exmoor :
From FB :
A pair of beavers have been released on a National Trust estate in Exmoor - as part of efforts to improve biodiversity and help tackle flooding.
It's all part of a strategy which lets nature take charge of helping make areas more resilient to pressures like climate change and extreme weather.
:From FB :
A pair of beavers have been released on a National Trust estate in Exmoor - as part of efforts to improve biodiversity and help tackle flooding.
It's all part of a strategy which lets nature take charge of helping make areas more resilient to pressures like climate change and extreme weather.
I find it rather funny how cautious and therefore slow and expensive is release of beavers in Britain. They are now common in most places in Europe, also frequently in outskirts of many major cities in Europe.
The same could be said about species like white-tailed eagle or wild boar.
The same could be said about species like white-tailed eagle or wild boar.
Perhaps this is the road Howletts/PL should/will go down eventually.
Twenty kulan from Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve are being quarantined ready for transport and release on Tarutino Steppe in the Ukrainian Danube Delta in about a month's time. The kulan was eradicated in the area by the 19th century at the latest.
A video of the animals awaiting transport can be found on the Rewilding Danube Delta Facebook page, linked below:
Security Check Required
More information about rewilding in the area can be found on the official Rewilding Danube Delta website, included here:
Rewilding Danube Delta | Making Danube Delta a Wilder Place
A video of the animals awaiting transport can be found on the Rewilding Danube Delta Facebook page, linked below:
Security Check Required
More information about rewilding in the area can be found on the official Rewilding Danube Delta website, included here:
Rewilding Danube Delta | Making Danube Delta a Wilder Place
I hope Kulan is reintroduced to more places in Europe, e.g. Hungary, Austria and Spain. It is now documented that prehistoric European wild ass 'Equus hydruntinus' was genetically the same as Kulan.
Kulan is an overlooked animal - large, endangered European native mammal, but attracts little conservation interest.
Taming the late Quaternary phylogeography of the Eurasiatic wild ass through ancient and modern DNA
Kulan is an overlooked animal - large, endangered European native mammal, but attracts little conservation interest.
Taming the late Quaternary phylogeography of the Eurasiatic wild ass through ancient and modern DNA
The twenty kulan from Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve have arrived at the Tarutino Steppe in the Ukrainian Danube Delta; they have been joined by eight fallow deer. The current plan is for the animals to be confined within a 31-hectare enclosure to acclimatise before being allowed to roam freely over the 8,000-hectare steppe region in either autumn 2020 or spring 2021.
The project will also see, in the autumn of 2020, the releases of further kulan, Ukrainian grey cattle and, perhaps most interestingly, saiga antelope onto the steppe.
More information can be found on the link below:
Kulan comeback: wild donkeys set to roam free in the Danube Delta region once again | Rewilding Europe
The project will also see, in the autumn of 2020, the releases of further kulan, Ukrainian grey cattle and, perhaps most interestingly, saiga antelope onto the steppe.
More information can be found on the link below:
Kulan comeback: wild donkeys set to roam free in the Danube Delta region once again | Rewilding Europe
That isn't what the study you quote says at all
it says that the European Wild Ass is genetically a subspecies of Asiatic Wild Ass, but distinct from all extant subspecies including Kiang, Khur, Kulan and Onagar, along with the recently-extinct Hemippe.That isn't what the study you quote says at all
Hi TeaLovingDave,
When you look at the raw data, figure 3, you see that modern subspecies of Asiatic Wild Ass are not distinct genetically. Populations of 'dzigettais' and 'onagers' have diverse genetics, some more similar genetically to other 'subspecies' than to other 'dzigettais' and 'onagers'. Extinct 'hydruntinus' from Europe were more closely related to some living 'kulans' and 'onagers' than some 'onagers' are to each other.
This supports past reintroduction of both 'kulan and 'onager' in Israel in place of extinct 'hemippus' and eventually future reintroduction of 'kulan or 'onager' in Europe.
I'm looking at that precise figure and it makes no such claim
it very clearly shows all onager lineages on a completely-different branch to all "hydruntines". Note that all hydrundinus data is located on node 430 - which contains no onager data - and all onager data is on node 477, which contains no hydruntine data.
