Wednesday, January 27, 2010
In re Jaguars
In case you missed it a few days back, read this very interesting Op-Ed on the matter of jaguars, and whether they should be reestablished in the United States after having been extinct here for at least 100 years. The author, who is devoted to protecting jaguars where they can thrive, thinks that it is a waste of money to try to make them thrive here. Litigious American environmentalists and their allies in the Obama administration think otherwise.
The environmental and conservation movements often seem to be driven as much by a romantic vision of a different world as by a hard-headed assessment of the possible.
9 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Jan 27, 10:21:00 AM:
Occasionally, I will write a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle advocating the reintroduction of Grizzly bears to Golden Gate park. For some reason, they have never published any of my letters.
By , at
Wed Jan 27, 11:30:00 AM:
Isn't there a jaguar running around Arizona, or have I misremembered some stupidly hopeful news story? I cannot wait for the reintroduction of Mastodons to Wyoming and the Dakotas.
By 
Brian, at
Wed Jan 27, 04:15:00 PM:
Anon1 - I've advocated for re-establishing an experimental, small, and hunted population of grizzlies in remote parts of California, particularly northern Sierras. I think it would help the environment and bring hunters to the area. No one in the world except me likes the idea (btw, hunted grizzlies are very shy, so there's almost no safety issue involved).
Anon2 - there was a jaguar but it was harassed by Arizona Fish and Game, and later euthanized:
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=98203&catid=288
By Brian, at
Wed Jan 27, 04:18:00 PM:
Forgot to add that the US Recovery Plan for jaguars could assist the Mexican efforts.
The Op-Ed author knows less about the US Endangered Species Act than he does about jaguars.
By JPMcT, at
Wed Jan 27, 05:43:00 PM:
The Democrats have been trying for years to re-introduce Jimmy Carter to the American political scene...with similar results...most of us still believe that it isn't worth it.
By Dawnfire82, at
Wed Jan 27, 08:26:00 PM:
While hunting grizzlies sounds like great fun (and making them shy enough to not be all that dangerous sounds good, too) how would it 'help the environment?'
By , at
Thu Jan 28, 03:11:00 AM:
Hmmm, if we reintroduced jaguars along the Arizona border they could reduce the number of illegal immigrants crossing that part of the border.
By Brian Schmidt, at
Thu Jan 28, 03:51:00 PM:
DawnF- hunting the grizzlies doesn't help the environment, but it helps the local economy, and keeps the population controlled to the level we want, as well as keeping them afraid of human contact.
Having the grizzlies there helps the environment by restoring the role they played as an apex predator/scavenger/insectivore/herbivore.
By , at
Sat Jan 30, 04:17:00 PM:
Hmmm, if we reintroduced jaguars along the Arizona border they could reduce the number of illegal immigrants crossing that part of the border.
Mostly because they'd rarely be out of the repair shop.
