Alternate Animal Introductions

  • Thread starter Deleted member 67076
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Deleted member 67076

I was rereading the alternate domestication thread, and thought of how much human introductions of animals has impacted the earth, so I wonder what impact different introductions of animals into places they weren't in OTL would have. For example, say Monk Parrots in Scotland, Platypodes in Florida, or Galapagos tortoises in India.
 
What about an earlier introduction of horses in Australia, and have them going wild?
Would that impact on native society?
 

NothingNow

Banned
Platypi in florida wouldn't last very long. Gators and the like would eat them before they could get established.

Gibbons on the other hand would probably do really fucking well.
 
Would there still be enough food available in North Africa for 'wild' elephants?

Probably. Desertification of North Africa, at least in the coastal region, is not an absolute reality : it doesn't mean there is not climatic changes that are a partial cause to NA elephan disparition, but I think there's room for a, limited, re-introduction at least technically (for what plausibility matters, on the other hand...)
 
I've been toying with the idea of introducing Indian elephants to (what was once) French Guiana in The Dead Skunk to aid in timber harvesting.

But the thing about elephants is that they don't breed very fast and if they get out of their pens they're pretty easy to track. So I don't see them escaping, multiplying like rabbits and taking over the continent.
 
But the thing about elephants is that they don't breed very fast and if they get out of their pens they're pretty easy to track. So I don't see them escaping, multiplying like rabbits and taking over the continent.

No, but if you brought in enough and if the timber harvesters had enough foresight to allow them to breed, you could have a self-sustaining population of tame elephants.

Perhaps an ATL that sees Brazil stay in some sort of union with Portugal could end up with animals introduced from Portugal's African colonies-escaped from zoos or brought to ranches to give wealthy ranchers something cool to hunt. I can see large parts of South America overrun by savannah and plains animals in this scenario, perhaps with hippos (pygmy or regular) taking over river systems, gemsbock taking over the Chaco, and possibly even leopards and lions pulling a double whammy on the native jaguars if you really want to get crazy.
 

Deleted member 67076

What if the Thylacine was introduced to other continents? Would it be successful?
 
No, but if you brought in enough and if the timber harvesters had enough foresight to allow them to breed, you could have a self-sustaining population of tame elephants.

Perhaps an ATL that sees Brazil stay in some sort of union with Portugal could end up with animals introduced from Portugal's African colonies-escaped from zoos or brought to ranches to give wealthy ranchers something cool to hunt. I can see large parts of South America overrun by savannah and plains animals in this scenario, perhaps with hippos (pygmy or regular) taking over river systems, gemsbock taking over the Chaco, and possibly even leopards and lions pulling a double whammy on the native jaguars if you really want to get crazy.

That sounds possible, the Southwestrn United State has a population of Gemsbock that have done very well.

http://web.archive.org/web/20090109203051/http://www.nps.gov./whsa/naturescience/oryx.htm

Researching the invasive species of Florida and Australia is highly recommend if you want to see how crazy things can get regarding invasive species.
 
I've been toying with the idea of introducing Indian elephants to (what was once) French Guiana in The Dead Skunk to aid in timber harvesting.

But the thing about elephants is that they don't breed very fast and if they get out of their pens they're pretty easy to track. So I don't see them escaping, multiplying like rabbits and taking over the continent.
You realize that all domestic elephants are captued from the wild, not bred in captivity, right? They are most assuredly not bred in pens. The ONLY way to get a usable supply in South America is to set the free and hope they breed freely.
 
Not an ATL introduction per se, but rather a maintained introduction : Merovingian Gaul, for exemple, used to have some camels for carrying goods and treasures, and maybe as transport in warfare (while the only mentions I remember are during retreats, it implies their presence in the campaign in first hand to be able to retreat from somewhere).

I don't see them lasting more than exceptionally in Gaul, at least in first times, but what about a more widespread use in Spain, even before Arabic conquest?

Their presence coming from roman times, it shouldn't be that hard to have them lasting even a bit more in some places as other roman features did : it should be ironically better adapted in semi-desertic regions of Spain where romans roads are less present (as not that usable by camels).
The concurrence of wheeled transport would of course represent an eventual threat to the permanance of this use of camels, being more adapted to roads and non-desertic places, but it could be enough to have a lasting camelid population at least for a longer historical period.

(The maintained contact with Africa in Al-Andalus would be as well a factor of maintain, while Merovingians couldn't renew their population even if they really tried to)
 
The trouble with camels in Spain is that they have competition from donkeys, who are also hard workers, well-adapted to arid conditions and in addition are far less likely to crush your skull with one bite. Perhaps camels could stay on as a status animal for *Andalusian nobility? I admit I'm biased because I really don't like camels, but I don't see them as the best beast of burden for Spain.

The Southern Dominion has camels in the American Southwest. I think there's potential for invasive Australian parrots to establish themselves there too (in fact, given how many budgerigars are in pet stores, it's probably inevitable at some point that we'll see feral flocks of them in the southwest.)
 
The trouble with camels in Spain is that they have competition from donkeys
Camels can be loaded with far more stuff than donkeys, that tended not to be in the same niche of burden beast. Furthermore, while donkeys are resisting, he does need 40l of water each day while a camel can go during 2 or 3 weeks without drinking (admittedlty, when driking, he drinks a lot).

Perhaps camels could stay on as a status animal for *Andalusian nobility
Camels were more seen as more rustic beasts of burden, nobles being more or less forced to ride them (if not getting executed on them) in early medieval nobility (count Paulus, Brunhilde).
For Arabs, horse had still a more prestigious feel, so I think it would be considered more akin to cattle.

I admit I'm biased because I really don't like camels, but I don't see them as the best beast of burden for Spain
They did were used during Roman times and Early Middle Ages long enough. I think that, while not making them decisivly better than donkeys, it implies there was a room for their usage, critically in transportation.
 
You realize that all domestic elephants are captued from the wild, not bred in captivity, right? They are most assuredly not bred in pens. The ONLY way to get a usable supply in South America is to set the free and hope they breed freely.

I'd heard that, but I'd always assumed it was because it was simpler to catch a wild one than to put a male and female together and wait fifteen years.

I can't imagine anybody spending all that money to ship elephants from India to South America and then releasing them into the hills. If it really isn't possible to sustain a population in captivity… well, so much for that idea.
 

NothingNow

Banned
The Southern Dominion has camels in the American Southwest. I think there's potential for invasive Australian parrots to establish themselves there too (in fact, given how many budgerigars are in pet stores, it's probably inevitable at some point that we'll see feral flocks of them in the southwest.)

They went feral in Florida, until they were out competed by starlings (at one point they were the most populous parrot in the state.)

Manage to time the releases right, and getting large flocks in the southwest and the south in general should be pretty easy (although their range will be restricted somewhat by the comparatively harsh winters in the southwestern deserts.) Unlike Monk Parrots, they won't do well north of the frost line though.
 
Could an American savanna develop on the scrublands of Southern California? If wildebeest, zebra, rhino and lion were released after a Hollywood movie could it lead to roving herds, it has much the same climate.
 
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