"Rewilding" the West

Based in part on this thread and on these ideas, is there any way we can see an extensive "rewilding" in the American West, with the seeding of African or Asian species on the Great Plains? I put this here as only prior to modern environmental studies can the idea even come into being. Decades of Darkness included something similar to this, albeit limited to Yellowstone.
 
Based in part on this thread and on these ideas, is there any way we can see an extensive "rewilding" in the American West, with the seeding of African or Asian species on the Great Plains? I put this here as only prior to modern environmental studies can the idea even come into being. Decades of Darkness included something similar to this, albeit limited to Yellowstone.

It's an interesting idea. I wouldn't see it being anything more than little pet projects and oddities that would bring African and Asian species to the Plains.
 
honesty, i'm going to say this will never happen. 1stly, the people living in the west already have problems with the animals that already live there, like wolves, bears, cougars, and coyotes.

if some environmental wackjob government passed a bill to reintroduce lions, cheetahs, and elephants into the american west, you can expect some serious outrage from the american people, as well as some choicely aimed bullets into some animals who would have been better off in africa or asia.

don't get me wrong, i love animals, but i personally don't want another thing that can eat me in my back yard.

also, a lot of people don't realize that the environment of north america has changed drastically over the past 10,000 years. the great plains used to be desserts, grasslands were far more extensive than the woodlands we have today. i really don't think that a re-wilding of the west will ever happen beyond a natural reserve or a park.
 
I don't think introducing elephants and lions is not a good idea because I personally have a problem with the idea that humans killed them off. There seems to be evidence that humans got to the Americas 22,000 years ago and that the megafauna dies out 10,000 years ago, a 12,000 (more or less, whats a few millenia between friends) period of coxesistence.

On the other hand we know that European colonisation directly contributed to the drastic reduction of megafauna such as Bison, elk, bears, wolves and Jagaurs. Few seem to have an issue with reintroducing bison to Yellowstone, and subsequently wolves to control them. Could similar occur in the Sth West US to get Jagaurs back into the US again?
 
don't get me wrong, i love animals, but i personally don't want another thing that can eat me in my back yard.

That's how it is. Without a truly unrecognizable society inhabiting the OTL US, this is just not happening. Once the plains are settled it's too late and before the late 1800s no-one had the right mindset. Nor were the critters terribly easy lay hands on, let alone to breed. The latter took till the Scramble.

also, a lot of people don't realize that the environment of north america has changed drastically over the past 10,000 years. the great plains used to be desserts, grasslands were far more extensive than the woodlands we have today. i really don't think that a re-wilding of the west will ever happen beyond a natural reserve or a park.

Desert is a bit of an exaggeration. It's mostly irrigated desert now, given a very loose definition of the term, but it wasn't on par with the Southwest, much less Arabia or the Sahara. Not 10,000 years ago. Were that so there wouldn't have been much topsoil to speak of when the Europeans turned up. Granted it was somewhat drier.

Hrm....
 
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