What exinct animals do yall think we could reintroduce to the Pine Barrens
I was reading an interesting article about the wonderful ecosystem that there was in the NJ pine barrens before European settlement. Wolves, Cougars, Bears, Moose, and Bison. I so wish I could time travel and go back to how it was back then, but since I cant I got to thinking about how interesting it would be to possibly re-introduce some of these species back to the pines.
1.) Bears
To start, I think Bears would be the easiest since for one they already live in North Jersey and there are already sightings here and there of them down in the Pines anyway. So they are not quite as fun to speculate about unless...... that article did just say Bears in general, not specificly black bears. So if there were grizzley bears in the pines way back then I'm going to go out on a limb and say not uh, I dont think a re-intro of grizzly bears would work for habitat reasons and because the public outcry and protest would be outrageous and besides even out West Grizzlies are only found in a few places outside of Canada and Alaska even in Colorado environmentalists are not 100% that they live in their relatively wild state.
2.)Wolves
My first response is... Yeah right. It was a challenge re-introducing wolves back into more rustic land in Yellow Stone because people were severly up in arms about it. Can you imagine how people would react in South Jersey! But besides the human reaction I dont know enough about a wolves habitat requirements to comment intelligently about whether or not our Pines are wild enough to support them. I'm sure we have more than enough deer and I know that our coyotes are actually theorized to be part wolf and are larger than those out west. So does anyone think the re-intro would be feasible based soley on the Pines available habitat?
3.) Puma aka Cougars aka Mountain Lions
Once again I think any re-intro of an apex predator would meet serious opposition from those that would fear for their safety, the safety of their children, and their domestic animals so for the most part to make this more interesting I think human reaction should be considered lightly because we already know people would be...:jeffd:. That being said I've heard arguments for and against the Pines being large enough and rustic enough to support a cougars habitat needs. I heard someone say they need roughly 100 square miles in which to roam??? I think the cougar and the grizzly bear (if there were in fact grizzlies here back in the day) are the most picky about their habitats being wild enough, so I'm thinking based on that alone the cougar would be a stretch even though we occasionaly have sightings of at the very least captive cougars that have either escaped or been released.
4.) Bison and Moose
These two I think are possibly the most feasible. Many times I have happened across a beautiful pine barrens lake and thought Wow if I wasnt in New Jersey I can just imagine a Moose casually feeding in that lake. I think of all the re-intros we just mentioned the public reaction would be minimal to non-existant (other than the fact that if you hit either of these animals at speed in a vehicle you'd better say your prayers). The only part I am not sure of is whether or not we have the required habitat. For those more knowledgeable on this subject. What am I not knowing or overlooking about the possibility of re-introducing moose or even bison (though I dont think the public would be as interested in bison since I think they are decidely less interesting) do we have the habitat for them?
I still wish I could take a time machine back to see the Pines the way they were so many centuries before Im sure it was just as wild and intimidating as the Alaskan wilderness. But I guess I'll never get that chance. oh well.
I was reading an interesting article about the wonderful ecosystem that there was in the NJ pine barrens before European settlement. Wolves, Cougars, Bears, Moose, and Bison. I so wish I could time travel and go back to how it was back then, but since I cant I got to thinking about how interesting it would be to possibly re-introduce some of these species back to the pines.
1.) Bears
To start, I think Bears would be the easiest since for one they already live in North Jersey and there are already sightings here and there of them down in the Pines anyway. So they are not quite as fun to speculate about unless...... that article did just say Bears in general, not specificly black bears. So if there were grizzley bears in the pines way back then I'm going to go out on a limb and say not uh, I dont think a re-intro of grizzly bears would work for habitat reasons and because the public outcry and protest would be outrageous and besides even out West Grizzlies are only found in a few places outside of Canada and Alaska even in Colorado environmentalists are not 100% that they live in their relatively wild state.
2.)Wolves
My first response is... Yeah right. It was a challenge re-introducing wolves back into more rustic land in Yellow Stone because people were severly up in arms about it. Can you imagine how people would react in South Jersey! But besides the human reaction I dont know enough about a wolves habitat requirements to comment intelligently about whether or not our Pines are wild enough to support them. I'm sure we have more than enough deer and I know that our coyotes are actually theorized to be part wolf and are larger than those out west. So does anyone think the re-intro would be feasible based soley on the Pines available habitat?
3.) Puma aka Cougars aka Mountain Lions
Once again I think any re-intro of an apex predator would meet serious opposition from those that would fear for their safety, the safety of their children, and their domestic animals so for the most part to make this more interesting I think human reaction should be considered lightly because we already know people would be...:jeffd:. That being said I've heard arguments for and against the Pines being large enough and rustic enough to support a cougars habitat needs. I heard someone say they need roughly 100 square miles in which to roam??? I think the cougar and the grizzly bear (if there were in fact grizzlies here back in the day) are the most picky about their habitats being wild enough, so I'm thinking based on that alone the cougar would be a stretch even though we occasionaly have sightings of at the very least captive cougars that have either escaped or been released.
4.) Bison and Moose
These two I think are possibly the most feasible. Many times I have happened across a beautiful pine barrens lake and thought Wow if I wasnt in New Jersey I can just imagine a Moose casually feeding in that lake. I think of all the re-intros we just mentioned the public reaction would be minimal to non-existant (other than the fact that if you hit either of these animals at speed in a vehicle you'd better say your prayers). The only part I am not sure of is whether or not we have the required habitat. For those more knowledgeable on this subject. What am I not knowing or overlooking about the possibility of re-introducing moose or even bison (though I dont think the public would be as interested in bison since I think they are decidely less interesting) do we have the habitat for them?
I still wish I could take a time machine back to see the Pines the way they were so many centuries before Im sure it was just as wild and intimidating as the Alaskan wilderness. But I guess I'll never get that chance. oh well.
