Pleistocene Re-Wilding Discussion Assignment Writing (Essay Sample)

Pleistocene Re-wilding Discussion
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  Pleistocene rewilding is the reintroduction of the ecosystem that was present in the Pleistocene epoch. It will involve the reintroduction of the species that were present during this time that is about thirteen to ten thousand years ago. Megafauna is the large backbone vertebrates that existed during the Pleistocene epoch, and the reintroduction of the Pleistocene ecosystem would support the life of these animals that have been extinct. Sandler (2012) suggests that the human hunting activities and the predators resulted in the extinction of the megafauna. The idea has been supported by the public though it would mean that owner of large tracts of land to allow implementation of the project in North America (Levy, 2011). This paper describes the implications of Pleistocene rewilding, the benefits and demerits.
Animals and plants that were present in the Pleistocene epoch are extinct, and it implies that the use of proxies will be adopted to achieve a similar ecological system. Some of the species that are of interest include; the Asian cheetah and lion which will act as a proxy representing the extinct American cheetah and lion respectively (Wolverton, 2012). The African bush elephant will be a proxy for the Columbian mammoth which is extinct. The objective will rebuild the ecosystem to be favorable for the existence of the animals. The Planting the Brazilian savannah would support the herbivores to be reintroduced (Wolverton, 2012).
The implementation of the rewilding process, however, will require support from various organizations. The government should be ready to work together for the project to materialize. The government would select the several areas in Northern America that would be the regions for the restoration of the Pleistocene ecosystem. Relocation of private land and compensation would allow the public to support the task (Levy, 2011). The inclusion of researchers, environmental scientists and biologists would enable the project to achieve full success (Levy, 2011).
The idea has been subjected to criticism by various groups including ecologists who suggest that it may not be possible to attain the actual natural ecosystem that was there in the past during the Pleistocene period. To allow the complete natural ecosystem means that the carnivores would be let to hunt and kill their prey, and this would mean reduction in the number of herbivores, the fauna (Wolverton, 2012). To achieve an ecosystem similar to the Pleistocene epoch would require a lot of funds to avail required resources for the rewilding process which may be costly. There is also the idea that the locals will not want to support the rewilding due to the occurrence of diseases and interference by the megafauna.
Several benefits would arise in the Pleistocene rewilding. One of the advantages is environmental conservation. With the reintroduction of rare species, it would result in increasing the number of the speci...