Rewilding the World and Scientific Freedom | The Huffington Post The primal thrill of sharks: the emotional case for rewilding the sea
What do you think about releasing saiga into some part of American West? Unlike many ideas about re-wilding, this one is practical. Saiga are themselves endangered and would benefit from a conservation introduction, were present in North America during Pleistocene, can be sourced from steppe reserves in Ukraine, Russia, Mongolia or China, are not dangerous to human activities, and would be easy to eventually contain.
There are lots of problems with saigas in that they are very sensitive to climate outside of their native range; saigas in captivity outside of eurasian zoos near the pacific have died because they are not used to such a change in climate. Also, saigas are very aggressive and unpredictable in small spaces so transporting them will take a lot of time and patience. Saigas are also critically endangered, and there are few in captivity at all, so they are very valuable animals at the moment. I supposed you know about the massive die-offs of these antelopes in the last few years? Despite these however, I agree in that from a conservation approach, it would be very useful for the species, especially in an area which is well guarded and protected.
