Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] NMOC: Africa in Australia?

Henry Longmore Henry.Krit.Longmore@m.cc.utah.edu
Tue, 11 Dec 2001 01:27:37 -0700 (MST)


I didn't bother to read the story, I'm squeazing this in during final
exams week, but thought I'd put in my 2 bits.

Importing "alien" species is _never_ a good idea.  I was watching
some show on public television that fully convinced me of this: Guam
no longer has birds due to a snake that was brought there in WWII.
The northeastern US is losing thousands of acres of forest each year
due to an imported beatle, and already dealt with an imported
worm/butterfly in the late 1800s that hasn't left.  There were
propaganda films made in the 1920s or so, trying to encourage people
to eradicate the worm--they were histerical, if it weren't for the
fact that the introduction of foreign species wasn't such a real
problem.

Henry K.
who must now sleep, so tomorrow he can work on his microprocessor and
be done with school (well, as an undergraduate)!

 }It seems like a good idea at a macroscopic level, but when I think about
 }it a bit more, it seems like the idea of bringing "alien" animals into
 }Australia has generally done more harm than good.
 }
 }I haven't studied this subject, but a couple of books I've read in the
 }last year have tended to point out that many extinctions in Australian
 }wildlife were related to the introduction of foreign species which
 }unbalanced the natural habitat.
 }
 }Isn't the idea of an African reserve in Australia a very similar mistake
 }in the making?
 }
 }And on a completely Hollywood level, isn't it all a bit Jurassic Park
 }sounding? 
 }
 }Anyhow, something to think about...
 }
 }