Pleistocene Rewilding - Implementation

Implementation

The reintroduction of Bolson tortoise, equids (Mustangs and Burros) and camelids (dromedary) has already begun. Muskoxen roam areas of Europe and Asia last grazed during Rome's heyday, and bison herds thrive in subarctic Canada and Alaska. As of 2011 there are no active plans to reintroduce more exotic megafauna such as elephants, cheetahs or lions due to the controversial nature of these reintroductions.

The southwestern United States and the Brazilian savanna are the most suitable parts of North and South America where Pleistocene rewilding could be implemented. Besides fencing off large land tracts a natural setting would be maintained, in which predator-prey dynamics would take their course uninterrupted. The long-term plan is for an "ecological history park encompassing thousands of square miles in economically depressed parts of the Great Plains."

The Bolson Tortoise will expand its prehistoric population and thrive in places like Texas. Feral horses will be encouraged to breed and multiply, and will be proxies for extinct equids. Camelids (of the genera Camelus, Lama, and Vicugna) will serve as proxies for the approximately six extinct camel species in North America. The African cheetah will serve for the American cheetah, while the African lion will serve for the American lion. The elephant species will represent the five species of mammoth, mastodon, and gomphothere which thrived in North America.

Other animals which can be used for the project might include: mountain tapir and Baird's tapir (formerly part of a widespread Holarctic family); Saiga antelope (a Pleistocene resident of the Alaskan steppe, now found only in Central Asia); and the dhole (which thrived throughout North America and Eurasia during the Pleistocene). Scientific evidence points to the Siberian tiger crossing the Bering Strait into Alaska during the Pleistocene.