The idea of rewilding is one that is getting a lot of attention in the scientific and conservational community. Supporters of the theory believe that large predators were they key species of ecosystems. Large predators were they key because they kept the ecosystem in balance by eating smaller animals, which prevented the smaller animals from growing to too large a number and overeating plants. Since this was how ecosystems worked before humans intervened, rewilding suggests bringing large predators and other native animals back to ecosystems so they can restore the balance and bring the ecosystem back to its pristine state.
Many of the animals that lived in the pristine ecosystems are now extinct. Since conservationists cannot inhabit the land with the exact animals that lived in the past, they try inhabiting it with their evolutionary and sometimes domesticated counterparts. Instead of extinct wild horses, conservationists use modern domesticated horses. Instead of wild versions of cattle, conservationists use domesticated modern day cattle. The idea is that even though the animals are not exactly the same, they will hopefully play the same role in the ecosystem as their ancestors did.
There are a few problems with this theory. The first is that no scientist is sure what the ecosystem was exactly like before humans. In chapter 4 of Rambunctious Garden, there is a debate whether Europe used to be mostly forest or grassland, and if it was both, how often did natural forces cause the land to cycle between these two types of ecosystems. Conservationists may be forcing an ecosystem onto an area that never existed there before.
Another problem with rewilding is that introducing foreign species can have severe consequences. While conservationists would try to only introduce animals that are similar to animals have lived in the area before, the environment is not the same now as it was then. The animals in modern day may react differently to the ecosystem and can either die out quickly or become a huge invasive specie. While conservationists try to keep the change minimal, it is extremely hard to predict what exactly will happen when new animals are introduced into an area because there are so many different factors in play.
The last problem with rewilding is all the manpower that is put into the process. Humans have to pick out the animals to introduce into the ecosystem and monitor them to make sure they get off to a healthy start. Conservationists try very hard to create a part of nature that is like the way it was when it was human free. While rewilding might yield these results, the amount of human involvement in the process might defeat the whole purpose.
