In chapters three and four of Emma Marris’s Rambunctious Garden, Marris introduces us to the concept of pleistocene rewilding. This idea is drastically different from the traditional approach that conservationists follow, which is to return areas to their original baselines. During the Pleistocene era, big mammals such as the wolly mammoth and ground sloths would roam the earth. The number of these précises would dramatically diminish by the human race. Humans would drive these species to extinction such as the Maori bird that was easy to prey on for humans. This huge bird that could grow to be over 15 feet tall and weight over 500 pounds would just stand there and be easy prey for humans. It took only 400 years for the Maori bird to be completely extinct after the introduction of the human.
This new concept of Pleistocene rewilding is the reintroduction of similar animals to areas where similar animals had gone extinct. Mostly, top of the pyramid predators were the animals chosen to be introduced into these environments. The reason behind this was to keep the ecosystem in check. Before predators, the only thing that would keep the ecosystem in check would be the battle for food. These environments were in need of another variable to keep the stability of the ecosystem, so that was the mentality behind introducing predators.
Initially, I felt that this new concept was too far fetched. I couldn’t understand why we would be introducing a similar species to environments where their supposed ancestors had gone extinct. It seemed cruel, unjust and in my opinion, done only for the reason of science, not to actually preserve life or environments. Human beings are playing the role of God in these events, which is something that gives them way too much power.
After Marris continues to dive into this concept some more, the results do seem to support that Pleistocene rewilding is working. It is a natural way of saving the environment, unlike conservationists trying to rebuild the environment themselves inorganically by burning forests down and replanting trees. I believe that this concept can be positive if ecologists focus on how the new ecosystems are man made yet still nature rather than trying to preserve prehistoric baselines. By allowing nature to take its coarse and not fencing it off all the time, we can see how the rewilding approach truly impacts the environment.
