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> The Amazon could almost certainly support There’s so many variables off the top of the head to consider here, and I’m not even remotely involved in biology:

by cromka 6y ago

> The Amazon could almost certainly support There’s so many variables off the top of the head to consider here, and I’m not even remotely involved in biology: the different species at hand, the evolution that the Amazon underwent in 15k years, the human aspect, and so on, that your certainty comes off as a mere opinion, unless you can substantiate it with some publications. We have pythons in Florida, killing off and reintroduction of wolves in Yellow Stone, lake Victoria, and so many other examples that show how even the slightest alteration of the ecosystem wreaks havoc, despite often having been signed off by the “trust me, I’m a PhD” scientists, that it’s just almost irresponsible to think that we can possibly imagine all the side effects – or lack thereof – such significant change could bring to as complicated and crucial to our planet’s existence ecosystem as Amazon. I mean I’d rather see Trump crowned as a king of the USA and I’d still have lesser of an existential crisis.

bpodgursky 6y ago
Eh, in my mind the big mitigating factor is that it's not a mistake that's particularly hard to undo if there are indeed negative environmental consequences. People won't be thrilled about a mass Hippo cull, but... it's not hard to find and kill 1,000 pound animals, in the way it is with Pythons. Our ancestors were great at it. We did a great job with the Buffalo, and Sloths, etc etc. We're doing a great job of wiping out the megafauna that does remain, all over the world. So I don't personally see a big risk to letting the population grow to a few thousand and seeing what happens. If it goes poorly, we're very well equipped to re-extinct them.
redis_mlc 6y ago
> I mean I’d rather see Trump crowned as a king of the USA and I’d still have lesser of an existential crisis. Yes, he was one of the best Presidents since WW2 at foreign policy, and he could draw more than 15 people to a rally. As is usually the case, people aren't appreciated until they're gone for a while.

by cromka 6y ago

bpodgursky 6y ago

Eh, in my mind the big mitigating factor is that it's not a mistake that's particularly hard to undo if there are indeed negative environmental consequences. People won't be thrilled about a mass Hippo cull, but... it's not hard to find and kill 1,000 pound animals, in the way it is with Pythons. Our ancestors were great at it. We did a great job with the Buffalo, and Sloths, etc etc. We're doing a great job of wiping out the megafauna that does remain, all over the world. So I don't personally see a big risk to letting the population grow to a few thousand and seeing what happens. If it goes poorly, we're very well equipped to re-extinct them.

redis_mlc 6y ago

> I mean I’d rather see Trump crowned as a king of the USA and I’d still have lesser of an existential crisis. Yes, he was one of the best Presidents since WW2 at foreign policy, and he could draw more than 15 people to a rally. As is usually the case, people aren't appreciated until they're gone for a while.