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It is pretty clear we need to hunt into extinction all the large animals on this planet, to save the planet. Advocating anything else is basically destroying t

It is pretty clear we need to hunt into extinction all the large animals on this planet, to save the planet. Advocating anything else is basically destroying the planet.

Ekaros 5y ago
Do humans count as large animals in this?
- shapefrog 5y ago
  We generate a few orders of magnitude less methane per person/animal than mules and asses, but there are a lot more of us. All options have to be on the table and once we have gotten rid of all the low hanging fruit, the choices get trickier and trickier.
mumblemumble 5y ago
I think we can leave the wild ones alone. The article's really talking more about artificially maintaining the populations of certain domesticated species at levels vastly higher than a natural ecosystem could support without human intervention on an industrial scale.
- shapefrog 5y ago
  Prior to the colonization of the US there were some 60million buffalo, with little interference from human intervention it is probably fair to say that is the population numbers for the 'natural ecosystem'? They number now in the 10,000's. But they have been replaced with ultra high density industrial scale factory farming and this has resulted in 90million cows ... Sure that is 50% extra, but on the scale of this sort of issue - is that really a lot? Buffalo is probably nearly 50% bigger in mass and methane production anyway.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - mumblemumble 5y ago
    First off, the North American grasslands were a managed ecosystem. The Native American agriculture of the time looked very different from how Europeans did it, but it was still a form of agriculture. Second, it's 90 million cattle crammed into a much, much smaller space than the bison occupied. And, unlike how it worked with the bison, it's largely supported by intensive monocultures that leave little room for native ecosystems or biodiversity. Even the pastures at my friend Dan's small family organic dairy farm are something of a disaster in the biodiversity department, compared to a proper prairie.

It is pretty clear we need to hunt into extinction all the large animals on this planet, to save the planet. Advocating anything else is basically destroying the planet.

Ekaros 5y ago

Do humans count as large animals in this?

shapefrog 5y ago
We generate a few orders of magnitude less methane per person/animal than mules and asses, but there are a lot more of us. All options have to be on the table and once we have gotten rid of all the low hanging fruit, the choices get trickier and trickier.

mumblemumble 5y ago

I think we can leave the wild ones alone. The article's really talking more about artificially maintaining the populations of certain domesticated species at levels vastly higher than a natural ecosystem could support without human intervention on an industrial scale.

shapefrog 5y ago
Prior to the colonization of the US there were some 60million buffalo, with little interference from human intervention it is probably fair to say that is the population numbers for the 'natural ecosystem'? They number now in the 10,000's. But they have been replaced with ultra high density industrial scale factory farming and this has resulted in 90million cows ... Sure that is 50% extra, but on the scale of this sort of issue - is that really a lot? Buffalo is probably nearly 50% bigger in mass and methane production anyway.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  First off, the North American grasslands were a managed ecosystem. The Native American agriculture of the time looked very different from how Europeans did it, but it was still a form of agriculture. Second, it's 90 million cattle crammed into a much, much smaller space than the bison occupied. And, unlike how it worked with the bison, it's largely supported by intensive monocultures that leave little room for native ecosystems or biodiversity. Even the pastures at my friend Dan's small family organic dairy farm are something of a disaster in the biodiversity department, compared to a proper prairie.