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PM_ME_KITTYNIPPLES OP t1_j97ebpy wrote

Reply to comment by Caoldman in Feral cows in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness will be shot from air, US Forest Service says by PM_ME_KITTYNIPPLES

Bison were native, these feral cattle are not. In this situation, they're an invasive species.

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arkezxa t1_j97fqwo wrote

Native? But where did they (bison) originally come from? Even if they were here for tens of thousands of years -- at some point, they weren't, right?

The article just says they are a danger to the local population and natural resources -- is that actually true? I don't live in the area mentioned?

Wild animals in the wilderness -- what're we trying to accomplish here?

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Modern_Bear t1_j97qik1 wrote

>Native? But where did they (bison) originally come from? Even if they were here for tens of thousands of years -- at some point, they weren't, right?

Correct. The earth isn't native either it came from a collection of space dust drawn together by gravity. The sun isn't native, or our galaxy. I guess the universe could be considered native unless you believe in multiverse hypothesis, in which case the big bang could have come from an interaction with another universe. In other words don't kill anything and moo!

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arkezxa t1_j987l3j wrote

Is that what it seems like I'm suggesting?

By saying we shouldn't kill some cows in the wilderness, you're taking that to mean... what precisely?

We kill thousands of cows a day, these guys are a drop in the bucket, right? Specifically, why is it worth the time and resources to go out of our way, as a society, to cull these particular cows?

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captnconnman t1_j97k2rm wrote

They’d likely be a danger to the local population in the sense that they don’t act like the general public would expect a regular cow to act. As far as natural resources go, they are grazing animals, and could be eating/grazing plants and grasses that are necessary to the survival of native species in the area. We released wolves back into Yellowstone for the same reason: the deer population was exploding and stripping areas bare of grass and berries due to overpopulation in a delicate ecosystem.

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