Environment be damned or don’t be damned. Because you like them or because you don’t like your neighbors … what animals would you like to see locally that are not there ?

  • Lvxferre@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Without taking into account the environmental impact and viability: Sicilian dwarf elephants. Come on, 1m short elephants, hairier (i.e. fluffier) than their African and Asian counterparts? I want it!

    Bonus points: capybaras are native where I live, and a common occurrence in parks. Now imagine those small elephants, plus some capybaras: chilling under the grey sky, taking a bath in the lake in warmer days, gathering together in colder days… come on, it’s cuteness overload!

      • Lvxferre@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        In the case of those dwarf elephants it’s because they were smaller, so they got a bigger surface area per weight, and lost heat faster. Perhaps also because, while Sicily is hot in comparison with continental Europe, it’s still colder than Southeast Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa.

        [I know that you’re joking, sorry for the serious answer.]

  • ivanafterall@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I would love to have a pet capybara, so a local source of wild capybaras would be cool. Also some orangutans. I’m in Utah, so it should probably be fine.

    • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz
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      1 year ago

      If we are going with de-extinction, then the Haast Eagle. NZ is really far too safe, we need a genuine predator to keep us on our toes.

  • AlexanderESmith@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Squirrels.

    Grew up in Chicago, currently in Phoenix. I miss squirrels.

    All the lizards are pretty cool though. They’re like desert squirrels.

  • Landsharkgun@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    In Minnesota… bison. Because it was their native habitat before we killed them all, and because watching jackasses in cars trying to negotiate with 1500lb bison everywhere would be hilarious.

    • AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Agreed, also I don’t think there’s enough here to fuck around and find out with. The scariest animal I’ve had to deal with up here is my neighbors always angry papillon getting loose. There’s a thrill about seeing an enormous reptile staring lazily at you from an apartment retention pond, I bet bison would be fun too.

    • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      They’re dying everywhere due to climate change and overuse of pesticides.

      Sorry, my dude… :(

      • Usul_00_@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        And we seem to like destroying their breeding grounds. I’m leaving some brush piles in place and starting to see few more of them

        • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Meanwhile, people in my town seem to think that climate change is a librul hoax, when you can clearly track things if you’ve lived in town for 50 years.

          Like, armadillos. They didn’t used to live here, because it got too cold. Now they do. Just six years ago I spotted the first (dead) one on an interstate that’s about 1500’ below where I live. This year I saw several that were about 500’ below where I live. That’s solid proof that their range is expanding, and in only six years.

          Monarch butterflies are also dying off; the habitats for milkweed are shrinking.

          It’s a lot of little things, and no one seems to remember them, because it’s feels so slow in terms of human perception, but so, so fast in terms of evolutionary epochs.

  • TheFlopster@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Zebras seem cool. I don’t think Texas has any zebras. They can hang out with the horses…? (Idk if they actually get along.)

    And giraffes! I want a giraffe to come hang out in my yard and eat some tall leaves.

  • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    None. We’re still dealing with many other instances of people thinking it’s a good idea…

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      There’s a cool beaver damn down the road from my camp in NW Florida. I’m seeing some maps that disagree, but that land in considered subtropical on all of them.