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Another Stereotype of the Month entry:
An excerpt from the NY Times:
December 13, 2005
Op-Ed Columnist
Where Deer and Lions Play
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Now comes one of the craziest -- and appealing -- ideas in the biological world: reintroducing species to the Americas. Eventually, this could allow Americans to go on camera safaris in this country and see scenes that humans haven't witnessed on this continent since about 11,000 B.C.
The genesis for this idea is the growing realization that Native Americans were not the fine ecological stewards we imagine. In the Americas, hunters began using effective spears about 13,000 years ago, and in only about four centuries nearly three-quarters of the large animal species had disappeared. Something like that also happened in Australia.
Rob's reply
Kristof is presenting either his own speculation or outdated information. Either way, his view is wrong and stereotypical. Paleo-Indians were not the great killers that critics like Shepard Krech III have implied they were.
The following article provides the latest scientific thinking on the issue:
Humans cleared of killing off woolly mammoth
Last updated May 10 2006
_CBC News_ (http://www.cbc.ca/news/credit.html)
Climate shifts, not over-hunting, killed off the woolly mammoth and wild horse, a carbon-dating study suggests.
Related links
Dennis Prager and The Ecological Indian
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