S.N on the eve of the golden rush, California He was filled with gray bears – up to 10,000 of them. They were so popular that the Republic of Bear Flag-is a short-term attempt by a group of American settlers to separate from Mexico in 1846-used animals as a timeline; A picture still adorns the Kalifornia flag.
But by the mid -twenties of the twentieth century, all the bears went. The last documented vision of a gray bear in California was in the spring of 1924 at the Sikoya National Park, a engraved bear roaming the trees.
Since then, there was an inevitable question in the air: Can the majestic Ramadi return to the golden state?
New research says they can. Peter Olagon, an environmental historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who led Feasibility reportI started searching for Grizzlies for more than a decade. While he was outperforming historical maps and environmental data, he began to feel enthusiastic about the possibility of species. “The extinction of Grizzlies in California was not inevitable by any means, and their recovery may not be impossible too,” he says, although this is the story that people had been telling 100 years ago. “
At 800 pounds (360 kg) and 9 feet (2.5 meters), the bears served as a strong symbol of the original groups and the California settlers alike. Perhaps they were among the largest and largest Brown Beers in the world, a group that also lives in Eastern Europe and Russia. Today, less than 2000 Grizzlies lives in the neighboring United States. Study authors say that California can host more than 1000 others.
Supporters say that returning them to the state can provide many benefits, including the preservation of the inhabitants of lover in examination, the separation of seeds, and the ventilation of soil with drainage nutrients and cycling, which contribute to environmental diversity and health.
The authors of the study say that there are still many parts of the country that can support the strong strong population. They define three regions: the northwestern forest near the borders of Oregon, south of Sierra Nevada and the southwestern region that includes mountains near Santa Barbara.
Even after animals disappeared due to conflicts with humans, large areas of their previous habitats remained. Half the state is a public land, which facilitates the re -introduction of species.
For Alagona, the possibility is an exciting change in the narration with which he grew up. He says: “A hundred years ago, people were saying, Ah, it’s over.” “But science actually appears that this is not the case.
“We have the largest space for protected areas in any state. California still has a large area for one or more population of Grizlies. I think the question is whether people are interested, participants, enthusiastic, enthusiastic and ready to support this.”
The issue of public support, however, can be thorny. While many residents are fascinated by the idea-an opinion poll showed as part of the study two thirds of California in all parts of the urban and rural areas both of the recovery efforts-what is undoubtedly that many others will spoil the idea that the huge predator who lives alongside their societies. Last June, the state was subjected to the first bear -fighter attack, when she was a 71 -year -old woman She was killed in her home In Sierra Nevada with a black bear.
California is home to the inhabitants of the important black bear – which includes about 60,000 animals – has flourished in the absence of Grizzzly. But black bears are more dependent on humans Adventure in cities Looking for food or Swimming pool in the backyard To cool. While some cities faced problems with them Bear meetingsAlagona says it is not the mistake of bears. “Black bears are not a problem,” he says. “The way we deal with them and the way we live is the problem.”
On the other hand, Grizzlies tried to stay away from people as much as possible. During the past fifteen years, there was only there 40 cases of human confrontations With all kinds of brown bears, including Grizzzly, every year all over the world. There are some areas where humans and Grizzlies live together, including in Alaska Wiloston.
Any effort to slowly re -enter, for several decades, says Alagona. Officials will start re-introducing a very small number of bears born in the wild from Montana, Idahu or Wyoming in the most remote areas of the wiman-perhaps in southern Sierra. Therefore, they are unlikely to throw California residents – even in the future – a glimpse of them, unless it is in the most remote areas.
“Then you learn, monitor, monitor people, and tell them how things go, and work with the local population in societies, to start something like this. It will be a slow, studied and accurate operation,” says Ajuna.
Melissa Wilder, the Los Padres Forestwatch program, says it finds the report very exciting. She says that the return of first -class predators has a positive impact on the entire ecosystem, in the places of Yellowston to South America.
Besides the environmental carrier, there will also a symbolic effect. The animals were not only the main species in ecology, but also the basic parts of cultural practices of the original groups, which appear in artworks, rituals and shows. Some of the presidents even kept the Gregs as pets and gave them to other leaders. “The indigenous people and GRIZZLIEs have forced to walk parallel paths,” he writes Octavio Escobedo III, head of the Tejon Indian tribe, at the forefront of the study. “Although California has changed dramatically over the past century, our cultures, stories, and original history are still intertwined with Ramadi, allowing us to remember and imagine what was previously.”
Ultimately, it will be up to the California people to make this feasibility plan a reality. Wilder, who did not participate in the study, remembers seeing state science since the time it was in kindergarten, and thinking that the bear was a symbol of what was lost – the remnants of ghosts from the times in which he went, and a reminder of human destruction. “Instead, if we return it, it reminds us of a new future,” she says. “I think we need hope now.”
