From Patrick Wilson
I find it disturbing that a scientist would suggest introducing elephants to Australia to eat fire-prone, invasive African grasses (11 February, p 29).
Elephants are a disruptive force in any ecosystem they inhabit, and the numbers required for any real impact on invasive grasses would be huge.
Getting such a project up and running would take a long time and be very expensive. There are 12,000 elephants in Kruger national park in South Africa, which covers only 19,500 square kilometres. It would take many decades before sufficient numbers built up for any impact to be made in Australia. And why should the elephants focus on the invasive gamba grass?
From Neil Padley
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Talking of invasive species, I have often wondered if we could save polar bears from extinction by introducing them to Antarctica. I mostly thought it was a mad idea and I would think the penguins would not be too pleased. But how many penguins could a bear eat before it was full?
Ash, Hampshire, UK
Johannesburg, South Africa
