California's Ecosystem Could Benefit From The Return Of Grizzly Bears
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- There's a bold new campaign to bring grizzly bears back to California.
Steven Jones, a spokesperson for the Center for Biological Diversity said, "We are seeking to have the State and Feds study the re-introduction of Grizzles in California. It's part of the re-wilding of California."
That's right, that want to bring back grizzly bears to the Sierra Nevada. Although the grizzly is on our state flag, that's about the only place you'll see one today. Once common across the state they were hunted down and the last grizzly was killed in 1924.
The Center for Biological Diversity is serious about bring the bears back.
Jones said, "We have a reputation for taking aggressive legal action if people don't study these concepts."
Dr. Wayne Getz, a professor of wildlife biology at the University of California at Berkeley, said the idea has merit.
"Without the Apex predators, the herbaceous mammal population could explode, and they can devastate the general vegetation of the ecosystem," Getz said.
The grizzlies would eat the deer and then the deer would eats less vegetation, meaning grizzlies might be good for plants.
Students at Cal had mixed reactions.
One student said, "Since you're going to bring them back in their natural habitat, I guess that's good. But we have to look for something, a way to protect ourselves too."
Even if the idea of re-introducing Grizzlies back into the Sierra Nevada does get some traction, it will take decades before we see any grizzlies in the woods.
