Transplantation of Game in Europe and Asia

Abstract

The harmonious adjustment of transplanted animals to the new environment will depend upon full recognition of the following factors: 1) Climate, elevation, soil type, and habitat in the new area must approximate those in the original range of the species (Becker-Dillinger, 1945 and Lindemann 1937a). 2) In order to avoid hybridization with species already present, closely related animals should not be brought in. If the introduction is being made in order to fill a gap left by the extirpation of a native species, it is wiser to attempt the reintroduction of the original animal. 3) The reproductive potential and spreading tendency of the new introduction must be considered in order to avoid bringing in an animal which will increase so rapidly as to jeopardize native animals by too vigorous competition. 4) The presence of natural predators is of great importance in regulating overpopulation and in improving the quality of the species (Lindemann, 1937b, 1950a, 1952, 1954, Lindemann and Rieck 1953). Unfortunately, the history of naturalization records many disastrous results. Several unfamiliar examples are given here to serve as a warning to those with similar experiments in mind. Before the revolution of 1917, the Bialowies forest in eastern Poland was managed for decades entirely without regard to ecology, but only for the sake of the Czar's hunts (Romanow, 1932). The large predators such as bear ( Ursus arctos arctos), lynx (Lynx lynx lynx), and wolf (Canis lupus) were extirpated and in a very short time, the ungulates reached overpopulation densities. In addition to the closely guarded wisent herds (Bison bonasus bonasus), were such large numbers of red deer (Cervus elaphus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus capreolus), that natural reproduction of the forest trees became impossible. In spite of artificial feeding of the animals, heavy browsing threatened the very existence of the forest. The fallow deer (Dama dama), introduced from the Mediterranean region about 1890, were particularly prone to debarking and browsing. They were unsuited to the Bialowies and degenerated in quality, becoming smaller and developing inferior antlers. On the other hand, they reproduced more rapidly than the native species and showed great mobility and tendency to spread. The resultant unrest in the area contributed to the decimation of the valuable red deer herd. Soon all species of the deer family began to show clear signs of degeneration, having lighter weight, smaller antlers, and increased susceptibility to diseases, outbreaks of which had heretofore been sporadic. However, during and shortly after the first World War, game populations were greatly decreased. The wisent was entirely extirpated in the Bialowies region. The large predators returned to their native haunts and began to exert natural selection upon the game (Lindemann 1950a, 1937b). As a result, fine specimens of red and roe deer