Re: Reintroduction

["Robert H" <robertph3 at attbi_com>]

>>There is a real danger in reintroducing animals to their
original habitat. But its not the habitat that is in trouble
(unless they're diseased). The problem is that after some
time in domestication they can grow soft:
1) forget their hunting and predator evasion strategies
after getting accustomed to human feeding
2) reduce their long term contact with disease, hence
lowering their immunity
3) loose their original territory to members of their own
species<<

I'm sorry, don't mean to be rude, but this is hogwash.  If this was true we
wouldn't have such a problem with non naitive fish taking over the habitats
of fish native to that area,  as a result of being released by humans. How
do you think we have African cichlids swimming around in Florida? When I was
a kid, I caught a 12" goldfish on a fishing line from a lake in
Massachuessetts. It had probably been living there for ten years or more. If
a non native fish can be introduced, thrive, and breed, then certainly a
native fish re introduced would have no problem.

Robert Paul Hudson
www.aquabotanic.com