An Australian professor of environmental change biology believes elephants and rhinoceros should be introduced to the Australian outback to control the impact of damaging wild grasses. However, other academics warn the idea would come with its own set of problems.
Prof David Bowman of the University of Tasmania says the giant African gamba grass is a destructive force that fuels wildfires across northern and central Australia, reports the Guardian.
"Australia has a deeply troubled ecology and current land management approaches are failing," Prof Bowman said.
The grass was introduced as food for livestock in the 1930s, but at its height is almost completely replaces native vegetation.
In an article for Nature magazine, Prof Bowman has suggested introducing large herbivores like elephants and rhinoceroses as an "ecological tool to manage the grass".
However, other academics have cautioned against the idea.
"If we did go down the road of introducing elephants to Australia, we had better develop the technology to clone saber-tooth tigers to eventually control the elephants," said Ricky Spencer, senior lecturer with the Native and Pest Animal unit at the University of Western Sydney.
Prof Bowan has acknowledged that his proposal is radical and comes with major risks.
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