What non-native animal would you really really really like to introduce into your local habitat ?
Environment be damned or don't be damned. Because you like them or because you don't like your neighbors ... what animals would you like to see locally that are not there ?
polar bears. it's the only animal that likes to eat people. daily life is just too safe and dull.
Without taking into account the environmental impact and viability: Sicilian dwarf elephants. Come on, 1m short elephants, hairier (i.e. fluffier) than their African and Asian counterparts? I want it!
Bonus points: capybaras are native where I live, and a common occurrence in parks. Now imagine those small elephants, plus some capybaras: chilling under the grey sky, taking a bath in the lake in warmer days, gathering together in colder days... come on, it's cuteness overload!
I don’t understand why everything and everyone in the Mediterranean area (read: south Italy) is so hairy lol
In the case of those dwarf elephants it's because they were smaller, so they got a bigger surface area per weight, and lost heat faster. Perhaps also because, while Sicily is hot in comparison with continental Europe, it's still colder than Southeast Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa.
[I know that you're joking, sorry for the serious answer.]
I would love to have a pet capybara, so a local source of wild capybaras would be cool. Also some orangutans. I'm in Utah, so it should probably be fine.
search up CBT (capybara therapy).
It would be awesome to get woolly mammoths back in the Alps.
If we are going with de-extinction, then the Haast Eagle. NZ is really far too safe, we need a genuine predator to keep us on our toes.
Squirrels.
Grew up in Chicago, currently in Phoenix. I miss squirrels.
All the lizards are pretty cool though. They're like desert squirrels.
We've got ringtails, will that do?
Oh hell yes they will!
Capybaras! They are so chill
Guinea Bigs
In Minnesota... bison. Because it was their native habitat before we killed them all, and because watching jackasses in cars trying to negotiate with 1500lb bison everywhere would be hilarious.
Agreed, also I don't think there's enough here to fuck around and find out with. The scariest animal I've had to deal with up here is my neighbors always angry papillon getting loose. There's a thrill about seeing an enormous reptile staring lazily at you from an apartment retention pond, I bet bison would be fun too.
Brontosaurus
I just moved from a place with raccoons to somewhere without them and I miss them. So raccoons. They're funny as fuck.
Fireflies. I could sit on a porch watching fireflies every night of my life
Zebras seem cool. I don't think Texas has any zebras. They can hang out with the horses...? (Idk if they actually get along.)
And giraffes! I want a giraffe to come hang out in my yard and eat some tall leaves.
Leopards. There's some faces that need eating here.
Beaver. Always beaver.
Australia is mostly degraded, channelised shallow creeks and erosion problems. Bam, beaver does all the work for us.
Can beavers survive in the subtropics?
I believe so. I think there was a big thing about European settlers introducing beavers to Peru or northern Chile and causing ecological havoc
There's a cool beaver damn down the road from my camp in NW Florida. I'm seeing some maps that disagree, but that land in considered subtropical on all of them.
Beavers are absolutely insane. Nature's engineers.
capybara
Giant ground sloths
Kangaroo. I'm sure they'd thrive and be a pain in the ass but they look cool.
Monkeys. Several species, but specifically pygmy marmosets. What I really want is Borrowers, but since the scientific community refuses to focus research on the actually important things, it feels unlikely in my lifetime. So pygmy marmosets. I want to walk onto my porch, and a troop of teeny little monkeys is chilling out there, living their best lives.
Hedgehogs. They're hilarious
"Why would you keep those dreadful things?" - my wife's Irish grandmother when we told her we have a hedgehog. Apparently they're a big pest for gardeners.
I also immediately thought of hedgehogs.
Pangolins! I'm not sure how well they'd survive in Texas, but if they find fire ants tasty, they might be able to make a dent in the population (they're invasive themselves). Also, being present on another continent might help ensure their survival, especially the species currently critically endangered.
Edit: if they don't have to be extant, then troodontids! They were supposedly smart little raptors. I bet they'd make great pets c:
We don't have enough apes in northern europe
. . . enough species of apes.
There's way more than enough individual apes - at least in my shitty parrt of N. Europe.
Am from tropical zone so stumble upon capybara will be nice. Though we already have tapir and that creature is rare as heck.
Tyrannosaurus rex
Here in RI, I will take some of those Japanese Snow Monkeys, and a bunch of Tanuki as well.
Easy, I'm on vacation around the New Jersey area. Release the Candiru fish. Use your fucking turn signals ass hats.
Koalas. Or maybe sloths. I’d love to see either climbing the trees when I go to the park.
Drop bears though
Gimme da Red Panda
Chameleon
They've been there since 2013, haven't you noticed?
Is that why i keep feeling my chair is staring at me?
They're not anywhere near my favorite animal, but if dolphins could survive in freshwater, it would be interesting to hear about all the interactions people have with them near me considering people have re-learned they have a language, even if it's more like 50,000-BCE-human-levels of communication. If any were integrated, I wouldn't mind going the extra mile to treat them as anyone else and anticipate them showing up.
if dolphins could survive on freshwater
Well, you're in luck cause these guys already exist
Yeah but I mean bottlenose ones. They're the ones which are being studied, the other species are to bottlenose dolphins what other apes are to humans. If you put a bottlenose dolphin in freshwater, they get all wrinkly before dying due to saltwater having the chemical properties they need.
River dolphins survive in freshwater happily, your dream is achievable.
But are they as people-like though?
Kukaburra, what a great call. Second only to the haunting loon call.
Honestly foxes. They are so fun to photograph and there are none on Vancouver Island.
I have a mating pair of foxes that live right next to my house in a small unmaintained area. I spot them pretty regularly in the early morning and it's kind of a fun treat. They nab a lot of bunnies from my yard.
Some stupid bastard did that on Tasmania (also an island, somewhat bigger) and they have been a whole world of trouble.
Somehow we can get the red panda to replace the raccoon. This is my wish.
Cassowary. Giant dinosaur bird that will lunge at you get first with razor sharp talons. But looks cool and prehistoric. One of the few creatures that terrify zoo keepers as they are smart enough to be evil but not smart enough to be tamed
Polar bears. It would be hilarious.
Platypus would be cool, or African land snails
Raccoons! I can't believe we don't already have them here!!
They aren't nearly as cool as you are imagining. They break into your trashcan and shit everywhere. Also their shit carries a bunch of diseases. They also attack your pets.
Giant land snails!! They're soooo sooooo cuttteeee, but also unfortunately sooo destructive here.
That was incredibly strange, but it only slightly tarnished the reputation of giant land snails for me 😌
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Dodo bird.
Pretending that they’d have a good life here: koalas and elephants.
Tarantulas. We don't have any.
I need sloths, hummingbirds, monarch butterflies, raccoons and orang utans in my life, please.
You do not want raccoons in your life. They are horrible criminal psychopaths that will bite you.
If not friend then why friend-shaped?
So you're saying they're more suited for political ambitions?
Hedgehogs or stoats. They're delightful little critters in their own ways I love them both
red pandas.
also pandas.
samoyeds too.
cockatiels, elephant seals, blue whales and giant squids aren't bad either.
Cane toads.
They're not non-native, but I'd love to introduce more mountain lions if they could be adapted to this sprawl. There's way too many deer and feral cats around here.
parrots
very jealous of Australia
Hedgehogs. Damn cute and eat slugs and snails.
Humans! ..... oh no wait ... we already did that one
They wished for that hundreds of thousands of years ago, so be careful what you wish for
Small fluffy mammals of any kind are always fun. Pangolins or Armadillos though would be fun.
There's an outbreak of leprosy in central Florida, and one of the suspected causes is armadillos.