Alligators on the beach? Killer whales in rivers? Get used to it

[OnlinePoker]

DURHAM, N.C. - Alligators on the beach. Killer whales in rivers. Mountain lions miles from the nearest mountain.

In recent years, sightings of large predators in places where conventional wisdom says they "shouldn't be" have increased, in large part because local populations, once hunted to near-extinction, are rebounding -- thanks to conservation.

Many observers have hypothesized that as these populations recover the predators are expanding their ranges and colonizing new habitats in search of food.

A Duke University-led paper published today in the journal Current Biology suggests otherwise.

It finds that, rather than venturing into new and alien habitats for the first time, alligators, sea otters and many other large predators -- marine and terrestrial species alike -- are re-colonizing ecosystems that used to be prime hunting grounds for them before humans decimated their populations and well before scientists started studying them.

https://www.brightsurf.com/news/article/050718455964/alligators-on-the-beach-killer-whales-in-rivers-get-used-to-it.html

The linked study is paywalled, but this article gives the gist of it, I suspect.

[Loki Liesmith]

1. Well that's kinda good news

[greymattermom]

2. I live in a gated community in an Atlanta suburb

and it's common for us to get notifications that there are coyotes in our neighborhood. Deer are common, and not long ago there was a black bear (the Dunwoody bear) wandering around.
https://www.ajc.com/news/dunwoody-bear-sighted-again-the-prowl/mZgRlHlE2s0v7aidHe9n1L/

[mikeysnot]

3. I see Coyottes all the time in Chicago

One really healthy male ran past me booking down the block, ran right past I guy walking two dogs. The dogs were barking up a storm and the guy was standing there flabbergasted at what we just saw.

[KelleyKramer]

6. There was a PBS docu about coyotes in Chicago

They tracked them and everything. It's remarkable that they can live in an urban environment

Try Google and you'll probably find it pretty quick

[mikeysnot]

7. Saw it yes!

The rails to trails scene was by my old house in Albany Park.

We just had a small dog abducted in the burbs yesterday.

[3Hotdogs]

4. Re-introduced Black Bears are a problem in N.J.

They get re-introduced, cause problems. Then get wacked.

Does this all make sense?



D.U. had a post today, where two people were killed in an auto accident when their car ran over an alligator.