The Scottish reindeer situation

[jasonhernandez74]

@mftasp

Funny how the Wellington tuatara discussion went the opposite way. Most people were adamant they should be treated as wild.

Most people were wrong. Paul Dennehy’s explanation of why the reindeer are captive applies to those tuatara as well.

@rupertclayton

The two human actions that might justify a “captive” designation are the translocation of the founding population and the continued maintenance of the fence.

“Translocation of the founding population” is unambiguously “because a human intended for them to be there.” And the hatchlings born in the enclosure – well, with plants, we only count seedlings as wild if they have spread “outside the intended gardening area.”

@danzzziswild

I agree populations A and B should be considered captive. But population C? If they are captive then shouldnt the countless other species that are montored for disease and illness?

I’m not sure that “countless” is literally true in this context, because the species monitored for disease and illness are a subset of the known species. That isn’t pedantry; it is a useful distinction in determining the degree of wildness.