Invasive species have always been a problem for ecosystems around the world, but none were more dangerous than feral livestock. Feral livestock are farm animals that escaped and became feral after spending prolonged periods of time in the wild. In Hawaii, there are feral cows that outnumber the domesticated cows and have a reputation for destroying crops on farms. In places like Australia, there are feral goats and pigs that have multiplied uncontrollably before picking the soil clean of seeds and tubers, destroying any chance for plants to grow in the process. Invasive species such as feral livestock have caused the extinction of hundreds of flora and fauna and efforts were made to hunt them down and reduce their populations. For my new dinosaur book, I am thinking of portraying efforts to relocate many of these feral farm animals to the facility that is reverse engineering dinosaurs. The livestock act as live prey to the local predators. So, the environments in the outside world get a reprieve, the human workers at the lab are not eaten, and the engineered predators get well fed on beef, pork, and mutton. A triple win!
Interesting information about feral animals and the damage they do!