Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
What’s the wealthiest country with a non-marginal presence of each category of megafauna?
Temperate bears are easy- it’s the United States, if you say that doesn’t count for some reason(tinkering with the definition of marginal, I guess), then Canada. The next one seems like it’s probably Japan. Polar bears would be Norway, but let’s say those are a marine mammal.
For elephants, I’m guessing either South Africa or Malaysia, depending on exactly the range of Indian elephants. For giraffes and rhinos, I’m a bit more confident in South Africa.
For big cats I think this is Uruguay, with jaguars. Maybe there’s more leopards in Saudi Arabia than I think, though. Of course if you count pumas as big cats(they are after all both those things, but taxonomically different) then the US wins again.
For big grazers, this is the U.S., with bison. If you specifically restrict it to large antelope it might be Kazakhstan.
For apes, I’m pretty sure it’s Malaysia, with orangutans. Large monkeys would be Saudi Arabia, with baboons.
Big canines would be, probably, Norway.
Eagles are probably Switzerland.
Big snakes are, I’m guessing, either Malaysia or Singapore.
Any categories I’m missing? Any corrections?
I would say Australia is a very good contender for this. The wedge-tailed eagle has a massive wingspan and length and it is endemic to the Australian continent. They are often seen here and are in fact the most common of the world's large eagles. IIRC Australia also has higher median wealth per adult than Switzerland, though also lower average wealth (I suppose Switzerland's average is pulled up by a small percentage of really high net worth individuals) so I think it fits well here.
A possible runner-up is Japan (probably features third behind Australia and Switzerland because it's not super wealthy, and it represents the edge of the habitat range for the species in question). The Steller's sea eagle is one of the heaviest eagles and can be commonly found overwintering in Hokkaido (they are also found in South Korea and China but in smaller numbers, so depending on your definition of marginal you could count them or not). The actual core of their habitat is in Russia, but that country definitely isn't wealthy.
Singapore definitely wins this, they have the reticulated python. This alone doesn't make them unique - many other countries have large snakes, but what really wins them the title is that they are also very rich.
But I would include Australia before Malaysia in that list. Northern Australia in particular has its fair share of large pythons like the Australian scrub python (which is one of the world's largest pythons, capable of preying on wallabies) and carpet pythons, which can get large: example 1, 2, and 3. Also here is an olive python swallowing a crocodile in Queensland. You're welcome.
I realise this reply is very Australia-heavy but I think people underestimate just how much actually gigantic wildlife there is in the country. They definitely win the "large marsupial" category with red kangaroos, too.
America has golden eagles, sea eagles, and bald eagles. How you measure wealthiest probably determines whether it, Australia, or Switzerland is the wealthiest country with lots of eagles- all three are way ahead of Japan, but there’s also Canada, Austria, etc in between.
You have a good point re- big snakes and Australia. The real question about whether Australia or Singapore wins that competition probably comes down to the definition of marginal.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link