“Rewilding” is not, as you may think, a verb for middle-aged men returning to their hedonistic bachelor days; it refers to the reintroduction of wild animal species to a habitat. Slate gives us the lowdown:

…most of the Earth’s remaining large wild animals in Africa and Asia are threatened with extinction in the coming century.

“Rewilding”—bringing elephants, cheetahs, and lions out of captivity to run free in parts of North America—could help save these megafauna from global extinction. More important, it would restore to the continent biological functions lost millenniums ago.

It’s an interesting notion, but then again:

Sure, the costs and risks of bringing back the megafauna are significant—they include angry ranchers, scared passersby, and unanticipated effects on other plants and animals.

unanticipated effects on other plants and animals

Yeah. No doubt “rewilding” proponents have a much better grasp of the fragility of natural ecosystems than the Shakespeare-loving idiot who introduced the starling to North America (f*ck you very much, Mr. Scheiffelin), but…ahhh, what the hell am I worried about? This’ll never happen. Can you imagine the fury of a soccer mom-led neighborhood association that discovers environmental scientists trying to put lions in the local skate park? Yes, I know I’m being flippant, and I realize that any large African mammals would be confined strictly to fenced-off preserves. I just like the image of leopards going through someone’s garbage cans at 2AM.