(goofy music)
- Hey, so over the years, humans have imported other animals
from all across the world.
Sometimes it's because a species is just so cute
that we have to take it
out of its natural environment,
and other times, it's because we need them
to solve a problem we can't,
like eating a bunch of annoying bugs.
But if the species doesn't have a natural predator
in their new home, they can become a problem all their own.
So, imagine me throwing a bowling ball at your head.
That's what it feels like when an Asian carp leaps
out of the water and smashes, boom, boom, into your face.
They weigh a hundred pounds, or 45.4 kilograms,
and they can jump as high as 10 feet.
Motorboats scare the heck out of 'em,
so it's not uncommon for hundreds of them
to suddenly bound through the air.
So why would we bring these native Asian fish to America?
Because it turns out they're really good at clearing algae
out of catfish ponds.
They've spread rapidly across the country.
Now carp are poised to ruin
the $7.5 billion fishing industry.
So we're poisoning rivers
and we're building electric underwater fences
to kill them off.
Ironically, however, carp are rare in China,
so some fishermen here are actually selling them back there
to be served as a delicacy.
And speaking of China, in 1882, golden bamboo was brought
from China to Alabama to provide
a natural visual and sound barrier for privacy.
Like some kind of monster that grows up to 40 feet tall,
this bamboo overtakes everything as it spreads,
destroying other plants and the homes they provide
to local animals.
As of 2010, the United States spends
$138 billion a year
fighting against these menacing plants.
And then, there are rabbits.
Now, I know what you're thinking.
Everybody supposes that bunnies are cute and harmless,
but those twitchy little noses tell another tale.
They're only native to southern Europe and northern Africa,
and yet now, rabbits are on almost every continent.
And they reproduce very quickly.
They eat and burrow through everything,
causing soil erosion and landscape damage.
Big example, 1859.
This farmer buys 24 rabbits, takes 'em to Australia.
Since then, they've bred into the millions.
This is how brutal these bunnies are.
In 1950, Australia tried biological warfare
and killed 500 million rabbits, but bunnies developed
a resistance to the Myxomatosis virus
and have replenished their millions lost
for the next stage of their offensive campaign.
Don't get me started on starlings.
It's gotten out of hand.
We can blame William Shakespeare, oddly enough,
for the infestation of European starlings
here in the United States.
In 1890, some fans of the bard wanted North America
to be home to every bird mentioned in his play,
for some reason.
So they released starlings into the wild.
Fast forward to now,
we've got 200 million of these things
flying around in flocks of a million or more.
They devastate the land,
they eat all the grapes, the olives, the cherries,
they even eat the feed
from troughs for livestock and poultry.
Starling flocks are so large
that they've even caused planes to crash.
And have you heard about cane toads?
They were imported to the US and Australia
to devour the insects that ruin sugarcane crops.
These guys will eat almost any terrestrial animal,
and also fight 'em for territory.
And here's the thing.
They'll win, too, because they secrete a toxin
that can sicken and kill wildlife.
Yes, even humans.
Our best hope against cane toads
appears to be bioengineering them
so that they only give birth to males,
and can no longer reproduce.
Of course, it's not like
that could ever go catastrophically wrong, right?
To learn more about invasive species, visit our article on
10 invasive species at HowStuffWorks.com
And which ones are currently infesting your area?
Let us know in the comments below,
and for more "What the Stuff?!" please click Subscribe.
So you're asking yourself, "Why would we bring
these native Asian fish to America?"
Because it turns out they're really good at
(gibberish) algae...
we already have that part anyway.
Oh, at clearing algae out (gibberish).
And speaking of China, in 1882,
golden bamboo was brought from China to Al... (coughs)
I'm sorry, can you go back to the...