World Future Society
Social Innovation Forum

Can Real Estate Development
Save Endangered Species?
by Joseph L. Woytowitz, Jr.

SUMMARY: The Author offers a vision of how, by building connecting condominiums around a very large property, the homes could capture a complete biodiversity self-sustaining ecosystem giving residents an incredible wildlife view while permanently saving tigers & pandas from extinction in the wild, and enriching third world nations.

 

magine a home in a major metropolitan community with a wild animal sanctuary in the backyard--a fantasy animal world such as may have existed 10,000 years ago, prior to the ice age, global flooding, and Noah's ark.

WildLife Homes, Inc., of Baltimore, Maryland, has a passionate strategic plan and a provisional patent that may change how real estate development and protecting endangered species are managed forever. By building a group of connecting homes around a large property, the homes would act as a giant impenetrable cage wall, to a self-sustaining wildlife habitat that would be both a zoological garden and a sanctuary. The walls of the homes facing the habitat may have shatterproof glass windows or upper floor caged terraces. Like the sides of a mountain valley, it would not allow animals to climb out and escape. Similar to the Great China Wall, it could cover an immense territory. The rest of the homes will have all the obvious appearances of a standard condominium or townhouse, except it may surround a tremendous area.

People will have limited access to the habitat, such as nature observation through the windows of their living quarters, a flat community roof encircling the habitat for leisurely strolls, and a walking bike trail surrounded by a cage leading to a social center cafe in the interior of the habitat.

The property would be an undisturbed self-sustaining zoological habitat sanctuary, stocked with endangered species in their natural environment, in their natural niches, and food chain cycles. Animal migration from the enclosure may be limited to birds and small aquatic creatures such as fish. The animals will eat plants that grow in the wild, hunt, flee, travel in herds, defend territories, compete for mates, breed through natural selection, raise and protect young, communicate with calls or songs, choose pack leaders or matriarchs of herds, and not fear the trophy hunters' gun. Wild, dangerous animals could live in one's backyard, perhaps a man-eater permanently living a few feet away, with the residents watching without fear or concern.

The habitat is expected to have a garden appearance for more reasons than a pleasant view. Generally, trees and shrubs that flower produces fruits and seeds for animals to eat and disperse. Showy flowers attract pollinators. Nonflowering plants such as maples need air currents to pollinate, and produce unpleasant allergies. They have no fruit, and their seeds are not made to be devoured. Some plants leaves are edible, while other plants' leaves are toxic. The goal of the WildLife Homes habitat will be to produce edible plants for maximum animal production.

After the proper mix of plants and animals are established, it is believed that all the habitat will need to survive is rain water and sunshine. This is exactly what has happen in nature since the beginning of time. Herbivores eat plants. Predators eat herbivores and kill other predators defending territories, particularly when the food source diminishes. Scavengers like the rare wolverine eat whatever is left. Omnivores eat plants, meat, and dead meat. Important restraints will be the size of the habitat, what is presently surviving, the climate, and the indigenous plant life. These will help determine the possible available food chain niches for a self-sustaining balanced ecosystem and sustainable animal population. Animal maintenance may be insignificant, since the goal is to have a self-sustaining wildlife ecosystem habitat. Some artificial support may be provided such as a permanent watering hole.

Traditional pure environmentalists may have difficulty with this unconventional approach. Yet, this plan of isolated population in sustainable populations, niches, and food-chain cycle mimics the most successful of all wild mammal population. In the Serengeti in Africa there is the Ngorongoro crater surrounded by its 600-meter crater walls. Here is the highest concentration of wild mammals on the planet, where lions reach a weight of 550 pounds, above the 350 pounds on the rest of the continent. In the valleys and gorges of the Grand Canyon, sustainable populations of the jaguar once roamed. On two small islands exist the entire historic range of the Komodo dragon. The 155-square-mile Ranthambhore wildlife park in India reports populations of 30 tigers, 150 sloth bears, thousands of deer and antelope, as well as wild boars, and langur monkeys.

The WildLife Homes have several variations. Substituting the connecting caged homes could be business offices, hotels, restaurants, schools, prisons, or virtually any building. The WildLife Homes could have a greenhouse with a tropical rain forest in a northern freezing city, but a self-sustaining habitat would be impractical, partly because of necessary insect niches. Another possibility would be a giant aquarium basement perhaps many miles long, allowing the residents to observe fish, aquatic birds, amphibians, turtles, water snakes, etc. If the watery environment is large enough, it could have crocodilians and aquatic mammals such as otters, beavers, platypuses, moose, manatees, hippopotamuses, two species of fresh water amazon dolphins, or the Russian fresh water seal. The aquatic units could have automatic window washers, a moat, a private waterfall, and statues in the water for basking turtles or birds to perch. Another version of the WildLife Homes for relatively still low rising water could be a Venice-like community, with one side of the homes capturing the wild habitat, and the other side a typical water front community with boat docks.

The WildLife Homes could connect fragmented habitats allowing animal migration, and build a permanent impenetrable buffer zone. By protecting or recreating a narrow wildlife corridor, perhaps a hundred yards wide caged in by the WildLife Homes, the fragmented habitats could be connected. The migrating corridor could go through towns, across rivers surrounded by a bar fence, and a bridge for roads could go over the habitat. Connecting fragmented habitats and building a permanent impenetrable buffer zone could be of particular importance in saving wild scattered populations of pandas, mountain gorillas, and tigers. Those same impoverished areas in China, Africa, and India could sell the homes or hotels to outside investors, and greatly increase the tourist economy. The problem with fragmented habitats is that the isolated populations have a limit gene pool, causing inbreeding; this puts the sustainable population in jeopardy, which could cause a missing link in the ecosystem food niches, causing a chain reaction of additional pressures for other species. Shrinking habitat are caused by growing human population encroachment pressures leading to burning forest for farm land, logging companies cutting them down, cattle grazing on park land, pollution, poaching, and unrelenting real estate development. A possibility to connect bodies of water would be an underwater cage bar tunnel going under some residential homes or footbridge, allowing migrating fish through, and bars could restrain larger animals.

Trails could go throughout the habitat for walking, biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing to maximize human enjoyment, scientific study, and wildlife management. The trails may be surrounded by screen fences, and possibly bars. The trails could also go underwater, surrounded by shatterproof glass, or be raised on stilts going through a forest canopy. The trails could lead to a "social center cafe" in the interior of the habitat with an open courtyard. Caged trails or other barriers may temporarily be used as a cage to separate isolated populations to increase gene pools with selective breeding, experiment how animals interact with other animals, study the species interaction with the natural environmental, ascertain habitat destruction, raising infants for later release, teaching a zoo bred carnivore how to hunt, observe what they eat, and generally see if they can survive. At the same time the isolated habitat may be open for other animals in the habitat to enter and leave by climbing trees, or walking to one turtle hatching pond to the next. Trails would have to be protected from fallen trees and electrical storms.

The possibilities of animals that could survive in the WildLife Homes habitat include: (1) Animals that are presently there. (2) Reintroduce animals to their historic range. (3) Introduce nonnative species from similar habitats with incidental habitat impact on native species with no chance to escape. (4) Reintroduce animals or related species that were present during the ice age. China has a temperate forest climate very similar to the United States, and it has an extremely large diversified exotic wildlife. Some of these animals are extinct in the wild. Continued survival of the wild populations is in peril of mass extinction with its problems of 1.2 billion people, the damming of the Yangtze river submerging thousands of square miles, and impoverished people who are more preoccupied about their next meal, then if they are destroying some endangered species habitat for farm land, cattle grazing, a stick hut village, or poaching. Planting a bamboo forest possibly in the United States for giant pandas may be the only solution for their continued survival, since they have not been successfully bred in zoos, and their habitats are quickly disappearing. Several species of animals were native to the United States prior to the end of the ice age, such as lions, cheetahs, rhinoceroses, camels, horses, lemurs, and that hairy relative of the elephant. When these animals disappeared, their niche in the ecosystem has not necessarily been replaced; for example, there is no predator big enough to kill a healthy buffalo or fast enough to catch a pronghorn antelope. In southern climates the elephant eats tree branches, primates eat leaves, and the giraffe eats both. Now the biggest tree predator in North America is the beaver, since the mammoth, giant sloth, and North American lemurs became extinct.

Various Applications
1. A small Monet Japanese water garden with an aquarium basement. The water lily pond could be stocked with giant koi gold fish, guppies to eat mosquitoes, or native fish, aquatic turtles, amphibians, and, if the habitat is enclosed, the nearly extinct six-foot giant Chinese salamander. The habitat could also be designed to attract waterfowl and humming birds.

2. A city park a few minutes drive from a major northeastern city could be completely surrounded by the WildLife Homes. Inside, the park could be black bears, bison, elk, bobcats, moose, cougars, gray wolves, red wolves, wild turkeys, otters, and several species of predatory birds. Just as, it was when Columbus discovered America.

3. Extinct-in-the-wild species and other threatened species, such as the California condor, black footed ferret, Mexican gray wolf, red wolf, and jaguar, could have a specific habitat or nesting site specifically designed for them. Note: The California condor range previously included the great lakes, southern United States surrounding the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, and Florida.

4. WildLife Homes could surround the boundaries of a public park or wildlife habitat sanctuary such as Yellowstone or the Everglades. This would have additional benefits such as securing wolves, bears, cougars, elk, buffalo, etc., from near by residential homes, farmlands, and cattle grazing land. Funds to pay for the property bordering the parks could come from home sales, and those funds could be used to purchase additional properties surrounding the parks greater ecosystem.

5. In the Everglades a moat could separate the homes from the saw grass plains, a cypress forest, or a mangrove forest. The homes could have an aquatic basement with views of manatees, alligators, gar fish, turtles, water snakes, including water moccasins, otters, birds chasing fish underwater, and possibly in a salt water habitat the American crocodile. The moat would act as an alligator hole, and by restricting its flow it would not act as a river. Alligators and manatees could migrate in and out of the habitat. The moat could attract rookeries of egrets, herons, ibises, storks, and swooping eagles. California condors and flamingoes could be reintroduced. Rhinoceros 10,000 years ago were native to the Everglades. Suppose if a rather long elevated boardwalk for bicycles was installed going through parts of the Everglades--the boardwalk could act as a giant cage allowing deer, cougars, alligators, and manatees through, but not a rhinoceros. Over a period of time, biologists could do an environmental impact study on the habitat. This could be a home in the wild for the almost extinct Sumatran rhinoceros. Presently, highways, farms, and residential areas frequently border the park.

6. Create a nonnative temperate wildlife environment in the United States, such as China's, which has an extremely large diversified animal species population, and bring in populations of giant and red pandas, about six species of temperate forest monkeys, five species of giant three-foot squirrels (including two that fly), several species of deer, four species of bears, tigers, and leopards. There are also about 24 species of pheasants. To restrain the pheasants, if the walls are not high enough, the top of the habitat could include a net wide enough to allow songbirds' passage.

7. There are about 11 species of primates that could live in a temperate climate, living in Morocco, the mountains of Ethiopia above 11,000 feet, the slopes of the Himalayas, the mountains of China, and in Japan. South of Miami there is a place called Monkey Jungle, where you walk through trails surrounded by cages and put raisins or peanuts in a basket for the monkeys to pull up. At night, a giant three-foot flying squirrel could do the same thing. The golden snub nose monkey of China eats the needles from evergreen trees, bamboo shoots, and azalea buds. High in the mountains of Ethiopia is a population of the eastern black-and-white colobus; it eats primarily leaves, it is common in zoos, its home range is about 40 acres, and it lives in troops of about 15. Possible native predators could include great horned owls, bobcats, and eight- to nine-foot rat snakes. Natural temperate predators include the martin and the Korean or Siberian leopard. A subspecies of the African Indian leopard in its northern most part of its range, surviving in temperatures 30 degrees below zero, where only 30 to 50 exist in the wild. The leopard could occupy the niche of the extinct eastern cougar, and since it is about 100 pounds lighter, a sustainable population needed range would be significantly less. This is not the snow leopard.

8. White tigers a rare natural mutation of the Bengal tiger. Because of its weak gene diversity as a result of inbreeding, zoos are considering stop breeding the species and focusing their efforts in saving the five remaining species of tigers. Suppose someplace in the snowy wilderness of Alaska, Canada, or the lower northern states, instead of introducing a white tiger to the area, breed it with the Siberian tiger, and only let loose white offspring to the habitat. This habitat could be similar to the Siberian tigers' native habitat, with moose, elk, deer, wolves, and grizzly bears. The wild boar could be introduced without much of a problem of habitat destruction, since its population will be kept in check by hungry tigers. The alternative is letting the white tiger disappear.

9. An African Savannah could be created in the southern Midwest of the United States, surrounded by skyscraper condominiums. By mixing the African species with native species, the habitat could be similar to what existed here 10,000 years ago.

10. I am presently trying to put together a development habitat along Maryland's Chesapeake Bay with engineers and an architect who have done work at the National Zoo. The habitat would allow migrating fish to enter for breeding, and may be available for reintroduction of the extinct in the wild red wolf, the trumpet and whistling swans; other possibilities include reintroducing elk, bobcats, bears, turkeys, quail, etc. Nonnative species may also be considered. The property already has bald eagles nearby, beavers, and a large creek was once or is a nursery for spawning fish.

11. With recent developments of cloning and DNA, as well as searches of frozen woolly mammoths' frozen or dried sperm and unfertilized eggs, there maybe some possibility in bringing back the mammoth as well as the Tasmanian wolf. The Wildlife Homes would give the species a protected place to live in the wild.

12. Create new sanctuaries, parks, or large breeding habitats for critical endangered species such as rhinoceros, gorillas, pandas, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Real Estate Market Strategies: ~ Specific to WildLife Homes
Will people buy homes that view a thriving self-sustaining wildlife habitat? Do people spend $10,000 to go on a safari? Would a community of thousands who wanted a view of rhinoceros outbid a poacher's desire to kill the beast for its horn? You could sit in your living room and watch the Korean leopard stalk the golden monkey, or perhaps a bamboo forest with munching pandas. If a nature group's goal has been to save a burrowing salamander, or a butterfly, they could also survive in this type of habitat, but now it would be economical and exciting. A developer will make the determination if the increased building costs will increase sales volume, profit margins, plus give the developer the opportunity to develop otherwise undevelopable property.

Some of the more progressive real estate developers are building developments within the environment. Wildlife is able to flow in and out, but no attempt to capture a wildlife habitat in the planned community by a cage, nor make the homes the cage wall. In Yellowstone National Park some homes are built on large estates bordering the park, where wild animals can travel through the community. In other places there are communities built along a trout stream for recreational fishing. Residential homes are mostly built on land that has been flatten by bulldozers, cleared completely of trees, cemented, and homes are frequently only a few feet from one another. Many people complain of the disappearing habitat, but for the most part developers have been extremely negligent and guilty of destroying the maximum amount of habitat for the maximum number of homes. WildLife Homes strategy focuses on "cluster building" around the perimeter of the habitat and leaving the rest of the land (90% to 98%) available for wildlife.

Structure: Generally the technical aspects are somewhat beyond my capabilities, lengthy, and somewhat boring, but the goals are not. The homes, like the Great Pyramids, would be built to last a thousand years, made primarily out of steel and stone. The structure would have to be built to withstand the environmental disasters that are known to the area, including floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, huge snow drifts, forest fires, etc. An additional safeguard would have an emergency crew available to put up a temporary cage wall under a worst-case scenario, such as a bomb, airplane crash, meteor, killer tornadoes, or other acts of God. If the connecting homes are going to be several miles long, they must be constructed to be protected from land shifts. With Japanese structural engineers building new buildings that are protected against daily earthquakes, the technology is available. The structure would be built to contain a Siberian tiger or a charging buffalo, though the plan might not call for on. The bottom floor may be at least six feet off the ground, so that a deer would not attempt to jump through the residents' living room. Other features may include a private open-air elevated deck from the residence home going into the habitat, an open-air terrace for upper floors, a flat roof so that residents could have leisurely strolls, a mechanical device for periodic window washing. For habitat maintenance and biological study, there would be a private entrance to the habitat.

For economic reasons, building the residential homes may not be done all at once. Instead, the units will generally be built as they are sold, building one stacked flat over top or next to another, or one townhouse next to another. These homes may not only be many miles long, but in order to capture the habitat, it maybe desirable to completely surrounded the area first and then build the units higher. In order to sell more than a concept when the first units are built, a fence pen will be in the unit's backyard stocked with compatible animals such as deer, wild turkey, etc.

Like all products, WildLife Homes are not for everyone. According to research, the type of people most interested in the environment are 30- to 50-year olds, single or childless couples with slightly better than average income and education. This same demographic group, according to the National Association of Home Builders, is also the fastest-growing housing group. This group is also ideal for the connecting townhouses or condominiums of WildLife Homes. Accordingly, the homes will be significantly smaller than the average family home. Since the WildLife Homes will have less housework upkeep, with no yard work, and a social center cafe to encourage social interaction, it is expected to attract non-nature lovers. The name WildLife Homes connotes a socially exciting community. Other target markets would be environmental friendly people willing to travel the extra mile, people who travel a lot, and the growing number of people working at home on their computer and telephone.

Huge land purchases could be made by installment from home sales. As each home is sold, a percentage of the proceeds could be paid to the land owner, such as 10% of each home sold. The borders surrounding a park could be paid the same way. The park could use the proceeds to purchase additional land surrounding the park's greater ecosystem. Funds for wildlife management could come out of resident fees.

The Endangered Species Act generally requires that there be a plan in place to save all endangered species. This is becoming extremely difficult. Zoos cannot do it all. The government and environmental groups can not afford to purchase all the land, maintain a sufficient wildlife management staffs, recreate the habitat, reintroduce disappeared species, and long term protection. Current economic plans to save the habitat and endangered species include government-subsidized parks, charitable foundations, picture safaris, ecology tours, fishing fees, hunting fees, and big game hunting of endangered species in private parks. My goal would make compliance with the Endangered Species Act highly desirable, profitable, and without government subsidies to the point the act would appear obsolete.

This plan could be looked on as a continuous ecological experiment with constant improvement, as an alternate tool for habitat and endangered species protection, different from zoos, circuses, parks, sanctuaries, private collectors, land trust, restricted zoning, and especially backyard habitats. Animals' daily existence in the wild is being completely eliminated. Many animals have not been successfully bred in zoos. Artificial insemination has been difficult. Zoo-bred animals are losing their natural instincts. Some animals, such as platypuses and Galapagos marine iguanas, cannot survive in zoos, possibly because of stress. Habitat-protection programs can rarely protect all major dominant species from long-term human encroachment, let alone reintroduce extinct-in-the-wild species back. I am offering a solution that could permanently save all land-living endangered species on the planet in their present range, reintroduce extinct-in-the-wild species back to the wild, increase real-estate development for growing populations while strengthening the protection for wildlife habitats, connect fragmented habitats, purchase additional land for habitat protection, increase tourism to impoverished areas, and generally make protecting endangered animals a lot more desirable. In order to quickly implement this plan on a national and global scale prior to continued extinction, I will offer the patent to interested parties with a license fee, a joint venture, or land contributions to be paid back from future sales. You may contact Joseph Woytowitz at 1-410-485-0231 or write: WildLife Homes, Inc., 2716 Erdman Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21213. I would also appreciate your opinion of turning this dream into reality.

Sound farfetched? Many believed "the earth was flat, man could not fly, machines will never replace people, and there is an infinite supply of this now extinct species." In the early 1800s, Lewis and Clark were the first to explore the Great Plains and witnessed the tremendous herds of bison totaling 50 million. By 1880 the animal would nearly be extinct. I intend to completely reverse this trend and have a very clear, passionate vision of how this can happen. A hundred years from now where will one see wild animals? In a zoo, in the wild, or nowhere?

About the Author
Joseph L. Woytowitz, Jr., is an amateur biologist enthusiast, an inventive visionary, a business strategist, and a promoter of a passionate dream, that environmental habitats can be recreated to what they once were and protected with real estate development. Implementing this dream into reality is being pursued with several innovative real estate developers, government officials, and other interested parties. A world class environmental biodiversity group or individual(s) has not been identified yet. This piece is an excerpt from the book "Saving Endangered Species With Real Estate Development" ©2000. For more information, visit http://wildlifehomes.com.

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