Recall of the Wild by Elizabeth Kolbert, in the Dec. 24 issue of the New Yorker. The Dutch government’s reclamation of 15,000 acres to recreate a Stone Age ecosystem – an inspiring re-populating of animals, mostly herbivore’s on the open planes, and a remarkable attempt to bring a species or two back from extinction, primarily the Aurucks – a kind of giant cow. And as proof that it wasn’t conceived by the government’s travel promotion dept. or an Amsterdam PR firm, they’ve called it “Oostvaardersplassen”.
The feature of the mid-December issue is “Polar Express” by Keith Gessen, which follows a a commercial ship through the the melting Northeast Arctic. Unfortunately, a pre-historic park is a life raft beside a sixty-one thousand ton vessel of iron ore.