Crocodiles in the Sahara
In historic (Aegypto-Roman) times, North Africa had lush waterways and marshes. Crocodiles were abundant as were all manner of wild beasts - many of which were captured for the "Circus" in Rome and other cities.
Climatechange, perhaps man-assisted, brought all this to an end. Things didn't get much hotter, just drier.
Rainfall patterns can be fickle. Australia has had frequent sub-regional droughts and heart-breaking wet episodes in the last 150 years. In the Miocene, Central Australia was lush rainforest. Now it is desert.
Time effects great change, and we must respond or die...