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An article in the LA Times discusses a publication in the journal Science (abstract) on why humans as predators have a much greater ecological impact than other predators.
From the LA Times article, it is because:
... humans have a very different, and problematic, hunting strategy from nature's other successful hunters. Humans tend to pick out adults rather than younger, smaller, weaker members of a species.
The article goes on to use an analogy:
Think of it from a business perspective, the researchers said. An adult female, for example, is like your capital; the young that she produces are the interest generated by that capital. If you kill an adult animal today, it will take years for another to grow up and take her place. But if you kill a young animal, it will (theoretically) take only until the next breeding season to produce another. In other words, it's better to use the up [sic] interest rather than to draw down the capital, because the capital is much more difficult to build back. Once it's gone, it's gone -- and so is the interest.
This has several consequences, including for the evolution of the prey species. For example, killing the biggest or strongest animals (as might be done with trophy hunting) potentially leads to smaller or weaker future generations.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday August 21 2015, @09:20PM
Give it a couple more centuries, and there won't be any "wild" species left,
That theory has been predicted for the last 300 years. It was wrong then, its wrong today, and its not getting right any time soon.
There are far more white tail deer alive today than there was before the white man settled the continent and cleared the land.
True some dangerous (or perceived as dangerous) species were driven away, some to localized extinction. Buffalo are mostly semi domesticated these days, and you never see the entire herds the plains indians use to drive over cliffs [ning.com] just to harvest their tongues.
Animal husbandry extends to wild animals too. Bag limits, limted seasons, total closures are all part of this.
And So is the taking of big mature animals instead of immature individuals. Hundreds of years of game management has proven this is healthier for the herd than hunting the babies. Babies grow up, and have babies. Old cow and bulls become less productive. Hunting the young has been known for 200 years to be the way to ruin your wild population.
TFA speaks from a wealth of ignorance. Probably by someone who only gets their meat from the corner market.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.