by Fred Migneault
He has been itching to analyze people as a predator since 1976. At that time, he was studying populations of small fish. Called three-spine sticklebacks, these fish were living in a Canadian lake where 22 kinds of predators feasted on them, including trouts and loons. But the stickleback population didn’t change much in number from year to year. All those predators were eating less than 5 percent of the stickleback mass in the lake. Mostly, they ate the youngsters.
In the ocean nearby, he saw commercial fishing. These fishermen were catching 40 to 80 percent of all of the nearby adults among the species they were targeting. Reimchen recalled thinking that it seemed such targeting of adults would not allow fish populations to remain stable.
Humans are primates without fangs, claws, horns, much running speed or a great sense of smell. But people have guns, nets, vehicles, refrigeration and other technologies. The technologies are used on hunts, Darimont explains. And that has given people predatory superpowers.
http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/08/superpredator-humans-are-hunting-other-animals-out-existence
Superpredator
Scientists have compared the hunting habits of wild mammals, birds and
fishes with those of people. Their new study shows that humans are strange
predators. Unlike other animals, we target adult prey in large numbers. That is
a practice that can push populations of those prey into decline, the
researchers warn.
People mainly target at least among wild mammals and fishes prey that are
old enough to reproduce. Those are the animals that have babies and keep their
populations going, explains Chris Darimont. He is a conservation scientist at
the University of Victoria in Canada. Many baby animals don't live long enough
to become adults. Killing too many of the few that do can shrink groups of wild
animals over time.
To avoid that, Darimont and his colleagues want people to switch
to the hunting patterns of other mammals or fishes. That would mean targeting
young prey, not adults. Also, we would have to take smaller percentages of
animal populations than we currently do.
A
shift toward younger individuals would be more sustainable, says Thomas Reimchen.
Also at the University of Victoria, he worked on the study, too. Being
sustainable means that resources are used in a way that allows them to continue
to be available long into the future. Reimchen acknowledges, though, that
changing human habits would not be easy.He has been itching to analyze people as a predator since 1976. At that time, he was studying populations of small fish. Called three-spine sticklebacks, these fish were living in a Canadian lake where 22 kinds of predators feasted on them, including trouts and loons. But the stickleback population didn’t change much in number from year to year. All those predators were eating less than 5 percent of the stickleback mass in the lake. Mostly, they ate the youngsters.
In the ocean nearby, he saw commercial fishing. These fishermen were catching 40 to 80 percent of all of the nearby adults among the species they were targeting. Reimchen recalled thinking that it seemed such targeting of adults would not allow fish populations to remain stable.
Humans are primates without fangs, claws, horns, much running speed or a great sense of smell. But people have guns, nets, vehicles, refrigeration and other technologies. The technologies are used on hunts, Darimont explains. And that has given people predatory superpowers.
http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/08/superpredator-humans-are-hunting-other-animals-out-existence
1- Do you think
it’s a good idea to make people switch to the hunting patters of other mammals
or fish?
2- they said that technologies
are used on hunts in the article. Give example.
1. I do not think it is a good idea because we are still hunting no matter what were shooting or fishing. Whether your hunting a certain species of animals or if you change to a different species, we are ending up killing an animal. As I said, no I do not think this is a good idea.
ReplyDelete2. A example of technology is maybe boats for example. We have boats that can take us to whatever part of the pond or lake or ocean that we want. Using this piece of "technology" it makes it more simple to get to the location, to catch a fish.
1- First of all, I think it would be impossible. There will always be the poachers that will do illegal things. If I think it is a good idea to try, that is another question. I think it will be great. Humans never really make huge business by selling killed animals. It is more farmed. For fish, I think there are enough fish farms out there to feed populations, but if we need more, we can make more. I think we should have our food supply mostly on farmed animals and let wildlife be wild.
ReplyDelete2- An even more simple example than a boat could be a gun of a fishing pole and bait. These are things that animals don't have and that we can use to have power over them. I'm pretty sure if a deer could have a fishing pole with pizza at the end of the line, we would go for the food we like too.
ReplyDelete1) changing patters of a human is really difficult, humans have made profit by being predators of other animals, hunting has always maintain the human population with profit and survivor.
ReplyDelete2)using technology to do what all our lives humans have be done would be useless, humans would become more lazy than we are now today because of technology.
ANA ROSA GALLARDO
1. I don't think changing people are not a really good idea, because there are bad people in this world who doesn't know what is good or bad...
ReplyDelete2. We use technology for granted and people use cars to go any were on land to go where ever we want, we use planes to travel anywhere in this world and even space ship, to go high up into the space and to discover new lands!!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete1. I think that it is not good idea and it is almost impossible. For example cheetah can run really fast to catch animals but human can’t do it that's why we use tools and technology to hunting. Also we don’t have any skills to hunt animals by our self.
2. We use technology in hunting. For example, when we are fishing on the boat we use radar to find many fish. Also we use vehicle to hunt. Like car, boat, and helicopter. Technology is most important item to hunting. Because we need tools and technology to do better hunting.