Native predators are NOT vermin
John W. Laundré
There is a disturbing movement happening in various states regarding wolves and cougars. It seems we are in a time warp bringing us back 100 years with respect to the roles we perceive predators having in ecosystems. State legislatures in several western states are considering reclassifying wolves and cougars as vermin, to be hunted and killed anytime, anywhere, without limit. This archaic idea stems from the idea that somehow predators, except for ourselves, are not part of natural ecological systems, somehow an abomination of nature.
Or as some have put it, "weeds in the garden" to be pulled out, eradicated. To propose that wolves and cougars or any native predator for that matter, are not part of the systems in which they existed for 100's of thousands of years, conveniently throws out the window the last 60 years of wildlife research. We seem to be returning to the era of managing, not by science but by our gut!
Starting with the groundbreaking ideas of Aldo Leopold that predators are indeed a natural and needed part of ecosystems, the bulk of scientific evidence has supported his observation: "…so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer". Study after study has demonstrated several fundamental ecological concepts that we are now conveniently tossing aside. The most important of these is that predators play a vital role in ecosystems, they are not weeds in the garden, but the gardeners. It is through their presence that their herbivore prey do not destroy the system meant to support them. Starting with Leopold's Kaibab Plateau, to Yellowstone before the return of wolves, to the declining eastern forests, a land without predators is a land ravished by herbivores, an ecosystem in trouble. Most ecologically trained biologists would agree that predators are essential to ecological integrity. It seems game agencies and the politicians have overlooked this detail in their frenzy to reduce wolves and cougars to ecologically ineffectual levels.
The second most important ideas is that predator-prey relationships are inherently stable; predators do not decimate their prey populations. The evidence for this comes from common sense and the field. Common sense should tell us that IF predator-prey relationships were NOT stable, these unstable systems would have died out thousands of years ago! Predators would kill all their prey and then in turn die off. The only ones to survive to modern times would be the stable ones! The fact that predators such as wolves and cougars HAVE coexisted with their prey for thousands of years, attests to the fact that they are not vermin but part of a system honed by time. To ignore this common sense is the ultimate of ignorance of how nature works.
The second evidence that supports this common sense can be seen in the many past undisturbed ecosystems of the world. The teaming herds of tundra of the north, the Serengeti of the south, the great plains in between, prior to disruption by humans, attests not only to this stable coexistence with their predators but that they can thrive at some of the highest densities known. Even today, where wolves and cougars are not "controlled", examples such as Isle Royale in Lake Superior and the state of California attest to the stability of predator-prey relations. Isle Royale has the highest moose densities anywhere in the face of uncontrolled wolf numbers. The state of California stopped killing cougars in 1972 and over 40 years later, still has deer roaming the state.
It is the absurdity of humans to think that predators, who had lived in stable relationships with their prey for eons before Europeans came to the Americas, somehow now only in the last 500 years, these predators were decimating prey populations. That somehow the rules changed when Europeans arrived to the shores of this vast continent. In fact, yes the rules did change, humans who viewed themselves as part of the systems that supported them were replaced with conquistadors, humans who viewed the native systems as something to exploit, to destroy, something that was totally theirs to use. In this new belief system, there was no room for others, human or otherwise, that got in their way.
As these new "owners" of the land reduced game populations with the ax and the gun, they did not blame themselves, they pointed their fingers, their guns at predators, vermin in their eyes. We blamed and continue to blame other predators, large and small, for our failure to control ourselves. The teaming herds of ungulates in the Great Plains were not decimated by wolves or cougars, we did that, as we are doing in the Serengeti and the tundra. The abundant herds of mountain sheep were not decimated by wolves or cougars, we did that with guns and misguided fire prevention. The current deer and elk herds of the West are not being decimated by wolves or cougars, we are doing it with bulldozers and plows. In all cases, where prior stable predator-prey relationships existed, it is human activity that is to blame for current instability, yet we blame the predators.
It is time we turn our fingers to the true "weed in the garden", the true "vermin" on the landscape and that is us!
John W. Laundré
There is a disturbing movement happening in various states regarding wolves and cougars. It seems we are in a time warp bringing us back 100 years with respect to the roles we perceive predators having in ecosystems. State legislatures in several western states are considering reclassifying wolves and cougars as vermin, to be hunted and killed anytime, anywhere, without limit. This archaic idea stems from the idea that somehow predators, except for ourselves, are not part of natural ecological systems, somehow an abomination of nature.
Or as some have put it, "weeds in the garden" to be pulled out, eradicated. To propose that wolves and cougars or any native predator for that matter, are not part of the systems in which they existed for 100's of thousands of years, conveniently throws out the window the last 60 years of wildlife research. We seem to be returning to the era of managing, not by science but by our gut!
Starting with the groundbreaking ideas of Aldo Leopold that predators are indeed a natural and needed part of ecosystems, the bulk of scientific evidence has supported his observation: "…so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer". Study after study has demonstrated several fundamental ecological concepts that we are now conveniently tossing aside. The most important of these is that predators play a vital role in ecosystems, they are not weeds in the garden, but the gardeners. It is through their presence that their herbivore prey do not destroy the system meant to support them. Starting with Leopold's Kaibab Plateau, to Yellowstone before the return of wolves, to the declining eastern forests, a land without predators is a land ravished by herbivores, an ecosystem in trouble. Most ecologically trained biologists would agree that predators are essential to ecological integrity. It seems game agencies and the politicians have overlooked this detail in their frenzy to reduce wolves and cougars to ecologically ineffectual levels.
The second most important ideas is that predator-prey relationships are inherently stable; predators do not decimate their prey populations. The evidence for this comes from common sense and the field. Common sense should tell us that IF predator-prey relationships were NOT stable, these unstable systems would have died out thousands of years ago! Predators would kill all their prey and then in turn die off. The only ones to survive to modern times would be the stable ones! The fact that predators such as wolves and cougars HAVE coexisted with their prey for thousands of years, attests to the fact that they are not vermin but part of a system honed by time. To ignore this common sense is the ultimate of ignorance of how nature works.
The second evidence that supports this common sense can be seen in the many past undisturbed ecosystems of the world. The teaming herds of tundra of the north, the Serengeti of the south, the great plains in between, prior to disruption by humans, attests not only to this stable coexistence with their predators but that they can thrive at some of the highest densities known. Even today, where wolves and cougars are not "controlled", examples such as Isle Royale in Lake Superior and the state of California attest to the stability of predator-prey relations. Isle Royale has the highest moose densities anywhere in the face of uncontrolled wolf numbers. The state of California stopped killing cougars in 1972 and over 40 years later, still has deer roaming the state.
It is the absurdity of humans to think that predators, who had lived in stable relationships with their prey for eons before Europeans came to the Americas, somehow now only in the last 500 years, these predators were decimating prey populations. That somehow the rules changed when Europeans arrived to the shores of this vast continent. In fact, yes the rules did change, humans who viewed themselves as part of the systems that supported them were replaced with conquistadors, humans who viewed the native systems as something to exploit, to destroy, something that was totally theirs to use. In this new belief system, there was no room for others, human or otherwise, that got in their way.
As these new "owners" of the land reduced game populations with the ax and the gun, they did not blame themselves, they pointed their fingers, their guns at predators, vermin in their eyes. We blamed and continue to blame other predators, large and small, for our failure to control ourselves. The teaming herds of ungulates in the Great Plains were not decimated by wolves or cougars, we did that, as we are doing in the Serengeti and the tundra. The abundant herds of mountain sheep were not decimated by wolves or cougars, we did that with guns and misguided fire prevention. The current deer and elk herds of the West are not being decimated by wolves or cougars, we are doing it with bulldozers and plows. In all cases, where prior stable predator-prey relationships existed, it is human activity that is to blame for current instability, yet we blame the predators.
It is time we turn our fingers to the true "weed in the garden", the true "vermin" on the landscape and that is us!
No comments:
Post a Comment