![]() report that regulated hunting causes substantial life-history changes in a bear population. Sticking with Scandinavia, Bischof et al. also take a genomic approach to reduced diversity, documenting the effects of inbreeding on a fine scale across the genome in Scandinavian wolves that have been endangered by hunting. Interestingly, reduced genetic diversity might be responsible for the susceptibility of its extant relative, the Tasmanian devil, to infectious facial tumours. sequence its genome and suggest that the decline in its genetic diversity actually began before human arrival in Australia. The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, was hunted to extinction in the early twentieth century largely because it threatened livestock. However, our negative, hunting relationship with large predators forms the basis for three recent studies. Not all interactions are antagonistic, of course, such as our domestication of dogs and cats. These include protection of self and livestock, and use as non-food resources. Humans have a long history of interactions with carnivores, and somewhere in this lie the complex explanations for why we like to hunt animals that are not sources of food. Payments to protect predators and compensation for livestock loss are mechanisms to redress this imbalance. point out that there may also be advantages for livestock farmers). The parties who benefit from predators, such as tourists, governments and arable farmers, are often different to those whom predators can disadvantage, such as livestock farmers and residents of rural–urban frontier landscapes (although O’Bryan et al. There is therefore a need for education and outreach, but also a need for rethinking the economics. Predators and scavengers help to control disease, waste and agricultural pests, yet their reputation amongst the public and economic stakeholders is largely based on killing livestock and humans, or harbouring disease. review how these effects of predators and scavengers provide benefits to humans in shared landscapes, pointing out that such landscapes greatly exceed the protected areas that are more usually associated with large predators. ![]() ![]() Top-down effects are important features of many ecosystems, with predators having major influence on herbivore numbers, nutrient cycling and disease dynamics.
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