Hobbies And Interests
Importance
When large predators disappear from an ecosystem, it causes an imbalance, which can have unpredictable effects. In some cases, herbivore species, such as deer and rabbits, can experience a population boom. In other cases, it causes population growth and more aggressive behavior in secondary or "mesopredators." For example, in parts of sub-Sarharan Africa, crop raiding baboons have become aggressive enough that children are kept home from school to guard family gardens. Similar behaviors have been observed in coyotes in areas where wolf populations decline dramatically.
Threats
A variety of threats are faced by predators. Large predators typically require a large area to hunt in. In may cases, their habitats have been polluted and encroached upon. In some cases, the species that they prey upon have become endangered. A larger threat to predators though is hunting. Predators are hunted because of the threat to people and livestock but they are often hunted for other reasons as well. Many large land predators are hunted for the value of their meat, skins and bones on the black market. Overfishing of shark occurs due to Asian demand for their fins and due to "bycatch" when they are caught accidentally in pursuit of other fish.
Conservation Efforts
Due to the fact that shark overfishing primarily occurs in international waters, response on that issue has been slow in coming. In terms of land predators though, countries around the world have responded by protecting certain areas of habitat and placing restrictions on hunting. In the United States most of this is done by the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Parks Service and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Internationally, the work of governments is aided, and sometimes prompted, by the work of nonprofits such as the World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, the Predator Conservation Trust and the African Predator Conservation Research Organization.
Reintroduction
In Yellowstone National Park and areas of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, gray wolves through the 20th century had been hunted to extinction. In 1995 and 1996 in cooperation with the government of Canada, wolves were moved south of the border and released into the wild of Yellowstone. Since that time the wolves have acclimated well and there are now over more than 300 wolves living in the area. This success provides hope for the reintroduction of large predators and other species to areas where the population has declined or vanished.