"'Super-Predator' Humans Force Evolution in Animals"

"Acting as super-predators, humans are forcing changes to body size and reproductive abilities in some species 300 percent faster than would occur naturally, a new study finds."

"and hunted populations are on average 20 percent smaller in body size than previous generations..." "In 1990, Douglas Chadwick wrote in National Geographic magazine how trophy hunting — the practice of selecting only the largest beasts to kill —"has caused a decline in the average size of Kodiak Bears [in Alaska] over the years."

By harvesting vast numbers and targeting large, reproductively mature individuals, human predation is quickly reshaping wild populations, leaving smaller individuals to reproduce at ever-earlier ages, Darimont explained. So they are not harvested until AFTER they have reproduced several times???? And in the same frigging sentence. Idiots!!!!!

Columbia University biologist Don Melnick recently said trophy hunting is akin to selective breeding and is "highly likely to result in the end of a species." Again Huh? Columbia should be embaressed! Let them breed several times then shoot them will lead to extinction? Do these people even think? They sure as hell don't look at any statistics on animal populations! Lets see, animals we like to hunt are at record levels because of trophy hunters?????????????

One surprise: The capacity of creatures to change. Unbellievable! And they got a grant to come up with this?????????????

Government problem "Hunters are instructed not to take smaller animals or those with smaller horns. This is counter to patterns of natural predation, and now we're seeing the consequences of this management." Ahoy! No politics here just sound science lame!

"While wolves might prey on 20 animals, humans prey on hundreds of thousands of species," he points out. "We should be mimicking natural predators, which take far less and target smaller individuals." That's not what my Idaho friends had to say when I opined a few wolves in Wash was sort of cool!

The whole story......... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479823,00.html


Edited by BroodBuster (01/14/09 08:43 AM)
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