Humans have taken all species' life into their own hands. Picture credit: it's me neosiam - CC0
Humans are behaving as world-wide super predators. Our actions, compared to the ones of natural hunters, develop an anthropomorphic impact which is unsustainable.
Also, if we were talking financially, animal predators tend to feed on young specimens, which represent the "interest", and are generated by the population of prey. On the other hand, humanity prefers to exploit the "capital", that is, adult individuals.
In other words, a study by Science Mag revealed that humans hunting and fishing, focus on adult specimens instead of young ones, up to 14 times more than what occurs in nature. According to this analysis, we kill land-carnivores, such as lions, wolves and bears, at nine times their own self predatory rate.
Hunting technology mostly excludes humans from the dangers of predation, in fact hunters capture animals with guns and shots, and fish with nets and hooks. Humans consequently face a minimised risk compared to animal predators.
Take for example South Africa. This country has by far the largest population of rhinos in the world and it is an incredibly important territory for rhino conservation. Only in the last ten years, 7245 African rhinos have died because of illegal poaching.
Only in the last ten years, 7245 African rhinos have died because of illegal poaching
This message is for you, super-predator: a reminder of how the human species is dominating the planet. We are not managing ecosystems and populations in order to conserve them. We are destroying the Earth. We harm, we devastate and we go straight for the slaughter.
The human hunting instinct focuses especially on carnivores. This choice of behaviour leads to an alteration of the food chain, a reorganisation of ecosystems, both on the land and in the waters, and other phenomena - which do not occur with natural predators.
It is dreadful that humans are denigrating wildlife predators: social animals that play a definite role in nature. The real predator that we need to control is you.
Rosa Farsetti