Deadlier Than Sharks: Humans Are More Dangerous Than Natural Predators

Humans carry the unique status of being super predator in the global communities of animals. This means that our species is dominating the food chain by killing other animals at a faster rate.

Exploring the Role of Humans in the Food Chain

For the first time, scientists have put a figure on the status of humans as predators. Dr. Rob Cooke of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, expressed his concerns about the size and scale of their findings. His team of researchers analyzed data on 50,000 various animals that humans harvest for food, clothing, medicine, or collected for pet trade. These include wild mammals, amphibians, birds, fish, and reptiles.

They found out that humans use or trade 14,663 species of animals which comprise about one-third of all vertebrates. About 39% of these species are driven towards extinction as our impact is hundred times greater than that of top predators. The number of vertebrate species used or traded by humans is almost 300 times higher that those preyed by jaguars, 113 times more than animals killed by great white sharks, and 80 times more than those hunted by lions.

The data also reveals that ray-finned fish and bird species are the most exploited groups because almost half of them are used or traded. Meanwhile, reptiles and amphibians belong to the least exploited category. A rise in human population and an increase in global trade have suddenly distorted many ecosystems in favor of the human inhabitants. Human activities also interfere with the food chain by restricting the available food resources for predatory animals.

According to the experts, we are now living in a time when we have a bigger influence on other animals on Earth. At this point, our history enters the Anthropocene which refers to a period where human activities become the dominant influence on the climate and environment on the planet. As domesticated animals make up most of the animal species on land, this trend significantly shapes the natural world.

Scientists warn of extreme consequences of human activities for the entire ecosystems. If the overexploitation of wild animals continues, it will bring profound consequences for the function of biodiversity and ecosystem on Earth.

What Makes Humans Super Predators?

The term 'super predator' was used by the scientists from University of Victoria to refer to the effects of human dominance to the balance of our planet's ecosystem. A research team led by Dr. Chris Darimont reveals the impact of extreme human predatory behavior in the widespread extinctions of wildlife.

The global analysis of Darimont and his team indicates that humans exploit fish populations at a rate 14 times greater than do aquatic predators. Our species also kill land carnivores, like wolves and bears, at nine times the rate these animals would kill each other in the wild.

Another reason that the humans are considered super predator is attributed to the way we choose our prey. In the animal kingdom, it is normal for predators to look for juveniles as they hunt for food. Humans, on the other hand, are more likely to kill adults, especially among carnivores that live on land and fish in the ocean.