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Science Quickly

Humans' Predation Unsustainably Takes Healthy Adult Prey

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.2639 Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2015

⏱️ 2 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Whereas most predators kill the young or infirm, humans claim a disproportionate number of mature healthy adults of reproductive age   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

0:05.8

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years. Yacold also

0:11.5

partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for

0:16.6

gut health, an investigator-led research program. To learn more about Yachtold, visit yawcult.co.com.j,

0:23.8

that's Y-A-K-U-L-T dot-C-O-J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacolt.

0:34.0

This is Scientific American 60-second science. I'm Cynthia Graber. Got a minute?

0:39.5

Humanity has a long history of working together to hunt large prey. As evidence, see the extinction

0:45.0

rates of large animals after people first arrive in a new locale. Now scientists have a clearer

0:50.3

view of our predatory role across a number of terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

0:54.9

And the picture is not a pretty one. We have some bad hunting habits.

0:58.7

Researchers surveyed 2,125 species of predators on land and in the water,

1:03.8

and they compared the behavior of non-human predators to humans in those ecosystems.

1:08.5

Perhaps not surprisingly, humans prey on important large carnivores

1:12.0

at a dramatically higher rate than other predators do. The biggest difference, however, comes in

1:16.7

which members of the population we call. Typical predators might kill the young or the infirm.

1:22.4

Humans, both on land and particularly in the water, claim a disproportionate number of mature

1:27.4

healthy adults

1:28.1

of reproductive age. This practice has dramatic consequences. Removing reproductive adults,

1:33.5

especially for species that mature slowly, can do long-term damage to the entire population. The

1:38.9

authors thus call humans super predators. Their report is in the journal Science. They write that

1:43.9

options to encourage more

1:45.0

sustainable exploitation could include reducing the take, but also mimicking other predators and

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