Apex Predators By Linda Stowe
What do wolves and whales have in common? They are both apex predators, a new term I learned about recently. An apex predator is an animal at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of their own. They are the strongest, fastest, or most cunning predator in their environment.
The word “environment” is key here because, obviously, wolves and whales do not live in the same environment. If a wolf went after a whale, the poor wolf would drown before the whale had a chance to sound the sonic alarm. Animals live where they live because they have the organ structure to survive in that environment.
Apex predators play an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems because they keep things in balance. They control populations of animals that might overgraze or outcompete other species for resources. They are doing a service to the environment where they live.
If an apex predator is removed from an ecosystem, it can have a devastating impact. For example, the hunting of wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the early 1900s led to an explosion in the elk population. The elk then overgrazed the aspen trees, which had a negative impact on other species in the park. Changing the balance of nature can have a domino effect with unpleasant consequences. That’s part of the reason we have an endangered species program: to keep things in balance.
Some examples of other apex predators include lions in Africa, Komodo dragons in Indonesia, even the dingo in Australia. It is interesting to note that dingoes weren’t always apex predators. They assumed this role after the extinction of the Tasmanian tiger in the ’80s due to overhunting and loss of natural habitat.
The overhunting of wolves in Yellowstone and Tasmanian tigers in Australia make it obvious that human intervention plays a key role in keeping things in balance. The wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone but, sadly, the Tasmanian tigers became extinct in 1986.
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Polly here.
In the United States, we have the gray wolf, the grizzly bear, the mountain lion, the alligator, and the bald eagle.
They were meant to be here.
They were made for the environment here.
And “here” should belong to them just as it belongs to us.
More than anything, we should take care of this place and share it well.
It is the only place we have.
Apex Predators By Linda Stowe
