As predatory species dwindle, food chains are thrown out of balance

The loss of large animals such as wolves and sharks has far-reaching implications, a new study says.

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American Bison

American bison join the morning commute on Hwy. 89 in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. In the early 1800s, about 65 million buffalo roamed North America, but hunting and poaching had a devastating effect on their population. By 1890, fewer than 1,000 remained. Today there are about 4,000 at Yellowstone. The decline of such large such predators is causing prey animals to swell in population and throw food chains out of balance, a new report says.

Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images

Lion

A lion sits in its enclosure at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Hythe, England. Humans have touched off the world’s latest mass extinction, according to a report in the journal Science, and the consequences are being felt on land and in water systems as large predators vanish. The dwindling number of predators contributes to the spread of disease, wildfires and invasive species.

Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Wildebeest

A baby wildebeest sleeps at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Hythe, England. A reduction of big herbivores such as wildebeest in East Africa through hunting is a problem, a new report says, because their demise has led to increases in plants that fuel wildfires. The report was conducted by a team of 24 scientists and funded primarily by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook.

Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Leopard

A leopard sneaks out from the bush at the Born Free Foundation in the Shamwari Game Reserve near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP/Getty Images

Gray wolf

A gray wolf at Yellowstone. Since the wolf population has declined, elk and deer have flourished in the park on willow trees and saplings, threatening a crucial part of the forest on which other creatures rely.

Mcneil Lyons / AP

Bull elk

A six-point bull elk scans its surroundings near the Widgi Creek Golf Club in Bend, Ore.

Andy Tullis / AP

Cow-nosed ray

The decimation of sharks along the U.S. Atlantic Coast has allowed their main prey, the cow-nosed ray, to proliferate and dine heavily on the threatened Chesapeake Bay oyster. One million baby oysters placed on an artificial reef in the Great Wicomico River were wiped out in a single day by a school of ravenous cow-nosed rays, surprising the federal agency in charge of the restoration project. "We didn't really know anything about the cow-nosed ray," said Doug Martin, project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers in Norfolk, lead agency for the multimillion-dollar oyster initiative. The rays, commonly found in the bay during summer months, tore like a scythe through the $78,000 in baby oysters planted in June in the Great Wicomico.

Anonymou / AP

Bull shark

A bull shark estimated at 300 pounds circles a boat fishing the the Gulf of Mexico out of Sabine Pass near Port Arthur, Tex.

Pete Churton / AP

Blue whale

In this picture taken on March 26, 2009, shows a blue whale swimming in the deep waters off the southern Sri Lankan town of Mirissa. The decline of large predators such as big cats, wolves, sharks and giant whales may be “humankind’s most pervasive influence on the natural world,” causing prey animals to swell in population and throw food chains out of balance, a new report says.

Ishara S. KodikaraI / AFP/Getty Images

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