They ate all the deer

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Pretty cool study.

These wolves in Alaska ate all the deer. Then, they did something unexpected

Wolves on an Alaskan island are showing a remarkable adaptation.

www.zmescience.com

 

[winmag]

Dang. My money was on the wolves turning into vegetarians!

 

[Mallardsx2]

Having hunted in SE Alaska, I can assure you, the sea otter population is doing just fine...lol

 

[ccc23454]

Breaking news: wolves eat! The real study would have been what do they do when they completely comsume all resources of the isolated island.

Added: Am i the only person who is watching Colorado like a train thats about to come off the tracks?

 

[fowladdict]

Breaking news: wolves eat! The real study would have been what do they do when they completely comsume all resources of the isolated island.

Added: Am i the only person who is watching Colorado like a train thats about to come off the tracks?

Worried about the Gunnison otters?

 

[rjthehunter]

I bet the wolves eat until there's no food left then either die, or swim to the next land.

At least when humans are in control of a species, there is conservation involved.

 

[gouch]

I bet the wolves eat until there's no food left then either die, or swim to the next land.

At least when humans are in control of a species, there is conservation involved.

Really? Humans have caused the extinction of hundreds or thousands of species with little slowdown in sight. I could be wrong but don't think wolves have cause the extinction of any.

 

[rjthehunter]

Really? Humans have caused the extinction of hundreds or thousands of species with little slowdown in sight. I could be wrong but don't think wolves have cause the extinction of any.

I didn't make any mention of extinction or reference history. Humans, as of right now, are more aware of conservation.

I don't see humans out eradicating all animals off an entire island currently. Not in our current state. Maybe 40 years ago, but not now.

 

[BuzzH]

I bet the wolves eat until there's no food left then either die, or swim to the next land.

At least when humans are in control of a species, there is conservation involved.

They are?

Sure aren't in control of their own population.

24 hours from now there will be 400,000 more people on this rock, humans aren't in control of chit.

Another fun stat, there are more people ALIVE right now than have ever died.

 

[HighDesertSage]

They are?

Sure aren't in control of their own population.

24 hours from now there will be 400,000 more people on this rock, humans aren't in control of chit.

Another fun stat, there are more people ALIVE right now than have ever died.

This. I think alot of the issues we face everyday are a result of us continuing to reproduce at and unchecked, and alarming, rate. I think I read somewhere it took us only 12 years to go from 7 to 8 billion people.

 

[rjthehunter]

They are?

Sure aren't in control of their own population.

24 hours from now there will be 400,000 more people on this rock, humans aren't in control of chit.

Another fun stat, there are more people ALIVE right now than have ever died.

Another fun stat, I never said humans are in control of their own populations.

Another fun stat, you are so wrong. You're off by over 100 billion people that have died.

I didn't make any mention of extinction or reference history. Humans, as of right now, are more aware of conservation.

I don't see humans out eradicating all animals off an entire island currently. Not in our current state. Maybe 40 years ago, but not now.

I really don't want to waste energy arguing nothing with you again.

Don't bring your salt over here from the 13 year olds grand slam thread. Thanks.

 

[BuzzH]

Humans, as of right now, are more aware of conservation.

Yeah...sure. Thanks.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Wow

 

[BuzzH]

Wow

Wolves ate all the deer there...good thing we're so "conservation" minded these days.

Have plenty more examples of "conservation" in the past 40 years.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

Humans, as of right now, are more aware of conservation.

Yeah...sure. Thanks.

He said aware, not that we are good at it.

 

[sapperJ24]

I didn't make any mention of extinction or reference history. Humans, as of right now, are more aware of conservation.

I don't see humans out eradicating all animals off an entire island currently. Not in our current state. Maybe 40 years ago, but not now.

Sure, not all animals on an island, but the trend is not great.

The species the world lost this decade

This decade has made it clear: Humans are killing Earth’s great biodiversity.

www.vox.com

 

[BuzzH]

He said aware, not that we are good at it.

True story...to be fair, we mostly suck at it.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

This beauty is eating all the voles in my pasture this morning.

 

[BuzzH]

This beauty is eating all the voles in my pasture this morning.

View attachment 262400View attachment 262401View attachment 262402

Nice to see one actually earning its keep instead of scavenging dead fish.

Golden Eagles are a different deal, pretty impressive to watch a bird kill a pronghorn. When I came around the corner in a road, the Golden flew off the back of the pronghorn. I watched for a while and it landed back on the pronghorn and picked its way through the back and into the lungs, killing it.

 

[idelkslayer]

To me this study demonstrates how wrong the "balance of nature" argument truly is. There is no balance, just a pendulum swinging back and forth.

We hear all the time from pro-wolf/antihunting groups that wolves won't eradicate elk because it wouldn't be in their best interest to eat themselves out of house and home, however, this study again demonstrates how prey-switching allows wolves to maintain their population even as they deplete specific prey species. As long as the wolves are able to get enough calories from otters and other animals they will continue to eat deer as the opportunity presents itself. The deer population might not be completely wiped out but they won't rebound to their pre-wolf numbers either.

Maybe these wolves eventually run out of food and leave the island, maybe it becomes another Isle Royale situation with inbreeding leading to their decline.