Populations of large predators are declining steeply worldwide. In their place, humans have stepped up to try to do the same job. But have they succeeded? In short, no.

But first, who am I to write about this?

Basically, I studied wolves and coyotes in grad school and conducted a research project on methods used to study urban coyotes. I’ve worked directly with wolves and taught plenty of people about the basics of wolf behavior.

So, with that said,

Predators are valuable in virtually every ecosystem in the world. Part of the reason for this is that they influence both herbivore populations and herbivore behavior. Not only do they kill and eat animals, but they also scare them.

Because they’re so terrifying to behold, wolves and other big animals effectively push herbivores from certain parts of certain landscapes. Over time, this allows vegetation to recover, which is almost always a good thing.

Why Human Hunting and Predation Aren’t the Same

Whenever humans have attempted to use their own hunting methods to achieve the same result, they have neglected to account for a number of differences in the way humans and carnivores hunt. Here are the main points, according to a few prominent wolf researchers:

1. Humans Hunt From Far Away

Predators usually ambush prey at close range. Most predators are fairly inefficient hunters, killing far less than half the animals they chase. After being chased by a predator, surviving herbivores are thought to remember many of the details of an attack and modify their behavior accordingly.

This is not a likely result of human hunting. Shooting an animal from a concealed position from a long distance provides virtually no opportunity for the animal or its surviving relatives to learn.

Hunting by firearm allows hunters to make kills from extended distances. This is why firearm hunting is less likely than bow hunting to exclude animals from particular environments or terrain types. Hunted animals may learn to fear the sound of gunfire, but it is still unclear whether this affects their behavior significantly.

2. Different Targets Means Different Survivors

Predators often target young, sick, and weak herd animals. Many human hunters, on the other hand, look specifically for the fittest individuals in a group. Killing only these animals can have negative effects on the health of an ecosystem. Old, unhealthy survivors can spread disease or weaken the overall fitness of subsequent generations.

Inbreeding, genetic drift, and outbreeding can all hurt animal populations

3. “Inter-guild” interactions

Predators themselves can be impacted by human hunting. Depending on the location, predators and human hunters may compete with one another directly or simply exist separately, never interacting at all.

Although areas with no human hunting are becoming increasingly rare, such areas do exist. Yellowstone National Park and select lesser-known islands and parks have proved invaluable for scientific research on ecosystem balance because they either legally or physically exclude human hunters.

3. Predators Hunt All Year; Humans Don’t

In an attempt to understand wolves’ effects on their surroundings, researchers have been carefully observing wolves in Yellowstone National Park since their reintroduction to the park in the mid ’90s. Yellowstone wolves prey on elk constantly throughout the year. Their kill rates tend to increase in the winter because they’re experts at catching prey in deep snow, but they still need to make kills on approximately a weekly basis all year round.

Because people tend to hunt according to designated hunting seasons, it’s difficult to know to what degree they can reproduce the effects wolves have on their prey. It may be that prey species simply replace lost animals each year through extra-vigorous breeding.

4. Small Predators and Scavengers Make Things Complicated

In ecosystems with multiple predators, dominant predators may kill or displace subordinate “mesopredators,” like coyotes or jackals. These interactions seem to reduce the effects that small predators have on the environment, but no one really knows if there are any other, more complicated effects.

Interestingly, many species scavenge animals killed by large carnivores either exclusively or for a significant portion of their diet. Sometimes, highly complex, mutualistic relationships can arise between two species. Ravens, for example often seem to intentionally lead wolves toward elk and other herbivores. In exchange, wolves appear to allow ravens to feed on carrion, albeit submissively. Sadly, these kinds of relationships seem unlikely to develop between human hunters and other species.

While this list doesn’t exactly seem to promote human hunting, I should say that gun and bow hunting do appear to serve a necessary function in many places. With adjustments to our hunting methods and laws, it may be possible to edge a bit closer to a sustainable ideal. It is hard, however, to get away from the fact that the earth would benefit significantly if we simply stopped shooting every carnivore in sight.

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Does Hunting Do the Same Job as Wild Predators?