Without large meat eaters, mid-size predators-raccoons, blue jays, crows, squirrels, opossums-have proliferated, to the detriment of songbird populations. White-tailed deer have denuded the undergrowth in the forests of the eastern United States, because wolves and cougar have disappeared. In Yellowstone National Park, the eradication of wolves has resulted in a glut of elk that have trampled river banks and chewed down young trees. Without sea otters to keep ravenous sea urchins in check, some ocean floors in the North Pacific have been stripped of kelp. In this impassioned debut, wildlife journalist Stolzenburg examines predation’s crucial role in the preservation of ecological diversity, painting nightmarish pictures of what happens when top carnivores are exterminated from ecosystems.
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