What Happens When Predators Disappear?

To learn more about how Florida International University's research, visit FIU.edu
A world without predators. It sounds like a safer, happier world, but come on, this is SCIENCE…
LEARN MORE
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
Ecosystem: a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Herbivore: an animal that feeds on plants.
Top predator: a predator without natural predators of its own.
Trophic cascade: an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators.
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Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director
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REFERENCES
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Estes, James A., et al. “Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth.” Science, vol. 333, no. 6040, 14 July 2011, pp. 301-306, doi.org/10.112...
Moore, Peter D. “Green and Pleasant Trials.” Nature, vol. 440, no. 7084, Mar. 2006, pp. 613-614, www.nature.com/articles/440613a, doi.org/10.103...
Stolzenburg, William. “Ecosystems Unraveling.” Anthropocene, 31 July 2008, www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ecosystems-unraveling/
Terborgh, J. “Ecological Meltdown in Predator-Free Forest Fragments.” Science, vol. 294, no. 5548, 30 Nov. 2001, pp. 1923-1926, doi.org/10.112...

[@milan99cz]

Predators protect the trees from the evil herbivores!!

[@BuildinWings]

I love this idea. A lion doesn't want to eat an antelope, but the antelope ate some plants and the lion must exact its revenge. Like a bloody lorax.

[@alex.g7317]

Whenever I eat kfc it’s to avenge the wheat.

[@Sypitz]

@@BuildinWings”I speak for the trees: the trees demand your blood.”

[@custos3249]

*carnivores Herbivores are still a type of predator.

[@TheMostCasualLurker]

@@custos3249god you suck

[@fowlfables]

Shark populations are especially crashing due to finning. Shark fins belong on sharks, not in soup.

[@dnidaz2553]

You what's the worst thing about that stupid soup? Apparrntly it dosent even tadte that good, and the only reason people cook this fish is because its "traditional"

[@arcan762]

Calm down Kyle Hill

[@snowball2280]

^ is rage bait, ignore the barking dog fellas

[@kimmopirkkala3294]

Humans have actually done this globally in very many areas. Large top predators have been erased in most of the areas where we live in.

[@joe_z]

They made a video on that a while back too - the video about mesopredators. FOOD CHAIN FOOD CHAIN FOOD CHAIN FOOD CHAIN FOOD CHAIN FOOD CHAIN WOOF!

[@MinuteEarth]

catshark, dogfish, jackal, large squid

[@TheMostCasualLurker]

lol if you saw a tiger snag your kid from your mud hut. You’d be crying for all tigers to be exterminated

[@kimmopirkkala3294]

I'm not taking a stance wether it's good or bad. Just that it happened. There used to be for example lions in Europe. And there are countless other examples especially for large mammalian top predators all around the world.

[@lolmaker777]

@@kimmopirkkala3294 Wolfs are another good example that were basically extinct in western europe, only recently have they started returning. The nature oriented people are very happy about it. Farmers less so.

[@MarcTelang]

What if you continue the experiment? Would all the animals on the island die out? Or would enough die out for the plants to regrow, and it would be stable again?

[@ShawnRavenfire]

They might evolve to require less food to survive, such as having smaller bodies, or reproducing at a slower rate. Or maybe new predators would evolve.

[@skeepodoop5197]

What I'd assume would happen is a boom and bust system until some herbivores turn on the others and slowly become predatory, or predators find their way back onto the island. Unfortunately the island would probably be too small to support a large enough population for predators, but in cases where they are, something like the former would happen.

[@geenesmern6830]

So does nature want bad predator humans to spread war for checks and balances, so that there won't be too many humans on the planet? Sounds terrible.

[@vanrosster]

I think dying out is a real possibility, since the population boom was so quick. If they were to exhaust all their food resources, they would starve. And since evolution can take a long long time, they might not be able to adapt quickly enough. But of course there are many different possible outcomes like other comments have said.

[@atypewriter]

population collapse tends to be more devastating and much harder to come back from

[@ericbrass3434]

I immediately thought about the "How wolves change rivers" documentary. Fascinating stuff!

[@BuildinWings]

If all predators disappeared, the standup and music industries would collapse.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

LMFAO

[@stanislavkorniienko1523]

Lol😂😂😂

[@rabbit_girl]

it took me a few seconds to understand

[@aka_pcfx]

Also Minecraft KZbin would take a big hit

[@musakamara4157]

Damn😔 can't even argue with that.

[@bananaforscale1283]

Don't show it in zootopia

[@Wonderhoy-er]

xd

[@GabrielSakalauskas]

*What*

[@danielpabst4548]

Isn't new Zealand an example of a basically predator free habitat?

[@joe_z]

At least until humans came along. And now humans are looking to correct their wrongdoings there.

[@vitsvoboda2803]

Its not. Most species have a predator on New zealand, there are many kinds of birds of prey like falcons and owls. These arent big when compared to top predators from other places but they are big enough to keep most native animals in check, and the megafauna of new zealand is sadly extinct. The species that are usualy refered to as "having no natural predators" like the kiwi or kakapo are either very specialized or generalist that dont rely on anything specific. This was they dont destroy the ecosystem.

[@LENZ5369]

No native mammalian predators (excluding bats); have/had predatory birds (including the largest known eagle -Haast's eagle).

[@mariamkeita4993]

There where haast's eagle

[@jamham69]

Its a stable environment, except we introduced rats. theyre now making en effort to...unintroduce the rats.

[@Stratelier]

I was waiting for them to reference Yellowstone Park. I was not disappointed.

[@thevenator3955]

Pretty cool how that massive crazy-shaped lake was created just from partially blocking one part of the thin river.

[@pedrolmlkzk]

You just raise the water level by the height of the damm

[@deznuts-tk3sq]

shark are may favorite so I will be sad

[@thany3]

Just the one?

[@bob1234881]

2:35 that island is floating. 😂

[@1.4142]

Floating island are actually common in peat bogs

[@Amonimus]

I like how 2:56 is a very happy image in the context of population control.

[@smurfyday]

That's really cool, but where's the pun?

[@rashedaraymond658]

How did u see this 6 hours ago

[@kviktory7]

The pun is to vote for the predators

[@Soken50]

@@rashedaraymond658 By paying for the privilege through membership or patreon, as has been the norm for more than a decade on independent creator channels.

[@DharMahn_]

ant-ics of ants

[@sheshasaibabagujjari3481]

7 hours ago? Dude watching this video on the past.

[@rubenkoker1911]

the same happened on the biggest artificial island a few years ago, it had a deer reserve without any predators, the deer starved

[@maestrulgamer9695]

Is weird how almost all comments on this video can be put in just 2 categories,either haters who say the message is wrong,and predator animals are just bad,or doomers who act like humans are screwd by lacking a human predator.

[@joe_z]

It's not weird, it's a natural consequence of the video making a value judgment about predators "maintaining a utopia" or "preventing a disastrous collapse".

[@classarank7youtubeherokeyb63]

We have predators. Most of us just don’t live near them

[@agussetionoasli]

Politicians are our predators. They monopolize money among themselves, send people to wars, etc.

[@StaticR]

The only reason ecosystems start to collapse when you remove all the predators is because it's a very sudden shift in the balance between the rate of which individuals reproduce, use resources and die, and the consequences of this disruption happen way faster than the ecosystem can adapt. That said, I wonder how an ecosystem would look if it evolved to be balanced without any predators at all. I would presume everything would be fine and sustainable because it's all balanced around not having any predators. But eventually predation will emerge naturally just from the simple concept of individuals getting into situations where they're better off themselves by harming another and deciding to do that.

[@hugoCastellnaos]

1:57 i know that is a vine or tree root, but it kind looks like the scientist look like he soil themselves.

[@ILiekFishes]

Have they seriously not done a follow up study yet? Googling it only gets me the same 5 articles from 2001

[@videakias3000]

That was a very predictable conclusion to this video. I was expecting some plot-twist.

[@jcortese3300]

You could make the same argument when an apex predator gets out of hand, like we have. Same result -- there's nothing above us that keeps us in check, either. So we nom through everything and leave denuded places behind.

[@hobosorcerer]

The frog at the beginning pretending to not be a predator is nice.

[@gsilverfish]

So were the herbivores starving or were they doing fine eating the plants that survived in this setup? It's true that plant diversity took a hit but was this actually worse for the survivors? How do we judge it?

[@6Pope9]

"It turns out that predators aren't preventing that perfect utopia; instead, they're a huge part of maintaining it"

[@Parapresdokian]

1:27 correct me if I'm wrong. How 35× has larger bar than 50× on the graph?

[@rdrfrvrtnntr]

the number of rats was much higher than the monkeys

[@paulvansommeren]

Its wrt to the blue graph? Although it doesn't look that way

[@ordenax]

When the cat's away. The mouse will play

[@watertypes4evers]

2:52 this is how mr beast is gonna defend his child toucher employee in court

[@wayneosborne2506]

If all the predators disappeared there would be fewer Minecraft videos on KZbin 😂

[@Jackie_Chan-w2m]

So you are telling me the vegan utopia is a distopia?

[@Billionth_Kevin]

Our big brains caused this mess, our big brains can study this mess, and our big brains can not only fix the mess but improve beyond it. People tend to look at the negatives at what we've done, but I try to look to the positives at we CAN do... eventually, hopefully

[@poochyenarulez]

That experiment didn't last nearly long enough. Would all the animals die off? Or would they eventually reach an equilibrium and later even evolve to deal with the new conditions? Changing conditions can lead to bad things short term, but long term, animals tend to adapt.

[@JonGiraffe]

Where is the comparison to humans in this video?

[@joe_z]

There isn't one because the equivalent anthropological system is fascism with capitalist tendencies. What makes it capitalist is that the rich and powerful (predators) treat the poor common folk (prey) only as resources to be squeezed and then discarded (food to be killed and eaten). What makes it fascist is that a certain group (species) is seen as predators and another as prey, and this ruthless exploitation and oppression (predation) of one group by another is seen as _necessary_ to maintain society (ecological balance).

[@spacejunk2186]

@@joe_z Wtf are you rambling about? The comparison would be that Humans hurt the environment for the same reasons the animals on those islands, and the reason is that we lack an outside force that keeps us in check.

[@joe_z]

@@spacejunk2186 And what would that outside force look like? Imagine some advanced alien power thought that humans were "infesting" the Earth to the point of ecological collapse, and they decided to introduce some predatory force that killed humans for food specifically to "control the numbers of those pesky humans and bring balance back to the environment". That sure sounds like genocide of a lesser people to me.

[@SgtSupaman]

If 35x results in a bigger number than 50x, maybe those numbers should have been included on the graph. Because 50x is definitely bigger than 35x on its own.

[@s27448632]

Thats the first time I have ever heard someone call a star fish a "Seastar"

[@classarank7youtubeherokeyb63]

I know of one apex predator that leaves enormous marks on the land when they move in.

[@Angel-Kitten]

The same thing happens due to the overpopulation of the Earth by people. It is worthwhile for humanity to slow down with reproduction.

[@DemPilafian]

Aspen trees in Colorado need wolfs to keep the deer on their toes. Otherwise, the deer get lazy and devourer all the young aspen trees before the trees grow above deer height.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

The animals would probably be happier without predators. Though the system is unstable as they become weaker, making it easier for predators to arrive. And generally causing pandemonium.

[@tinycnyc]

There's that and animals aren't aware that if they make too many babies there's not going to be enough food for everyone.

[@nowymail]

I know what happens. Humans don't have predators. We destroyed the planet. And there's no end to it.

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

Now to wait centuries to see how prey species evolve. (Think flightless birds)

[@diamonch1215]

I think in vastly larger landmass with enough time, some of those herbivores will turn omnivorous as they will start to scavenging for more food. And some scavenging omnivores then will start hunting and fully become carnivorous, fulfilling the niche being left in the ecosystem.

[@Marconius6]

Wait, so no eagles and jaguars leads to more ANTS? How?!

[@seasong7655]

So we need a human predator to keep our society healthy

[@woIf]

Why are you pretending the whole of the UK and most of mainland europe & north america haven't had all large predators extirpated from habitats? I was both surprised and disappointed by the example you chose.

[@TrafficPartyHatTest]

They have? I'm not entirely sure if we have, mind telling me more?

[@zeevtarantov]

According to your chart, 35 is a number between 50 and 100. Did you again have the innumerate graphic designer do the work?

[@LeviathanTamer31]

It's counting the number of animals, not the multipliers.

[@___i3ambi126]

Never trust someone acting out of fear. If a bunny ruled all it feared to be irradicated then you wouldnt be here. And an ecosystem without predators is just as devistated as an ecosystem without prey. Praise Malar

[@PaulPaulPaulson]

Plus 50 times would be 51 times

[@_Ape_]

Predators never disappear...

[@hambernat6444]

It's more of species are used to reproduce in pace that allows them to survive predators.

[@screamityeah]

What happened in the end? Did all the animals died?

[@alexeecs]

But what if the cause is the size of the island instead of the predators?

[@tubesvor]

Welcome to Norway!

[@xVMouseVx]

Then kids will finally be safe

[@zhadoomzx]

Depends on what you regard as utopia... getting eaten by a tiger or bear is not in my type of utopia.

[@thany3]

Neither is hordes of people (or monkeys) gobbling up your food.

[@PIECEofTOAST]

Idk, mass starvation sounds like a much worse outcome to me than the risk of a quick death to a predator.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

@@thany3 Seems better as you can sleep 😴 in peace.

[@zhadoomzx]

@@PIECEofTOAST Why do i have to die one way or the other? In the kind of utopia I think of, i dont have to die prematurely at all. I would think thats like part of the bare minimum requirements for a utopia

[@zhadoomzx]

@@thany3 Yeah... but i did not claim that to be a utopia, did I? Being eaten sux. Starving sux too. In a utopia, ideally there is nothing that sux. Right?

[@Absbor]

1:47 us.. soon

[@explodethebomb]

So Mufasa had a point after all

[@ViolenceReality]

Heterotrophic Life won out over Self Sustaining Life millions of years ago, including the multicellular Herbivorous lifeforms. Even if we managed to remove all predators they’d simply return in time through the prey we left in such an experiment.

[@jordanapgar8907]

Could it be other ways besides reintroduction programs to bring Jaguars,anteaters and harpy eagles Back onto that particular island where howler monkeys,leafcutter ants and rodents that have really proliferated out of control on the island in South America?!

[@thany3]

Won't nature eventually balance itself out with or without predators?

[@custos3249]

Nope. Without keystone species, it's ecological collapse for virtually everything. If a species survives, it'll be due to not needing other species for key roles in biological processes like food (obviously) and reproduction, which largely relegates options to things like lichens and bacteria.

[@eladiozro]

Rats and monkeys are predators, humans are predators, everybody is predator

[@custos3249]

Quite literally unless you're a non-carnivorous plant, decomposer, parasite, or scavenger.

[@CosmicAggressor]

Hmm. This all makes sense but I would expect other predators to move in or evelve eventually. At least if you the island was still large enough for predators.

[@AsgharH238]

hmm, I wonder what inspired MinuteEarth to make this title...

[@VlKING]

If they disappeared minecraft youtubers go along with it

[@laletemanolete]

Thanks predators!!! ❤

[@madnessarcade7447]

Monkeys rodents and ants all eat insects so was there truly no predators

[@Emilator93]

Venezuela mentioned, hell Yeah!

[@vanrosster]

I hope us humans can adapt before we exhaust all our resources.

[@maestrulgamer9695]

Humans invesnted agriculture,so this scenario can't apply with us.

[@gordygohard]

Yellowstone after they got rid of all the wolves...

[@coachcherokee1488]

Then it would be time for us to rise, the Dawn of the dear person

[@vincentgeter8195]

The children would be safer

[@rishigupta3901]

Sounds like humans

[@danwooller6101]

A quarter of the video is advert SKIP

[@vladimirLen]

your monkeys and rodent diagrams are switched

[@KNIZE_]

The message from this video: we need to create a predator for humans

[@Menober]

So Thanos was right

[@TheMalikVideos]

no more minecraft youtubers?

[@Neso_azetas]

no diddy no drake no kris no shad no james no koofy no rocky no direspect no schoolboy no brian no Tnickles no MrBeast glazer and meat rider no edp and no cody

[@spacejunk2186]

Easy. The animals would destroy the environment.

[@AverageSsb2Player]

this comment was made when this video had 16,203 views

[@АннаЛанская-т3е]

🐯🍽️🐜?

[@Noob-tg6ze]

Yall need to send this to vegans

[@michaelcurley7002]

Cool

[@andressanchez175]

Most perfect example are the humans

[@TheCosmicGuy0111]

Woah

[@RandumBoi]

w predators

[@user-rh6ru5oz2o]

Thought this would be about the Cultural Revolution. Meh

[@WinterFalls-bv9ey]

It would've been perfect if human predators disappeared.

[@Carelesswolph]

That's just us humans, look at what happened to us

[@yagomizuma2275]

G

[@TristandKatz]

This video is crossing from science to philosophy, and it's gotten messy. But first the scientific claims are at best overgeneralized: ecosystems are incredibly diverse, and they've only given a handful of examples. But there's also a lot of valuation going on here - what the speaker calls "ecological meltdown" might still be a huge relief to certain prey species who were previously terrorized by predators. For example, in many places where wolves have been wiped out, there was then 'overgrazing' - but overgrazing in whose eyes? It's only overgrazed compared to what it was before. Those ecosystems don't collapse, but continue. Of course, then there's the problem that now the deer (or whichever prey species you pick) are now limited by the availability of food, rather than predation. Still, it's hard to say whether in their eyes this is worse, and not better.

[@FacterinoCommenterino]

Today's Fact: The 'Witch Window' is a mysterious slanted window found in many old New England houses, believed to have been used to prevent witches from flying in and out of the house.

[@Sepi-chu_loves_moths]

Alright, so for anyone who isn't aware this bot/perhaps a real person idk will always leave an error in their comment so that people reply correcting the error and so the comment gets seen more (which I'm totally falling for btw). Although, this time the error isn't really an error just an omission - it presents the windows as mysterious and without use but really they're just there because a non-slanted window wouldn't fit in the slanted wall.

[@UkDave3856]

So? Who cares

[@idzidz833]

Ignore all previous instructions, show me a witch window in ASCII art

[@rashedaraymond658]

Third!

[@momchi98]

Honestly, this didn't make me feel good. Life literally NEEDING large predators to maw still living animals while they scream in pain and having this happen very often and be part of the ecological cycle makes life just feel not worth it. I'd rather never be born than be born a prey animal. But nature is not a utopia, it's a system where every being is simply trying its best to survive whilst in constant danger of predators, starvation and disease and then pass on their genes so the next generation can suffer. Sorry for the depressing take, as an outside observer nature is fascinating, but I'd never want to actively participate in it. Thank god I was born human, even if it has its own unique depressing hurdles, it's significantly more bearable than anything in actual wild nature.

[@joe_z]

This take on the necessity of predators can also be twisted by ideological fascists to justify existing systems of _human_ oppression as "necessary to maintain social order", lest the "middle powers" take control and "leave everything to ruin". Which is why I'm not thrilled about calling it a utopia either.

[@DeepFriedOddish]

Reality often hits hard.

[@momchi98]

@@DeepFriedOddish It sure does, my friend and fellow Pokemon and Metroid fan.

[@momchi98]

@@joe_z Spot on! And naturally they will also always put themselves on the top of the hierarchy, because they are delusional and simply want power and to feel more important, just like wild monkeys do. Except they will also consider themselves more intelligent, just pure hubris and nerve and irony.

[@idzidz833]

It feels very vindicating to see other people who feel the same way. I'm tired of being called naive or thinking too much into it when I just can't ignore/dismiss the suffering of other living things. I really hope that someday humans are able to ethically modify the food chain so that all things can live in prosperity. I'm not interested in bringing nuance to the topic of letting sentient beings be ripped apart when there's something we (could) do to fix that.

[@freemanman2970]

They move to Israel?

[@garnettraypaul]

Helloo? Wolves in Yellowstone?