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in the old days, rats were primarily responsible for spreading the black
plague. Nowadays, new research shows that the increase in rats means an
increase in disease and illness among humans. This study was conducted in East
Africa, where researcher Hillary Young found a link between the spread in
disease and the removal of large animals. Young and her team carried out this
research by using electric fences to exclude large animals, like giraffes,
lions, zebras and more, from getting into experimental land plots they set up.
These land plots lacked the large animals on purpose, which led to a spike in
rat population (as there weren’t enough predators to kill them off). With the
rat population increasing, the disease risks go up and we humans are much more
vulnerable to illness. In the end, this study shows how when wildlife declines,
or gets disturbed, we become more vulnerable to disease.
I found this article to be very well
written and interesting. The author has a clear argument, which is that by
killing larger animals in the wild, we as humans are putting ourselves in
danger. The author holds this argument through statements provided by the
researchers. One such statement by Hillary Young includes, "This spike in disease risk results from explosions
in the number of rodents that benefit from the removal of the larger
animals." The author also argues that this is another reason we should be
protecting the large wildlife species. I agree with the author completely. Many
of us don’t realize the harm we’re doing by killing large animals. Some people
kill for the mere pleasure, to hang a trophy on their wall. What they don’t
realize is that they are endangering themselves and other humans around them.
This just goes to show what an impact we have on the environment and how
harmful microbes can brew from unexpected places.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140429142201.htm
Wow I never knew this. I mean I knew that hurting, killing, and endangered animals is wrong because there are so few of them left and that a hole in the food chain can cause major catastrophes in the world. An example I know of is if there are no more bees in the world then flowers wont pollinate and the animals that count on flowers will die and so will humans because they eat carbon and produce oxygen for us to live. In fact they made a movie about such a thing happening and it call “Bee Movie”. I never knew that the killing or removing of larger animals caused the rodent population to boom, as well as causing disease to flourish and can become very dangerous to humans. So I guess it is very important to keep these larger animals around to hunt and kill these rodents. To keep their population down and under management so they don’t cause disease’s and illness in larger wildlife or to human beings.
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