Hi, this is Emily in a special musical edition of MinuteEarth featuring Science with Tom.
The food webs of the world all used to have so-called apex predators
– like lions, tigers, and bears - at the very top.
But humans have posed a major threat to apex predators by breaking up their habitats
and hunting many of them to near extinction.
It was good to be king.
We were trophic elite
Prey ate the plants
And we ate their meat.
Then this little ape called "man"
wanted to compete
And as the humans spread
And invaded globally
They broke up our habitats
And killed us all rather fast
They were shooting us for sport or for eating sheep
Lions
lynx
and sea eagles
Alphas worldwide,
met precipitous decline
Leopards
Wolves
and hammer-heads
Were persecuted
Leaving disarray behind
Not to throw shade, but this trophic downgrade
Will simply open up space
for some lesser-grade "so-called hunters"
These so-called hunters are the mesopredators.
They’re replacing apex predators all over the world,
and they do things differently.
Skunk
Raccoon
Mahi Mahi
Mongoose
Catshark
Dogfish
Jackal
Large Squid!
Food chain food chain food chain food chain food chain (woof)
Apex out - we the new thing (youth)
And we don’t need a huge range (ooo)
As you get killed by the humans (ooof)
Mesopredators gonna move in (truth)
Say goodbye to our old foes (ooh)
Yeah what a relief! (phew)
No competition or hunting (cool)
So Mesopredators are released! (ooo)
When farmers hunt down lions (shoot)
Just to protect livestock (moo)
Nobody left to eat baboons (baboon)
Who start eating all the crops! (true)
Sharks getting killed for their fins? (stew)
Boomtime for the rays and skates (ooo)
But they eat all the bivalves (food)
Humans left with an empty plate (poof)
Fence out all the dingoes? (shoo)
Foxes rise in a blink (ooh)
And as the fox keeps hunting (ooh)
Little mammals go extinct (potoroo)
But we’re not just thriving (coup)
Due to the apex crash (boom)
Living near humans is rich (ooh)
We’re sitting here eating up trash (and rats!)
Food chain food chain food chain food chain food chain (woof)
Trophic cascades happen quick
with apex gone and we’re turned loose.
We can thrive by human side
rise up the food chain ‘til we rule
The rule of mesopredators has wreaked havoc on many ecosystems
so in some places, humans have helped reintroduce some old-school apex predators
to keep the mesopredators in check.
In Yellowstone
Which had been our home
We used to eat up coyotes
But as we were killed
Coyotes were thrilled
It was a mouse and rabbit feast
But that hurt the hawks...
...badgers and fox
who had relied on them for meat
But since we’ve returned,
they’re starting to learn
That we can help other species
Reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone helped restore the whole ecosystem.
But most people don’t want a wolf in their backyard
– or a lion, tiger or bear –
so mesopredators will probably continue to rise to the top of the charts.
Food chain food chain food chain food chain food chain (woof)
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