Humans Are Predators of at Least One Third of All Vertebrate Species

Humans have long been successful predators, thanks to our advanced cognition, tools and technology. And now a new study examining human predation’s influence on nature reveals some fresh insights, such as the fact that we capture even more terrestrial vertebrate species for medicine, the exotic pet trade and other uses than we do for food—setting us apart as a highly unusual kind of predator.

Study author Chris Darimont, an ecologist who is also an avid hunter and angler, says he first thought to look at patterns of human predation after he heard fellow hunters disparagingly calling wolves and bears “goddamn predators.”

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