'Empty landscapes': Massive herbivore extinction in Southeast Asia hurts environment

From rhinoceros to zebras, many herbivores are disappearing.

Oxford University researchers observed a rapid decline among large herbivores living in the rainforests, savannah and jungles located in Southeast Asia, as well as in India and Africa.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - According to the experts, this extinction is due to the clearing of their natural habitat to expand cities and farmlands. The extinction of camels, elephants, rhinoceroses, zebras and other large herbivores in the wild has also lead to the starvation of the carnivorous animals who feed on them, resulting into a more complicated issue like "empty landscapes."

"The big carnivores, like the charismatic big cats or wolves, face horrendous problems from direct persecution, over-hunting and habitat loss, but our new study adds another nail to their coffin - the empty larder - it's no use having habitat if there's nothing left to eat in it," said the director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the Oxford University, Professor David Macdonald.

In their study, they found that only 25 of the 74 herbivores, weighing more than 200 pounds, observed now occupy just about 19 percent of their historically significant areas. However, it is not just the change in habitat that poses a danger to these animals.

"But surprisingly, the results show that the two main factors in herbivore declines are hunting by humans and habitat change. They are twin threats," explained the head of the study, Professor William Ripple from the Oregon State University at the United States.

The large herbivores like the rhinoceros are hunted, not just for their meat but for other human consumption elements. It was observed that the rhino's horns are more expensive than gold and diamonds.  

The extinction leads to carnivore starvation, as well as dangerous ecological imbalances causing problems like wildfires and other disruptions.

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