You need not look far to find the world’s “super predator,” a term used by UVic scientists to describe how human dominance has bred an unrelenting predacious global culture that threatens nature’s balance. Research published in the 21 August 2015 edition of the journal Science by a team led by Dr. Chris Darimont, the Hakai-Raincoast professor of geography at the University of Victoria, shows how extreme human predatory behaviour is responsible for widespread wildlife extinctions, shrinking fish sizes and disruptions to global food chains. “These are extreme outcomes that non-human predators seldom impose,” Darimont and colleagues write in the article, “The Unique Ecology of Human Predators.” The seven-year project is supported by UVic, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the Hakai Institute. It includes 2,215 estimates of annual finite exploitation rates, drawing on data from more than 300 studies. Other co-authors include Caroline H. Fox and Heather M. Bryan of UVic, Raincoast and the Hakai Institute. Full story in Science

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