The decline of large scavengers could increase the risk of disease for humans
A team from Stanford University (USA) has analysed the conservation status of 1,376 species of scavenger animals. The results, published in the journal PNAS, indicate that 36% of them are threatened or in decline, especially large species and obligate scavengers, which depend exclusively on carrion for food. In contrast, the number of small and facultative scavengers, such as rodents, for which carrion is not their only source of food, is increasing. According to the authors, this ‘could increase the risks of diseases that large scavengers have helped to mitigate’.
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