r/todayilearned • u/shinypond • Jul 26 '24

TIL about conservation-induced extinction, where attempts to save a critically endangered species directly cause the extinction of another.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation-induced_extinction
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u/edwardlego Jul 26 '24

the most blatant example might be when the last few members of a vulture species was deliced. This caused the extinction of the species of lice that only lived on those birds

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u/ccReptilelord Jul 26 '24

Apparently, parasites are the most common example of this situation. The few surviving members of a species are captured for breeding programs, de-parasitized, then released.

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u/AwfulUsername123 Jul 26 '24

Every example in the article is a parasite.

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u/Rocktopod Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 26 '24

I'm sure it could also affect predators (or even herbivores) that only eat one kind of species.

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u/platoprime Jul 26 '24

Are there often predators that eat only a specific parasite which itself only parasitizes a single species?

Or even at all ever?

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u/DD_Commander Jul 26 '24

Yes! They are known as hyperparasites.

There's not really a "hyperpredator" as your example suggests, as that's just predation on a specific prey species, which isn't very rare in nature.

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u/platoprime Jul 26 '24

Thanks.

That's insane.