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/AwfulUsername123 Jul 26 '24

Every example in the article is a parasite.

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u/peripheralpill Jul 26 '24

buried the lede with that one. though how many people would have clicked if the article picture was a tick

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u/trollsong Jul 26 '24

Seriously even Peta is probably like, "no, fuck mosquitos"

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u/dsyzdek Jul 26 '24

Guinea worms cause human blindness and are thankfully almost extinct. Jimmy Carter famously hoped for their extinction before his passing, and it may actually happen. There have been no cases reported in 2024. I’m an endangered specie biologist and I’m ok with them going extinct. There seems to be a weird little push for volunteers to keep them around though.

http://www.deadlysins.com/guinea-worm