re: Should Komodo dragons be exterminated?

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Wolves on the other hand…they can (and should) all be murdered and nobody would notice.

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The elimination of wolves is directly to blame for the explosion of the coyote population across the country.

ETA: Mesopredators are usually kept in check by apex predators for various reasons, not just conflict between the two. A mesopredator release happens when you remove an apex predator from an ecosystem, and release the mesopredator from the pressure of the apex predator. If both predators share prey sources, then you have a boom in those prey sources. That leads to a boom in population of the mesopredator. So, you have more numbers of mesopredators that no longer have a natural check in the ecosystem. They have free run, and it impacts everything else in the food web, leading to the eventual decline in prey species. That's particularly a problem for endangered prey species. It also leads to the mesopredator expanding its range, being emboldened, coming into closer and closer contact with humans, and wiping out food sources in areas already under pressure from other factors such as habitat loss and fragmentation.