About 60% of giant herbivores - plant eaters - including rhinos, elephants, and gorillas are at risk of extinction, says a research.
A recent article in a magazine, Science Advances, blamed poaching and habitat loss for the analysis of 74 herbivore species. A previous study of large carnivores showed similar declines. Professor William Ripples from Oregon State University added, "The process of declining animals is causing an empty landscape in the forests, savannah, grasslands, and desert."
According to the research, the decline is happening by a number of factors including habitat loss, hunting for meat or body parts, and competition for food and resources. For example, with rhinoceros horn worth more than gold, diamonds or cocaine on illegal markets, rhinos could be extinct in the wild within 20 years in Africa, says researchers.
The consequences of large herbivore decline include:
-Loss of habitat: for example, elephants maintain forest clearings by trampling vegetation.
-Effects on food chain
-Seed dispersal: large herbivores eat seeds which are carried over long distances
-Impact on human: billions of people depend rely on wild meat
The biggest losses are in South East Asia, India, and Africa.
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