The Mega Problem of Large Herbivore Decline

There is a sad and important story unfolding. Climate change and human activity – including hunting,
poaching, land-use change and resource depression by livestock – is closing in on the world’s megafauna
and in some corners of the globe, particularly in developing countries, many are under threat of
extinction.

A growing area of research is showing that large terrestrial herbivores are crucial to ecosystems and
human societies and their decline has cascading effects on other species. The rate of decline suggests
that increasing areas of the world will soon lack many of the vital ecological services these animals
provide, resulting in significant ecological and social costs.

The current work indicates a number of key consequences of large herbivore decline and here we
highlight these consequences and how they might relate to wild horses in Australia.