World leaders seeking to save tigers from extinction at the in St Petersburg, Russia, this week should give them more prey to hunt.
of the Institute of Zoology in London pulled together population data for 11 carnivores and examined how they were affected by changes in numbers of their prey. Fewer prey always meant fewer predators, but for large carnivores the effect was five times as great.
鈥淔or large predators, it鈥檚 more important to protect their prey,鈥� agrees of the Grims枚 Wildlife Research Station in Sweden. Ecologist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, UK, adds that we need to know whether a lack of food is as big a threat as poaching.
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In St Petersburg, money rather than food was pledged to save the species: the Wildlife Conservation Society promised $5 million a year, while actor Leonardo DiCaprio pledged $1 million.
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