1285 Why we have predators 

Let’s talk about the main predators. Sharks, crocodiles, alligators, that sort of thing. Let’s just start with crocodiles first. 

 Crocodiles have been around for many millions of years, and they’re still here simply because they do a very good job. They clean up a lot of bits and pieces. They’re a main predator in their fields, and they’ve survived all the different climate changes, all the different changes of nature, the ice age and so on, because they’re ideally suited for what they do. 

 So, there’s no need for them to change. So when you think about the hundreds of thousands of different animals, fish, birds, insects and so on that you have on your planet, most of them, I mean most will over a period, go out of date, be upgraded, changed, become extinct and so on. But where you get these main predators, they sort of keep everything in check. 

 

So, you’ve got the crocodiles, on earth and then you’ve got the sharks in the water. Now there’s an awful lot more to it than that, but that’s just your basic idea. If you take your animals out in the bush where you’ve got the big cats, they look after that section if you like, the deer and the smaller animals and the buck. 

 

So, without the predators’ things would start to fall apart. They’d get out of balance. Now lions, as you know, it’s always the strongest which survives and that’s to keep a strong guard overlooking that section of nature. 

 

And they’ve been around for a long time. And they’ve always been top quality because of “the strongest will survive” The weaker ones are discarded, eaten or whatever. 

 

And you must have that. Now it’s pretty much the same as the sharks, but you have a huge volume of sharks. That’s a big difference because there’s so much to clean up. 

 

And what they do is clean up the sea and they keep things in balance. Where you get too many of one type of fish, they will sort that out. And when it’s too little, they leave it alone. 

 

So, they do what they need to do because it’s built into their DNA. They’ve been around for millions of years. So, they know that if they, for example, eat all the tuna, there’s going to be no tuna left, which is part of a sequence.  

 

(Sharon) That’s amazing. 

 

(Geoff) Yeah. Where you have different groups, whale groups for example, you have orcas. They control that. And so, predators do play a very important part, and predators in general don’t change all that much because they’re very efficient at what they do. They got to be at the top of the tree, got to be the most efficient.  And that’s why they haven’t changed over the years.  

 

Well, we’re just going to look at an elephant for a minute.  

 

(Sharon) The Elephant is not a predator, is it?  

 

(Geoff) No. And it just eats foliage. And how would that control the area it lives in? 

 

(Sharon) Controlling the foliage, the bushes?  

 

(Geoff) Quite right. So, they’re the predators of nature, if you like. So, whether it’s too much of one type of food for them, they’ll eat it. If it’s not enough, they’ll move to a different area and let that area grow. 

 

So, they play a very important part, which people just haven’t realised as yet. They think they move to different areas to ensure that they have food, but it’s not so. That is only part of it. 

 

They move to a different area to ensure that food can continue to grow in the area they’ve left.  

 

Now, you can find these examples going down into lots of smaller animals and so on, right down to the insect world. Everything is looked after in groups, in suitable groups. And there’s always a predator in each suitable group to control things. 

 

And as nature changes, maybe the predators will change, but in general, they remain at the top of their group because they’re efficient at it.