All of these words describe the world s carnivore species. For millennia, humans have held intense feelings for these animals, ranging from worshiping them as gods, to contempt and persecution. Lose a carnivore population and the whole food chain may be affected.
Carnivores also require space and lots of it.
A single grizzly bear or cheetah may seek out food and shelter over more than 100 square miles, while a pack of wolves or wild dogs roam over an area more than three times as large. Today, carnivores are in crisis. Throughout the world, they are vanishing from many ecosystems. As wilderness becomes increasingly fragmented into smaller and smaller pieces, and over-hunting intensifies, large carnivores are often the first species to vanish from an area. This is why in 1998 Wildlife Conservation Society launched its Global Carnivore Program.