Predation has long been a biological taboo, the meme being that the "last wolf will not eat the last deer" etc. This is a legacy left by Lorenz, starting first with aggression, and then spreading to other concepts. Over the years biologists have realised that predation does play a role, often a major role, in the wildlife mix. This is especially true with predators that have alternative food sources, ie corvids, gulls and rats that also feed on garbage and have plenty of energy to indulge in what is apparently hobby predation. Such predators are not limited by their prey.
And predators can and do cause the extinction of their prey, and prey rebounds when predation is removed, as proven by management projects as in Rat Island and Campbell Island.
It took biologists a generation to overcome Lorenz's influence on aggression. Wonder how long it will take to correct the predator myth.
