Why We Don't Kill Off Invasive Species

Invasive species destroying ecosystems are a huge problem, but there’s hope that we can help mitigate the damage. Also did you know that some invasive species can sometimes have surprising benefits? Learn all about the world of these plants & critters with Michael Aranda in a new episode of SciShow!

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[hilliard]

Magpies (aussie bird) has started to learn how to hunt the cane toads, more and more they are seen killing the toad by pecking thru the skull then removing the poison glands before eating them

[Alyenbird]

Some Australian Crows, aka Torresian Crows (Corvus orru), have figured out how to safely prey on Cane Toads. The birds rip the toads apart and eat only the non-toxic parts. This knowledge is spreading through the Crow population. You don't need to import more predators because the native ones are starting to take control.

[FlintSparkedStudios]

Asian honeysuckle decimated the woods where I grew up. I had no idea what it was until I was an adult, so the last three years before I moved out I tirelessly pulled every bush and sapling of it I could find. I knew that eventually it would grow back from the surrounding area once I was gone, but by that third year I noticed more plant variety, and some new birds, toads and snakes in the woods. It was like a little haven for them I think.

[TierZoo]

"Invasive Species" is just a salty scrub's label for "top tier build"

[LMacNeill]

This reminds me of Yellowstone Park in the US. 100+ years ago someone decided that the wolves were killing too many deer, so to protect the deer population, the government let people hunt and kill the wolves. To extinction, of course, because the government is great at screwing things up. Then there were so many deer, that the local plant live was decimated. And with the plant life decimated, a great deal of erosion occurred, and a great many of the native species of animals were threatened. All because someone -- with the best of intentions, mind you -- decided that the deer needed us to intervene and protect them. Finally, after damn near a century of destruction, wolves were reintroduced and the park is finally getting back to normal.

Lesson? Leave things the hell alone!

[DysnomiaFilms]

"What happens when we're overrun by lizards?"
"No problem, we simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. That'll take care of the lizards."
"But aren't the snakes even worse?"
"Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat."
"But then we're stuck with gorillas!"
"No, that's the beautiful part! When wintertime comes around the gorillas simple freeze to death!"

[jamespurks]

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.

[Emre.]

5:07 "Before you facepalm too hard..." Very accurate to what I was about to do at that exact moment 😂

[Nhojneirbo]

Invasive plants can also be ecological and economic disasters. They are frequently purposefully introduced to an area for agricultural or ornamental uses and subsequently naturalize and negatively impact the environment. They can be extremely difficult to eradicate.

[dhawthorne]

You should have mentioned about invasive plant species as well. Kudzu is a HUGE problem in the southern United States.
Personally, my most hated introduction was the idiot who decided he wanted every bird mentioned by Shakespear to be living in central park. Now we have Starlings out competing blue birds for food and English sparrows out competing purple finches for both food and nesting sites.

[censusgary]

Trying to eradicate a species from a small island is different from trying to eradicate it from a continent .

[thatvalentian]

What special kind of idiot would introduce a poisonous, toxin shooting frog (that can blind you) to control beetles when you could use yee.... ANY OTHER ANIMAL. This one doesn’t even make sense.

[Nulla]

Aren’t we technically an invasive specie? We traveled to tons of places we weren’t supposed to and destroyed a lot of the ecosystem where we go.

[tinekeknol]

He didn't even mention the funniest part; the cane toad was brought in to kill sugar beetles, but the beetles actually tended to live a foot or more up on the sugarcane plants, and the toads just couldn't reach them at all. So they spread out and started eating everything except what they were introduced to eat. They were able to eat some of the larvae (grubs) of the beetle which dwelled in the soil, but nowhere near enough to actually help.

[boxertest]

That's how we got the stupid Lionfish in the Atlantic some clown threw their pet Lionfish into the ocean and boom we have our current problem

[matthysfourie]

Aren't rabbits Australia's poster child of invasive species?

[ximonwhhatt]

Sometimes you just gotta get the infinity gaunlet

[leonjocelyn]

Any ecosystem: exists

Humans: Allow us to introduce ourselves

[kevinaugustsson]

Some crows in Australia have actually learnt to eat cane roads by flipping them and avoiding the poison glands, they have also been seen learning this from each other

[rodneyowen]

Kudzu in the southern U.S. Burmese Pythons in the Florida Everglades. The Brown Tree Snake on Guam.