Increase in Trapping and Hunting Contributes to Increased Lyme Disease Prevalence
An increase in trapping and hunting in Wisconsin has contributed to an increase in Lyme disease. Killing off predators leads to an increase in mice and deer, which are the main carriers of ticks with the disease. Five dollar licenses have created an increase in hunters and trappers who are indiscriminately killing off predators at an alarming rate.
“Coyotes, wolves, foxes, bobcats and opossums are exactly the species that control rodents and buffer humans from zoonotic diseases. Diseases that are transmitted by animals to humans have increased four-fold in the past 50 years. Climate change and destruction of biodiversity, animal agriculture, hunting and trapping, and human overpopulation have disrupted natural systems to such an extent that mosquito- and tick-borne illnesses (Zika and Lyme disease are two good examples) endanger human health and cause great suffering.”
Full article here.
Photo courtesy of John Fandek.