The usual response to these problems is “culling”: killing or otherwise removing pest animals from wild populations with the aim of reducing their abundance and impact, or even eradicating them. But a recent study shows that culling can backfire badly.

Is culling beneficial or not?

Culling acts as a strong selection force and can therefore impact the population genetics of a species. For example, culling based on specific traits, such as size, can enforce directional selection and remove those traits from the population. This can have long-term effects on the genetic diversity of a population.

What is bad about culling?

Culling Drives Extinction

Their population, especially in the wild, is dwindling at a very fast pace. These large species of animals have low reproduction rates and take very long to mature. So culling only hastens the process of extinction. For example, shark populations may take longer to recover after culls.