Predator–prey reversal
When we talk about animals, some of them like to hunt for food or eat other animals. We call these hunters, “predators”. And some animals like to hide or run away from these hunters, we call them “preys”.
But sometimes, something strange happens. The predators become the prey and the preys become the predators! We call this “predator-prey reversal”. Let’s imagine a simple example to understand this:
In a forest, there are many rabbits and foxes. Usually, the foxes eat the rabbits, they are the predator and the rabbits are the prey. But one day, something unexpected happens - a deadly disease spreads among the foxes, and many of them die. Now, there are fewer foxes and more rabbits. Since there are fewer foxes to hunt them, the rabbits start to thrive, and their population grows really fast. As a result, there’s not enough food for all the rabbits and they start to eat the leaves of trees.
Over time, the number of rabbits becomes so high that they start competing with each other for food. They start getting sick and weak because there are too many of them. This makes them easy targets for other predators, like eagles or coyotes. The rabbits become the prey of these new predators, and the predators become the new hunters.
So, this is what we call “predator-prey reversal”. It happens when the balance between the number of predators and the number of preys changes, and one of them is not able to survive. When a new predator comes into the picture, the food chain is disrupted, and both the predator and prey populations can flip roles.
But sometimes, something strange happens. The predators become the prey and the preys become the predators! We call this “predator-prey reversal”. Let’s imagine a simple example to understand this:
In a forest, there are many rabbits and foxes. Usually, the foxes eat the rabbits, they are the predator and the rabbits are the prey. But one day, something unexpected happens - a deadly disease spreads among the foxes, and many of them die. Now, there are fewer foxes and more rabbits. Since there are fewer foxes to hunt them, the rabbits start to thrive, and their population grows really fast. As a result, there’s not enough food for all the rabbits and they start to eat the leaves of trees.
Over time, the number of rabbits becomes so high that they start competing with each other for food. They start getting sick and weak because there are too many of them. This makes them easy targets for other predators, like eagles or coyotes. The rabbits become the prey of these new predators, and the predators become the new hunters.
So, this is what we call “predator-prey reversal”. It happens when the balance between the number of predators and the number of preys changes, and one of them is not able to survive. When a new predator comes into the picture, the food chain is disrupted, and both the predator and prey populations can flip roles.