alt Hacker NewsThe most successful land-based hunters are variants of dogs and cats [1]. (House cats remain in the top ten.)
Humans broke the game by allying with or exterminating other apex predators. I don’t believe another double-apex alliance is seen anywhere else, in our biosphere or in the fossil record.
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No, we broke the game by domestication, where we simplified hunting to walking the animal into the slaughterhouse. Mammalian wildlife is < 5% of mammalian biomass on earth, with humans being around 30% and domesticated animals being around 60% [1].
For example, there are around 30 billion chickens in the world, butchered within 6-8 weeks. Repeat.
Domestication was partly the result of not eliminating apex predators. A shepherd would guard a flock of sheep, and farmers would historically live/sleep near/with the animals, to protect them day and night.
[1] https://wildlife.org/on-a-global-scale-livestock-outweighs-w...
Should be noted that wild cats (felis silvestris, felis lybica, felis catus) are not "apex" predators based on hunting success or being obligate carnivores. It's a common misconception that cats were apex predators when they were domesticated. They are both predator and prey, firmly in the middle of the food chain, and as such have the instincts of both. "Apex predator" would mean taking down large animals like elk, which would obviously be ridiculous for a small cat unless the prey is literally immobile.
Wolves are, though.