🌅 Wild Mammalian Biomass

SOURCE

Greenspoon et al. (2023)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Wild land and marine mammals represent just 5.5% of the world’s total estimated mammalian biomass by weight, paling in comparison to the shares held by domesticated animals (58%) and humans (36%). Wild land mammals represent just under 2% of the total mammalian biomass on the planet, while marine mammals make up less than 4%.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The world’s single most significant mammalian biomass contributor by weight is domesticated cattle, which together weigh 20 times more than all wild land mammals and 10 times as much as all wild marine mammals. Beyond mammals, previous data from the same research team suggests the biomass of domesticated poultry birds is also three times higher than that of all wild birds.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Around 40% of the world’s wild land mammalian biomass is concentrated in only 10 species, mainly large-body animals like boars, elephants, and kangaroos. However, 4 of the top 10 species are types of deer, which have benefited from the decline of natural predators like gray wolves and mountain lions, while the wild land mammal with the greatest overall biomass is actually the white-tailed deer, which alone represents around 10% of the global total.