Reply #55: How is starvation ecologically appropriate?

[NickB79]

The problem with using starvation as a population control tool is that starving animals don't just accept their fate and die gently. They will fight for every last blade of grass to stave off death just a little bit longer. That means they strip the bark off trees. They eat plants to the ground, and then paw the dirt until they can eat the roots as well. They destroy the environment in their final attempt at survival, and these actions then lead to the deaths of dozens of other species that share that environment.

When the horses starve, so do all the other species in the region (except for the scavengers and predators, that is).