Although islands are known for the high degree of endemism found amongst their flora and fauna, there are relatively few examples of endemic carnivores. This is largely because islands tend to be depauperate of large mammalian predators in general, much less exclusive endemics (although see my recent Scientific American guest post for an intriguing exception to the rule about carnivore diversity on islands). The long-term prognosis for an endemic species is usually cloudy; extinction rates for these organisms are high,... Read more

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