# Has any creature successfully eradicated humans from its habitat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526 "2019-06-14T20:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/1 "2019-06-14T20:52:34Z")
Sorry to the Guam snake post. Has any creature, for whatever reason, successfully driven human beings from its habitat. So from a starting point of coexistence, did any organism, either through proliferation or harm to humans, manage to get the humans to leave the place? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/2 "2019-06-14T20:56:17Z")
Sharks are doing fairly well, but that has more to do with the specifics of the habitat. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/3 "2019-06-14T20:59:54Z")
In WW2, [the United States tried to build an air base on the island of Ndeni](https://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/N/d/Ndeni.htm), one of the Santa Cruz Islands in the South Pacific. The island was infested with malarial mosquitoes, which is not that unusual, but this particular strain of malaria affected the brain. Casualties were significant enough that the US abandoned the effort. However, people do live on Ndeni (or Ndeno, [Nendo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nendo_Island): the island goes by several different spellings.), and [modern attempts to do malaria control on the island](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2921077/) do not mention any hyper-lethal strain of malaria. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/4 "2019-06-14T21:09:21Z")
If you count microbes, it has happened several times. Entire native American societies have collapsed due to multiple microbe plagues occurring at the same time. As far as macro scale animals? I am not sure. Especially with today’s technology. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/5 "2019-06-14T21:10:51Z")
[Snake Island](https://allthatsinteresting.com/snake-island), maybe. > [@](#): > > No humans are allowed on Snake Island and with good reason. There’s about one deadly snake per square foot on it. > … > Snake Island is uninhabited now, but people used to live there for a short period up to until the late 1920s when, according to legend, the local lighthouse keeper and his family were killed by vipers that slithered in through the windows. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/6 "2019-06-14T21:12:22Z")
There is an island off of the coast of Brazil, Ilha da Queimada Grande, that is so infested with deadly snakes Brazil has made it illegal to go there. Apparently it averages to [one snake per square foot of the island.](https://allthatsinteresting.com/snake-island) So, while I do not think they eradicated humans from their habitat they have certainly kept humans out of it. EDIT: Ninjaed ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/7 "2019-06-14T21:39:48Z")
[Gruinard Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruinard_Island) would have been another, due to its being used as an anthrax test site during WW2, but it was recently decontaminated and returned to its original owners. God only knows what’s still living on the Soviet Union’s version of it,[Voronezh Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vozrozhdeniya_Island). Which is no longer an island, thanks to the destruction of the Aral Sea. Some decontamination of the island has been performed, per the wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/8 "2019-06-14T21:54:42Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Apparently it averages to [one snake per square foot of the island.](https://allthatsinteresting.com/snake-island) Recent estimates( and the first semi-reliable, scientific ones )indicate the real population is actually a tiny fraction of that sensationalized figure. Probably a few thousand snakes at most, not the 430,000 once claimed, and they are somewhat habitat restricted. Which makes logical sense - awful hard for a critter that feeds primarily on just two species of songbird to maintain that kind of population density. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/9 "2019-06-14T22:38:17Z")
The [Champawat tiger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champawat_Tiger) gave it a go, killing and eating an estimated 436 people in Nepal and India between about 1900 and 1907 before finally being hunted down and killed by Jim Corbett. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/10 "2019-06-15T02:18:37Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Recent estimates( and the first semi-reliable, scientific ones )indicate the real population is actually a tiny fraction of that sensationalized figure. Probably a few thousand snakes at most, not the 430,000 once claimed, and they are somewhat habitat restricted. Which makes logical sense - awful hard for a critter that feeds primarily on just two species of songbird to maintain that kind of population density. Yes, the article cited above makes no sense. It says there are 2,000 to 4,000 snakes and one snake per square foot. From a Google map, I estimate an area of about five million square feet, making the density less than one thousandth of a snake per square foot. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2019, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/11 "2019-06-15T04:21:22Z")
An honourable mention must go to the Tsetse fly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/12 "2019-06-15T13:15:48Z")
In other words, the author just went off and searched up whatever factoids they could find, without ever bothering to do any math, or to determine which factoids were more reliable. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/13 "2019-06-15T16:09:58Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Recent estimates( and the first semi-reliable, scientific ones )indicate the real population is actually a tiny fraction of that sensationalized figure. Probably a few thousand snakes at most, not the 430,000 once claimed, and they are somewhat habitat restricted. Which makes logical sense - awful hard for a critter that feeds primarily on just two species of songbird to maintain that kind of population density. Fair enough. It remains a dangerous place due to critters that the Brazilian government restricts access to because of the critters. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/14 "2019-06-17T12:53:31Z")
It’s not a very good example, but in Aus, saltwater crocs are a protected species. Saltwater crocs eat people, so the effect of protection is that people either avoid estuary river edges, or get eaten. I can’t say that humans have been eradicated from the habitat though – we’re like cockroaches, and there aren’t enough crocs so that you always, or even probably get eaten-- just enough to keep the locals out of the water where there are warning signs. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/15 "2019-06-17T13:14:40Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Sharks are doing fairly well, but that has more to do with the specifics of the habitat. The global number of fatalities due to shark attacks is insignificant, and the tiny potential danger does virtually nothing to keep people from going into the water in most places. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If you count microbes, it has happened several times. Entire native American societies have collapsed due to multiple microbe plagues occurring at the same time. But they didn’t become locally extinct except perhaps in small areas. There were always some survivors, and of course Europeans and their African slaves immediately replaced the Native Americans who died. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/16 "2019-06-17T20:33:15Z")
All I know is that the amazing snakes chasing an iguana clip shows one place I would not want to live within a hundred miles of. Warning: nightmare fuel. OTOH, David Attenborough. So it all evens out, right? [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3OjfK0t1XM). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/17 "2019-06-17T21:31:54Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Warning: nightmare fuel. Like a literal nightmare. Very cool. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/18 "2019-06-17T21:55:20Z")
Iguana could’ve used a thumper. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/19 "2019-06-18T11:43:54Z")
I’m not sure I’d rely on Douglas Preston for factual material, but the city he describes in his book _The Lost City of the Monkey God_, which might be Ciudad Blanco, is in a region filled with disease-bearing mosquitos that he suggests were responsible for depopulating the city. His descriptions of his own suffering from the illness (and the pretty extreme treatment for it) are seriously wince-inducing. > **[Finding a lost city, and also a flesh-eating illness, with Douglas Preston](https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/4/14502606/the-lost-city-of-the-monkey-god-interview-honduras-civilization)** > > Abandoned cities, deadly snakes, and flesh-eating diseases > [@](#): > > Mucosal leishmaniasis struck down two-thirds of the expedition — Hondurans, Americans and Brits alike. It is a very persistent disease, a flesh-eating parasite that attacks the face and eventually causes your lips and nose to slough off, leaving a weeping sore where your face used to be. (I would not recommend Googling pictures of the disease!) It has returned in a number of people. But we are getting the best medical care in the world from doctors at the National Institutes of Health, who are studying us and our disease, which appears to be a unique form. It makes for a fascinating medical mystery. > **[La Ciudad Blanca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Ciudad_Blanca)** > > La Ciudad Blanca (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}pronounced \[la sjuˈðað ˈblaŋka\], Spanish for "The White City") is a legendary settlement said to be located in the Mosquitia region of the Gracias a Dios Department in eastern Honduras. It is also known by the Pech name Kahã Kamasa ("White Town"). This extensive area of rainforest, wh... > **[The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story: Preston, Douglas: 9781455569410:...](https://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Monkey-God-Story/dp/1455569410)** > > The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story \[Preston, Douglas\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526/20 "2019-06-18T17:35:56Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > An honourable mention must go to the Tsetse fly. Yes. As I understand it, Timbuktu is located some distance (about 8 miles) north of the Niger River (rather than right on the river) because of that fly and the sleeping sickness it transmits. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-creature-successfully-eradicated-humans-from-its-habitat/835526.md?page=2)