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Podcasts Take Two
Can a decrease in large wildlife increase human disease?
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Apr 30, 2014
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Can a decrease in large wildlife increase human disease?
According to a new study, large mammals like elephants and giraffes help stop the spread of human diseases by limiting the number of rodents out there.
An elephant belonging to a traveling circus sits in its enclosure, in Minsk on April 27, 2014.
An elephant belonging to a traveling circus sits in its enclosure, in Minsk on April 27, 2014.
(
VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images
)

According to a new study, large mammals like elephants and giraffes help stop the spread of human diseases by limiting the number of rodents out there.

Researchers have found that large animals, wildlife, have a significant impact on human health. According to a new study, large mammals like elephants and giraffes help stop the spread of human diseases by limiting the number of rodents out there.

Hillary Young, assistant professor in UC Santa Barbara's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, joins the show to talk about her study.