The Little Five: Ecological Engineers that Have a Big Impact

The African Big Five, including the lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, and rhinoceros, have historically stolen the global conservation spotlight and much of the corresponding financial support and population management resources. But, there are many other species that are equally deserving of our attention and concern. Closer to home, in North America, there is what Born Free USA calls the “Little Five” – the beaver, racoon, groundhog, skunk, and opossum. These animals all face many of the same threats as their larger, more famous, and better studied counterparts and it’s past time to recognize and celebrate their inherent impact on maintaining healthy biodiversity and ecosystem function in our own backyard.

Overlooked in Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Human conflict, hunting, habitat destruction, trapping, and the fur trade all contribute to population declines observed in the Little Five species. Often overlooked as “pest” or “nuisance” animals, these species are typically ignored when it comes to wildlife conservation or even animal welfare. Although all five species are currently listed as Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, harboring such a collectively negative perception of these animals enables cruel practices to flourish across the country with virtually no oversight, monitoring, or legal enforcement (e.g., largely unregulated lethal wildlife control methods, including the trapping of fur-bearing animals). These actions may substantially alter their population status in the future if continued unchecked.

Small Animals who Make a Big Impact

Importantly, all Little Five species are ecological engineers within their environments. Participating in this role means that they significantly modify the ecosystems in which they live in ways that promote animal and plant biodiversity. Additionally, these animals physically alter the landscape and generate life-supporting nutrients to promote a more stable and richer habitat. These engineering efforts extend to sustaining human communities as well. Therefore, it is crucial that we aim to protect and actively conserve these species with the same enthusiasm that the Big Five has overtly generated.

For example, beaver dams benefit the surrounding environment by minimizing habitat degradation due to flooding, preventing erosion, making wetlands that provide bodies of water during drought, creating microhabitats for insects and amphibians, and naturally filtering the water. Similarly, groundhogs dig burrows that provide shelter for several other small mammal species, including chipmunks, skunks, weasels, opossums, and rabbits. Burrowing also promotes plant growth by tilling the soil and enhancing nutrient flow– mainly carbon dioxide and oxygen– to root systems to ensure strong plant longevity.

Infamous for their “trash panda” alias, racoons act as valuable seed dispersers by eating berries and nuts and traveling long distances. As scavengers, they keep the surrounding urban and rural environments clean by purging it of carrion and garbage. Skunks help farmers, gardeners, and homeowners by chowing down on common grass and plant-eating insects, including grubs and beetles.

Opossums, the only marsupial in North America, help reduce the spread of Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness that causes a number of debilitating symptoms including chronic lethargy, joint pain, and headaches. One opossum consumes up to 5,000 ticks per season, which drastically reduces the number of ticks that may become attached to humans and their pets and effectively lessens their chances of contracting the hard-to-detect disease. Opossums also consume plant-devouring slugs and snails and eat rotting fruits and vegetables, which keeps gardens clean and healthy.

A Healthy Ecosystem Requires All Participants

A fully functioning ecosystem requires all participants to be fully present and capable of completing their jobs to ensure optimum fitness for all inhabitants. Simply put, this is the balance of life. Shifting the public attitude of the Little Five from a negative and destructive mentality to a positive and synergistic perspective will ensure the longevity of not only these Little Five species, but other often overlooked or neglected animals as well—before it is too late to save them, and their roles become impossible to fulfil in their absence.

Help us celebrate Spring by celebrating all walks of life and co-existing peacefully with the Little Five and any other animal species unfairly deemed “pests” or “nuisances” – especially when they mean so much more than those inaccurate labels to their natural habitats.

Keep Wildlife in the Wild,

Devan