Three years ago, because of flooding at the Western Palean Wildlife Preserve, 100 lions and 100 western gazelles were moved to the East Palean Preserve, an area that is home to most of the same species that are found in the western preserve, though in larger numbers, and to the eastern gazelle, a close relative of the western gazelle. The only difference in climate is that the eastern preserve typically has slightly less rainfall. Unfortunately, after three years in the eastern preserve, the imported western gazelle population has been virtually eliminated. Since the slight reduction in rainfall cannot be the cause of the virtual elimination of western gazelle, their disappearance must have been caused by the larger number of predators in the eastern preserve.
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.
In order to assess the validity of this argument, I would need to know whether the lions had the same impact on the gazelle population as the western predators, whether the lion population was larger or smaller in the eastern preserve, and whether the eastern predators had the same impact on the gazelle population as the western predators. Explanations for these important questions would be essential to understanding whether the lion population was the cause of the problem with the gazelle population. Without knowing this information, I cannot conclude that the lions were the cause of the problem and that moving the lion population to the eastern preserve was the sole reason for the disappearance of the western gazelle.
The author, a wildlife conservationist, asserts that moving the western lions to the eastern preserve allowed them to prey on the eastern gazelle population. However, no evidence is presented to support this assertion. If the lions had killed most of the gazelles, we would have expected to see a large number of carcasses in the eastern preserve. The absence of carcasses indicates that the eastern gazelle survived the predation of the lions. There is no evidence that the gazelle population in the eastern preserve has declined. In order to prove that the lion population was responsible for the disappearance of the western gazelles, we would need to see lions in the eastern preserve. This would also mean that the lion population had declined substantially in the three years since the move. Lastly, if the eastern predators were killing most of the gazelles, we would have expected to see large numbers of carcasses in the eastern preserve. The absence of carcasses indicates that the eastern predators do not kill many gazelles. Again, there is no evidence that the eastern predators are responsible for the disappearance of the western gazelles, so the author’s argument is invalid.
In conclusion, the author has provided no evidence to support her claim that moving the lion population to the eastern preserve caused the disappearance of the western gazelles. In order to make an informed decision, more evidence is needed.