The article "Status and Ecological Effects of the World’s Largest Carnivores" by Ripple et al. highlights the significant threats and population declines faced by the world's largest terrestrial carnivores, which are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function. These species, including lions, leopards, dingoes, Eurasian lynx, sea otters, gray wolves, and pumas, play vital roles in regulating ecosystems through trophic cascades, affecting various taxa and processes such as herbivore and plant abundance, scavenger subsidies, disease dynamics, carbon storage, stream morphology, and crop production. The authors emphasize the importance of preserving these species and their habitats to maintain ecosystem resilience and biodiversity. They propose a Global Large Carnivore Initiative to coordinate research, conservation, and policy efforts, highlighting the need for increased public awareness and action to address the challenges posed by human activities, climate change, and habitat loss. The article also discusses the economic and social benefits of large carnivores, such as tourism and sustainable pastoralism, and the potential costs of their loss.The article "Status and Ecological Effects of the World’s Largest Carnivores" by Ripple et al. highlights the significant threats and population declines faced by the world's largest terrestrial carnivores, which are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function. These species, including lions, leopards, dingoes, Eurasian lynx, sea otters, gray wolves, and pumas, play vital roles in regulating ecosystems through trophic cascades, affecting various taxa and processes such as herbivore and plant abundance, scavenger subsidies, disease dynamics, carbon storage, stream morphology, and crop production. The authors emphasize the importance of preserving these species and their habitats to maintain ecosystem resilience and biodiversity. They propose a Global Large Carnivore Initiative to coordinate research, conservation, and policy efforts, highlighting the need for increased public awareness and action to address the challenges posed by human activities, climate change, and habitat loss. The article also discusses the economic and social benefits of large carnivores, such as tourism and sustainable pastoralism, and the potential costs of their loss.