Chapter 8 Summary

In four days the narrator comes up with four fundamental things only Takers do vis-a-vis their competitors: 1) exterminate them, 2) systematically destroy their food to make room for their own, 3) deny them access to food, and 4) store food externally for later use. Ishmael, acting oddly, suggests refinements on the first three, finds the fourth dubious, and says this describes the "limits on competition" that guarantee diversity reigns rather than a single victor at each level. The narrator sees Takers are waging war on the earth, destroying dozens of species a day.

Were hyenas to exterminate competing lions, the axiom that population and food supply rise and fall in relation to one another ultimately dictates less competition for grass, which leads to more births among prey, which leads to more births among hyenas, which then overkill the game and have either to learn animal husbandry...