For thousands of years on this earth the mix of animals, plants and birds of the air have lived together and nearly all have survived. A few have become extinct for some reason or other, probably due to atmospheric changes over the earth's surface. It seems that the predators and prey have remained about equal. If they had not, there would have been some change and one would have become extinct. Most of the animals, birds, insects etc, are pretty much divided between predator and prey, which would keep a balance. Only the vegetarians are not among the predator class. They do not prey on any animal, insect or fowl, but they are prey for any of the larger predators, the meat eaters. When man first appeared on this earth, in whatever shape or form, it appears that he was both a meat eater and a vegetable eater. He then became both a predator and prey. He began to eat meat and had to learn to defend himself against larger animals and predators that wanted to eat him. A normal natural way of controlling population was changed by man's greater intelligence giving him weapons to defend himself against any predator. This made him the strongest and greatest predator.