These are two stories a continent apart, about two predators, but the outcome arrives at the same place -- hunting them to protect your stock is not the smartest strategy.

The first story involves a problem-animal specialist named Thuys de Wet and took place more than a decade ago. We were sharing a Windhoek Lager at his house in the Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve and talking about jackals.

"Farmers don't understand jackals. Most don't kill sheep," he said. "But if a sheep is killed, they go crazy and throw everything at the problem. So maybe they kill the alpha male. Then the real trouble starts."

Jackals are territorial, he explained, and work in pairs. By dominating breeding cycles, alpha females can keep whole territories unproductive. But interlopers will generally chase her away once her mate is killed, and without her, younger females will begin to breed. There will soon be more pups around and lots of dumb sheep to feed them on. This means a higher survival rate, which means more jackals.

Fair game

Without the alpha male, the territory is fair game, and there are plenty of sub-males around - roaming Samurai warriors ready to exploit the gap. Being...