Population collapse is unfortunately inevitable for any group of animals, even if given limitless resources and no natural predators. This was proven by John Calhoun in his rat utopia studies (1950-1970). They make for fascinating reading, especially the part about the emergence of the “Beautiful ones”…
The few secluded spaces housed a population Calhoun called, “the beautiful ones.” Generally guarded by one male, the females—and few males—inside the space didn’t breed or fight or do anything but eat and groom and sleep. When the population started declining the beautiful ones were spared from violence and death, but had completely lost touch with social behaviors, including having sex or caring for their young.
Let’s hope we’re better than that…
