The Ecological Consequences of Vampirism

One thing seriously overlooked by the current hype around the release of New Moon, the latest movie based on the Twilight series of books, is the ecological consequences of the vampire lifestyle, which, in a word, are considerable. Vampires are not green; they’re wan. And here’s why.

1. THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF A VAMPIRE

The Cullens, the vampire clan with a conscience around whom the books revolve, lead a consumerist and excessive existence. Such lifestyle choices are far from consistent with characters who are portrayed as moralistic immortals. They choose to purchase multiple vehicles: Edward’s Volvo, the silver S60R, Rosalie’s BMW M3, Carlisle’s Mercedes S55 AMG, Emmett’s Jeep Wrangler, and Alice’s Porsche 911 Turbo, five pricey vehicles for a family of seven.

The Cullens drive at fuel-inefficient speeds, increasing the family’s carbon footprint enormously. Bella comments on Edward’s dangerous driving in the first Twilight film and is equally terrified in the Porsche chase with Alice in New Moon. When calculated across their endless lives, the ecological cost of vampirism becomes substantial.

The Cullens already have a leg up on being carbon neutral, what with not breathing and emitting any CO2 through respiration—but they squander their carbon neutrality with their fancy cars, fashionable clothes, large house, and their high-octane 24/7 existence.

This is especially glaring since one would think that immortals would be more concerned about climate change, as they will still exist when human future generations experience impacts such as warming climates, sea level rise, and increased pollution. Global change impacts will not only influence where vampires may be able to live in the future, but also in the case of the Cullens, their so-called “vegetarian” food sources.

2. EFFECTS ON THE FOOD CHAIN

This brings us to yet another ecological cost inadequately explored in neither Stephenie Meyer’s books nor the subsequent films. The Cullens are portrayed as softie vampires since they eschew the traditional vampire diet of human blood for that of top predators in the wilds of Washington state, where the stories take place.

Subsisting on a blood diet rich in top predators cannot be sustainable over eternity. Basic population ecology principles require both birth and death in the prey and predator populations. Immortal predators will exact a continuous predation pressure on populations of large mammals along the West Coast.  If each Cullen vampire is feeding on 4 – 12 cougars or grizzly bears per year (a conservative estimate based on the novels, I might add), this is a substantial annual harvest.

Meyer does indicate that the Cullens preferentially hunt in areas with an “overpopulation” of wildlife. But the current evidence along the Pacific Northwest is that increased animal sightings and wildlife human interactions—both of which can look like overpopulation—are simply the result of human development near wilderness areas and animal dependence on garbage.

If the Cullens truly wanted to apply the principles of vegetarianism to vampirism, they should get blood meals from invasive species such as European Starlings or stick to black-tailed deer, which are often overly abundant in the Pacific Northwest. Or they could take a page from HBO’s vampire hit series, True Blood, and have vampires sucking up artificial blood.

TO CONCLUDE

When it comes time for you to immerse yourself in the embarrassingly entertaining supernatural world of the Twilight series, and you are forced to pick which team you will side with: “Team Edward” (vampires) or “Team Jacob” (werewolves), consider not only chiseled good looks and impressively sculpted muscles, but the ecological consequences of a vampire lifestyle.