1: "There is little doubt that we are now an apex predator, living at the top of a food pyramid because of our use of technology."

With the greatest respect, no we are not Stu. We gave up on being "hunter/gatherers" thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years ago. We feed ourselves and have done since that time by farming and fishing that is where the thrust of our brain power and use of technology has taken us. We do, and did not, develop weapons purely in order to hunt for food we developed them for fighting one another.

Enjoyed the short piece in the link you supplied - the San, or Bushmen of the Kalahari are only existing now by having turned to farming between 1950 and 1990. Their world population is now estimated to be ~90,000 spread across Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa.

2: "Go walking in Yellowstone with nothing but a bag of butties and a pointy stick you're not at the top of the food chain. Go walking on the South Downs and you are."

Not if you meet up with one of Paul McCartney or the late Linda Eastman's pigs your not - an aggressive wild boar or sow with young would make short work of you, regardless of your pointy stick, which would only annoy the animal - your best defence would be to feed it your butties and hope you can run fast enough and far enough while they are being eaten.

Tip given to all who hunt in Africa - Never be on your own, and always assume that while you are tracking and hunting your prey, something will be tracking and hunting you. If you are in territory inhabited with Cape, or Water Buffalo irrespective of what you, as the "hunter", are hunting there must always be someone with you carrying a gun that can put one of these beasts down (0.458" or 9.3mm preferably double barrelled - these guns would kill an Elephant). The Hippo is the animal that has killed most people in sub Saharan Africa, followed closely by the Cape/Water Buffalo, who for appearing to be just large cows that eat grass they are stone killers and extremely aggressive if the mood takes them.

So no Stu, the species homo sapiens sapiens is not, and never has been, a primary predator - our use of technology has made us extremely effective "killers" but that has got sod all to do with hunting.