  We study the $K^*$ meson reduction in heavy ion collisions by focusing on the
hadronic effects on the $K^*$ meson abundance. We evaluate the absorption cross
sections of the $K^*$ and $K$ meson by light mesons in the hadronic matter, and
further investigate the variation in the meson abundances for both particles
during the hadronic stage of heavy ion collisions. We show how the interplay
between the interaction of the $K^*$ meson and kaon with light mesons in the
hadronic medium determines the final yield difference of the statistical
hadronization model to the experimental measurements. For the central Au+Au
collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV, we find that the $K^*/K$ yield ratio at
chemical freeze-out decreases by $36\%$ during the expansion of the hadronic
matter, resulting in the final ratio comparable to STAR measurements of 0.23
$\pm0.05$.
