Wildlife management

Wildlife management, also known as game management, is often compared with farming or forestry, because one of its goals is to ensure annual “crops” of wild animals. Aldo Leopold, in 1933, defined “game management” as the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use. At that time, animals considered to be game included deer and animals such as coyotes that do damage to domestic animals or crops. However, the term “wildlife” has replaced game, and virtually all living organisms, including invertebrates and plants, are included in management considerations.

Approaches to Wildlife Management

The process of wildlife management has moved through a sequence of six approaches—the restriction of harvest (by law); predator control; the establishment of refuges, reserves, and parks; the artificial stocking of native species and introduction of exotic ones; environmental controls, or management of habitat; and education of the public. All six are used in modern wildlife management programs, but most emphasis is placed on habitat management and control of harvest.

Primitive people practiced a form of wildlife management simply by setting fires. These fires stimulated the growth of new grasses that lured grazing animals to the areas near tribal camps, making them easier to kill for food. Tribal taboos often regulated the use of animals, but the first written wildlife law is probably contained in biblical Mosaic law (in Deuteronomy 22:6). The Egyptians hunted for sport, and the Romans and Greeks had game laws. The first comprehensive wildlife management program was in the Mongol Empire: Marco Polo reported in the thirteenth century that the Great Khan protected animals from hunters between March and October and provided food for animals during the winter.

During feudal times in Europe, wildlife belonged to the royal family; today it legally belongs to the landowner. In most other countries of the world, wildlife belongs to the state, province, or federal government. In the United States, wildlife belongs to the state, as originally granted legally by the Magna Carta, in 1215, to the people of England—the right was transferred to the state when independence was won by the colonies from England.

Only in the last century has the philosophy of wildlife management been not only to preserve but also to increase wildlife abundance. All fifty states of the United States have departments responsible for wildlife conservation. An appointed board of directors or commission oversees the actions of the departments. Groups for wildlife law enforcement, research, management, and information and education make recommendations to the board of directors regarding wildlife management actions. The federal government of the United States also has many agencies that manage wildlife on public lands. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is involved with animals that cross state lines, including migratory birds such as waterfowl, marine mammals, and any plants and animals listed as rare or endangered by the National Environmental Protection Act. Other agencies, such as the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Soil Conservation Service, and the US National Park Service, do extensive wildlife work. Many private organizations, such as the National Wildlife Federation, the Audubon Society, and the Sierra Club actively promote wildlife conservation.

Wildlife management decisions involve the entire range of biological, sociological, political, and economic considerations of human society. Modern wildlife resources in the United States are managed primarily either for consumption (sport hunting) or nonconsumption (bird watching). Virtually all wildlife management problems are related to the large human population of the Earth. Some specific problems are habitat losses (for example, the destruction of tropical rainforests), pollution, diseases introduced by domestic animals into wildlife populations, and the illegal killing of animals for their parts, such as the poaching of elephants for their ivory.

The Process of Management

A wildlife manager must first determine the physical and biological conditions of the organism or organisms being managed. Issues include what the best habitat for the animal is and how many animals this habitat can support. The stage of ecological succession determines the presence or absence of particular animals in an area. All animals need food, water, and protection from weather and predators. Special needs, such as a hollow tree in which to raise young, for example, must be fulfilled within the animal’s home range. Wildlife managers attempt to remove or provide items that are most limiting to a population of animals. In many respects, solving wildlife management problems is an art; it is similar to medicine in that it often must deal with symptoms (birds dying, for example) and imprecise information.

The stage of ecological succession may be maintained by plowing lands, spraying unwanted plants with a chemical to kill them, or using fire, under controlled conditions, to burn an area to improve the habitat for a certain wildlife group. Refuges and preserves may be set aside to assure that some of the needed habitat is available; nest boxes and water supplies may even be provided.

Periodic surveys of the number of animals in a population provide guidelines for their protection. If animals are more abundant than the lowest carrying capacity, a controlled harvest may be allowed. Sustained annual yield assures that no more than the population surplus is taken. Wildlife laws protect the animals, provide for public safety, often set ethical guides for sporting harvest, and attempt to provide all hunters with an equitable chance of obtaining certain animals (for example, by setting bag limits). If proper wildlife management procedures are followed, no animal need become rare or endangered by sport hunting. Market hunting, the taking of animals for the sale of their products, such as meat or hides, has been stopped in the United States since the 1920s and is also illegal in most other areas of the world. There are almost no societies left that are true subsistence hunters—that is, living exclusively on the materials produced by the wildlife resource.

The Need for Wildlife Management

The proper management of wildlife resources, based on sound ecological principles, is essential to the well-being of humans. All domestic plants and animals came from wild stock, and this genetic reservoir must be maintained. Maintaining the web of life that includes these organisms is necessary for humanity’s survival. Wildlife provides considerable commercial value from products, such as meat; it also offers aesthetic values of immeasurable worth. Seeking and observing wildlife provides needed relief from the everyday tensions of human life. Moreover, by observing wildlife reactions to environmental quality, investigators can monitor the status of the biological system within which man lives. Wildlife populations serve as a crucial index of environmental quality. However, by the 2020s, the number of Americans participating in hunting and other wildlife activities declined significantly, causing alarm for some advocates. As the number of participants declines, so does the funding.

Wildlife management is a dynamic force that, to be effective, must reflect an understanding of and respect for the natural world. It cannot be practiced in a vacuum but must encompass the realm of complex human interactions that often have conflicting goals and values. Aldo Leopold once defined conservation as humankind living in harmony with the land; successful wildlife management helps ensure this occurs.

Principal Terms

Carrying Capacity: The number of individual animals that a habitat can support

Community: All the living organisms existing in an area at a particular time

Furbearers: Mammals that are harvested for their fur, such as muskrat, mink, and beaver

Game: Economically important animals, usually birds or mammals; it includes those taken for recreation or products and those that damage human property

Habitat: A specific type of environment or physical place where an animal lives; it usually emphasizes the vegetation of an area

Home Range: The physical area that an animal uses in its daily activities to get all its needs, such as food and water

Succession: Change in a plant or animal community over time, with one kind of organism or plant being replaced by others in a more or less predictable pattern

Sustained Annual Yield: The harvest of no more animals than are produced, so that the total population remains the same

Wildlife: Traditionally, the term included only mammals and birds that were hunted or considered economically important; today, it includes all living organisms

Bibliography

Anderson, S. H. Managing Our Wildlife Resources. 4th ed. Prentice Hall, 2002.

Bailey, James A. Principles of Wildlife Management. John Wiley & Sons, 1984.

Bissonette, John A., ed. Wildlife and Landscape Ecology: Effects of Pattern and Scale. Springer-Verlag, 1997.

Cooperrider, Allen Y., R. J. Boyd, H. R. Stuart, and Shirley L. McCulloch. Inventory and Monitoring of Wildlife Habitat. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986.

Dasmann, R. F. Wildlife Biology. John Wiley & Sons, 1981.

Di Silvestro, Roger, ed. Audubon Wildlife Report, 1986. Elsevier Science, 2014.

Giles, R. H., Jr. Wildlife Management. W. H. Freeman, 1978.

Koprowski, John L., et al. International Wildlife Management: Conservation Challenges in a Changing World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.

Lawrence, Brent. "North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: Wildlife for Everyone." U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 4 Apr. 2022, www.fws.gov/story/2022-04/north-american-model-wildlife-conservation-wildlife-everyone. Accessed 3 July 2024.

Robinson, W. L., and E. G. Bolen. Wildlife Ecology and Management. 5th ed. Prentice Hall, 2003.

Ryder, Thomas J. State Wildlife Management and Conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.