| Hunting is inextricably linked with wildlife management. Sometimes, animals are hunted down in order to control surging populations. At other times, illegal hunting can mess any plans for management.
What are the principles of wildlife management? To understand this we must first realize that there are limiting factors for all living beings, including animals. The main ones common to all life is food, water, air, space and shelter. Other fine liming factors are availability of minerals and other essential nutrients. This availability of resources plays a big role in controlling populations, especially wildlife that have to go in search of food, unlike domesticated animals.
Scientists also put a lot of weight on space. This is not just about having a big area to live and roam around in. Wild animals need specific habitats. Proximity with members of their population is also important. Some animals need to live in big groups while others don’t like crowds. Mountain lions for instance prefer some isolation, so they won’t occur in high densities in a given area.
Every environment has its capacity for tolerance. You hear of overpopulation and global warming. Scientists claim that the human population has risen to such great numbers that we are stressing the planet; that it’s straining with our weight. Well, too many animals in one ecosystem can have a similar reaction. In such a case, nature will find a way to get rid of the excess, and balance the numbers of life, maybe through natural disasters.
How to manage wildlife?
There are several methods for wildlife management. One is to leave nature well alone. This type of management is based on minimal intervention but it’s not popular, neither among conservationists nor the public.
Scientists usually favor population control and manipulation. Captive breeding belongs to this category of wildlife management strategies. Populations are monitored long term by tagging individuals. It’s important to keep track of birth rates and death rates.
The habitat can be manipulated too, to manage wildlife. Usually this is done with the hope of increasing population size. Creating artificial grazing lands allows more herbivores to co-exist in a given area. Logging, mechanical disruptions or setting fire can enhance productivity of the soil and encourage wildlife.
Any wildlife management effort is based on the fact that a ‘community’ has to be managed and not a single species. It’s impossible to isolate one type of animal and to address its needs separately. Whatever we do for one species affects at least one other because of food chains and other dynamic interactions. |
