11.1: What is wildlife management?

Wildlife (and fisheries) management is the study and practice of attending to wildlife species and their habitat for the benefit of the species and their communities, as well as for the benefit of the humans that value them. Wildlife managers include scientists and managers at universities, at local, state, federal and tribal agencies, at not-for-profit agencies, and at private corporations. A wide variety of people work together to ensure protection and management for wildlife species, all over the world.  

As humans expand into wild areas with construction and other activities, interactions between wildlife and humans become more frequent. Some wildlife species adapt to being around humans, sometimes too well. Species such as racoons, gray squirrels, and bats can take up residence in an attic; others, such as the barn swift, can occupy the ceilings and eves of buildings and create a mess on the patio below. When bears become habituated to eating human food, they can be a safety risk for the humans around them (which in turn, ends up being a safety risk to them). 

On the other hand, human encroachment into wild areas can also alter habitat such that the wildlife that live there are at risk. Habitat destruction is one of the biggest drivers of loss of biodiversity, and risk of endangerment to animals. For hunted and fished species, overharvest is another.

How do wildlife managers balance keeping animal and fish populations safe, while at the same time taking the needs of humans into consideration? The key is making decisions based on sound biological information. Biological information includes data such as range, habitat, population size, birth rate, death rate, and causes of mortality. These data need to be collected using the scientific method principles covered in Chapter 1. Wildlife management also includes the management of people, as it is often the actions of humans that cause the issues that need to be addressed. For example, at our national parks, volunteers and paid personnel work together to keep people and wildlife safe. Visitors are educated not to feed the wildlife, because feeding wildlife results in aggressive animals that will potentially bite. In July 2021 at Mount Rainier National Park , a food-habituated bear walked up behind one volunteer and nuzzled their hand, looking for something to eat. That experience ended with the bear being relocated out of the park.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Juvenile cinnamon black bear, Mount Rainier National Park. (CC BY 2.0; Karen Moody)

Park personnel also must manage people around wildlife, to keep them both from injury. The U.S.’s first national park, Yellowstone National Park, was visited by 4.86 million people in 2021. The park is home to buffalo, elk, grizzly bears, and other wildlife that have the potential to injure people. Many visitors, used to tame domestic animals, don’t understand the dangers of approaching wildlife. Park personnel have to actively educate visitors before they (or the wildlife) are harmed.

Good wildlife management also benefits other plants and animals, not just one species. As species are reliant on their habitat for food, shelter, and water, protecting habitat protects the wildlife species as well as their entire community. For instance, protecting the nesting beach of sea turtles also results in the protection of dune vegetation, beach mice, foraging and nesting shorebirds. Protecting dune vegetation protects human structures landward of the dune, particularly from storm events. In this case, protecting the species benefits humans directly.

Wildlife and fisheries management do not necessarily focus on total preservation (non-use) of wildlife species, or total extermination. In fact, there is a system of laws, rules, and enforcement associated with the use of species as a natural resource for humans. The clearest example of this is hunting and fishing, but other uses exist. When removing animals from their environment, it’s important not to take more than can replenish themselves. This requires knowing how often they reproduce, what their survival rate is, and even how many individuals we are starting with. The same consideration is required for animals that are considered nuisance species. A nuisance species is a species of wildlife that causes a issue for the humans around it. For example, it can range from animals that take up uninvited residence in your home (such as bats in an attic), to animals that can harm or kill (such as a coyote wandering a neighborhood looking for prey (cats or dogs).  If a predator is removed from a system, their prey species’ populations may grow quickly or to a large size disrupting communities and ecosystems in the process. . The aim of a wildlife manager is to keep the population at a level that is not too large, and not too small. The populations must be healthy for the wildlife, their habitat, and the people that are affected by their presence.