Introduction to wildlife biology

Introduction to Wildlife Biology “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” ~Aldo Leopold

Introduction to Wildlife Biology What do you think Leopold’s quote means? What does “keeping all the parts” have to do with managing animal species and their habitats? Take a couple minutes to write down some ideas and then discuss with your group.

Introduction to Wildlife Biology What happens to a car if we lose a few parts and no longer have functioning brakes?

Introduction to Wildlife Biology What happens to an ecosystem if we lose animal species? Leopold emphasized the importance of bio-diversity, wildlife preservation, and preservation of natural landscapes and ecosystems Extinct: year 2000 Extinct: year 2006 Extinct: year 2008 Pyrenean ibex Chinese River Dolphin Saudi Gazelle

Introduction to Wildlife Biology What is wildlife biology? Wildlife biology is a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of wild animals and their habitats. Multi-disciplinary means that work is performed by scientists educated in the fields of wildlife biology, zoology, botany, chemistry, mathematics, or various combinations of these disciplines. The official professional career title for someone in this field of work is "Wildlife Biologist”

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Has ‘wildlife biology’ always meant the same? Let’s see a historical perspective. A historical perspective: In his 1933 book Game Management, Aldo Leopold, one of the pioneers of wildlife management as a science, stated that wildlife biology is "the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use."

Introduction to Wildlife Biology How has the definition changed? While the origin of wildlife biology focused on producing “crops” of animals for consumptive use (food, clothing, etc), modern wildlife biology places significant focus on the conservation and protection of animal species and their habitats for the sake of overall ecosystem health.

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Types of wildlife management: There are a variety of ways we can manage wildlife, ranging from a very hands-on approach to a very passive hands-off approach

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Types of wildlife management: Manipulative management = actively manipulating or changing a wildlife population size Custodial management = protecting wildlife/habitat and minimizing human interaction

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Manipulative management means we act upon a population to change its numbers We can do this through direct means of population control or indirect means by altering food supply, habitat, density of predators, or prevalence of disease.

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Manipulative management is appropriate when: a population is to be harvested (hunted/fished) a population slides to an unacceptably low density or increases to an unacceptably high level

Introduction to Wildlife Biology What are some methods for manipulative management? Hunting/fishing for a sustainable yield and stable population Hunting/fishing to decrease the population Species protection and predator control to allow a population to increase Artificial replenishment of animals (e.g. fish hatcheries)

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Custodial management is a way to protect a species by preventing problems or fixing existing problems. The goal is to minimize external influences on wildlife populations and habitat

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Custodial management is appropriate when Managing wildlife in a national park or similar setting where the park goals are to protect ecological processes (i.e. keeping the ecosystem as natural as possible, minimizing human impacts) The conservation of threatened/endangered species where the threat is external (over-hunting fishing, invasive predators, habitat loss, etc)

Introduction to Wildlife Biology What are some methods of custodial management? Restore wildlife habitat Protect wildlife habitat

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Let’s take a look at some examples of manipulative and custodial management of wildlife here in Idaho

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Examples of manipulative management: Deer hunting season/regulations (deer herds are managed for a sustainable yield) Lake trout in Yellowstone Lake, WY Predator control – wolf hunt issue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTxS1szUyFE&list=PL45C0B006E9F8E9C9&index=3

Introduction to Wildlife Biology Examples of custodial management: Habitat restoration: Boise River WMA http://viewpure.com/zqTsRWnIVMg Fish Haven Creek, Bear Lake: http://viewpure.com/RkB25pwzoyM