Wildlife Biology
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
Pyrenean ibex
Extinct: year 2006
Chinese River Dolphin
Extinct: year 2008
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=PL
45C0B006E9F8E9C9&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