ESC 250 Wildlife

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ESC 250 Wildlife SocietyPurpose of Course

• To provide
• A foundation in the principles of wildlife
  biology and conservation.
• A new understanding of the historical, current,
  and future interactions between humans and
  wildlife

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TEXT
Conservation Biology, 2nd edition. 1997. G. W.
Cox. Wm. C. Brown, Publishers.
Additional readings posted to course schedule
and available on reserve in Forest Resources
library
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Exams
Two Midterm exams (100 pts each) Final Exam (200
pts) Format fill in the blanks, short answer
essays and interpretation of graphs or tables.
You will be given a set of study questions for
each exam. Some of the same questions will be on
the exam.
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Course Grading
2 Midterm exams 200 Wildlife
Management Paper 100 Final Exam
200 Total 500

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Grade Scale
Final grades are assigned according to the
following scale 4.0 90 3.0 80 2.0
70 1.0 60 0.8 58 (lowest passing grade)
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Need Help?
Contact Instructor John Withey Phone
543-2764 e-mail jwithey_at_u.washington.edu Office
114B Winkenwerder Hall Office hours M 130-320,
W 10 - 12, other times by appt. Contact TA
Amberlynn Pauley-Cauley Phone [phone] e-mail
amphibia_at_u.washington.edu Office 110C
Winkenwerder Hall
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Wildlife Society

• This course deals with wild animals and their
  relationships with humans
• Wildlife Any animals living in a wild state
  and by consensus include birds, mammals,
  reptiles, and amphibians (vertebrates except for
  fish)

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Different views of Wildlife

• Wildlife means different things to different
  people
• Traditional view Species that are hunted or
  trapped, game
• In last 25 years other vertebrate species,
  non-game

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Changing Reasons for Wildlife Management
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Definition of Wildlife Management
Wildlife management is the application of
ecological knowledge to populations of
vertebrate animals and their plant and animal
associates in a manner that strikes a balance
between the needs of those populations and the
needs of people (Robinson and Bolen 1999)
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Wildlife management (or conservation) involves
three basic management approaches

• Preservation by allowing nature to take its
  course without human intervention.
• Direct manipulation of animal populations by
  trapping, shooting, poisoning, and stocking.
• Indirect manipulation of animal populations by
  altering the vegetation or water that is present.

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What is Wildlife Science?
ECOLOGY
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
Population Growth Community Organization Ecosystem
Organization Processes Interactions
Endangered Spp. Reserve Design Restoration Focus
on Habitat
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
Applied Ecology
Applied Ecology
Increase or Decrease Populations Sustainable
Harvest Monitor Population Status
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Goals of Wildlife Conservation

• Information Needs for Wildlife
• Conservation
• Animal and habitat considerations
• Assessment of past and current populations
• Reproductive success
• Determine major limiting factors
• How to manage the population(s)

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• Era of Abundance 1600-1849
• Native wildlife abundant-especially- bison,
  grizzly bear, elk, pronghorn, waterfowl,
  passenger pigeon
• Animals associated with early succession were far
  less common than now (e.g. deer, quail)
• Humans did not believe animal populations could
  disappear

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Era of Abundance (1600-1849) (continued)

• Predator control began
• First closed season on wildlife (deer)

Grizzly hides

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• Era of Overexploitation 1850-1899
• Coincided with accelerated human settlement of
  North America
• Increased technological developments (weapons,
  railroad)
• Market hunting flourished
• Loss of bison, prairie chickens, eastern grizzly,
  wolves, passenger pigeon

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Era of Overexploitation 1850-1899 (continued)

• Yellowstone Nat. Park established
• First bag limits established
• Supreme Court case Geer vs Connecticut
  established public ownership of wildlife

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• Era of protection 1900-1929
• Drastic declines of wildlife and other resources
  alarmed the public
• Legal protection was the primary tool of wildlife
  conservation
• State game and fish departments established
• Still a negative attitude toward predators

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Era of protection 1900-1929 (continued)

• Lacey Act passed in 1900
• Federal control over migratory birds (treaty
  perogative)
• First national wildlife refuge established (by
  executive order)

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• Era of game management 1930-1965
• Recognized that we needed to know more about
  ecology and biology of animals
• Wildlife conservation oriented toward game
  animals
• Contributions of Aldo Leopold --Game Management

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Era of game management 1930-1965
Increased public funding of conservation efforts
Example of Ding Darlings cartoons on the plight
of wildlife in the 1930s.
Current (1930s) practices
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Era of game management 1930-1965 (continued)

• Duck stamps authorized by Congress to raise funds
  for wetland preservation.
• First North American Wildlife Conference held
• Federal government plays major role in wildlife
  conservation

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Quote from first issue of the Journal of Wildlife
Management (1936) The policy of the Wildlife
Society embraces the practical ecology of all
vertebrates and their plant and animal
associates and while emphasis may often be
placed on species with special economic
importance, wildlife management along sound
biological lines is also a part of the greater
movement for conservation of our entire native
fauna and flora.
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Early Examples of Exploitation

• Pleistocene Overkill Hypothesis
• Early humans killed relatively large numbers of
  large mammals mammoths, mastadons

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Early Examples of Exploitation

• American Bison once numbered over 60 million in
  North America.
• By 1890, there were only about 300 left

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Early Examples of Exploitation

• There may have been as many as 2.2 billion
  Passenger Pigeons in North America
• By 1900, they were extinct as a wild species.

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Early Examples of Exploitation

• Various species of wildlife have become extinct
  or extirpated in the past 200 years in North
  America
• Examples Plains Grizzly, Carolina Parakeet,
  Heath Hen, Eastern Elk.

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Early Examples of Exploitation

• Problem of excess harvesting- for example, market
  hunting

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Examples of Exploitation

• Predator control a major problem from 1700s to
  mid-20th century.
• Wildlife managers considered native predators
  bad - bounty on coyotes

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Examples of Exploitation

• A growing problem is that of exotic animals and
  plants.
• Big problem on islands

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• Era of Environmental management
• 1966-present
• Many landmark laws passed
• NEPA, CEQ, EPA, ESA
• Recognition that we need to look at the
  environment from a more holistic approach
• Prominence of endangered species conservation

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Era of Environmental management 1966-present
(continued)

• Endangered Species Act (ESA) passed (3 versions
  1966,1969,1973)
• More interest in ecosystem approaches
• Clinton NW Forest Plan adopted
• Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs)

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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• American Bison
• From the surviving 150 individuals, there are now
  over 30,000 bison in many different herds.

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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• Whooping Crane
• In 1941, there were only 23 birds left.
• In 2000, there were 190.

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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• Wood Duck
• Once a common, hunted species, but because of
  over harvesting and loss of cavity-nest sites, it
  became rare.
• Provided artificial nest sites (boxes) and
  protection. Now common again.

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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• The Wild Turkey- a very large bird that suffered
  from over harvesting and loss of habitat.
• Habitat restoration control of hunting has
  resulted in many recovered populations.

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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• The Trumpeter Swan- a very large bird that
  suffered from over harvesting and loss of
  habitat.
• Total protection has resulted in many recovered
  populations.

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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• The white-tailed (Eastern U.S.) and mule deer
  (W. of Cascades to Dakotas) suffered from over
  harvesting and loss of habitat.
• Habitat restoration better protection has
  resulted in many recovered populations.

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Maybe too successful?

• Buck white-tailed

White-tailed doe and fawns
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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• The elk (wapiti) suffered from over harvesting
  and loss of habitat.
• Habitat restoration better protection has
  resulted in many recovered populations.

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Examples of Success in Wildlife Conservation

• The gray wolf has been persecuted for centuries
• Change of attitudes has made restoration efforts
  possible (e.g. Yellowstone NP)
• Success remains to be seen but depends on human
  attitudes

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History of Natural Resource Conservation

• Spiritual basis for cultural conservation
  attitudes.
• Native American views
• Judeo-Christian views

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History of Natural Resource Conservation

• Historical Aspects to North American
  Conservation
• Disappearance of the Eastern wilderness,
  1850-1865
• Closing of the Western frontier, 1890-1905

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History of Natural Resource Conservation

• The dust bowl era, 1930-1940
• Explosion of population and environmental
  pollution, 1960-1975.
• The biodiversity crisis, 1990-?

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History of Natural Resource Conservation

• Major thrusts of conservation arose at the turn
  of the century.
• Major players
• Teddy Roosevelt
• Gifford Pinchot
• John Muir