WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

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WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

• UNIT 11
• Introduction to Environmental and Agricultural
  Sciences

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Characteristics of Wildlife

• Wildlife animals that are adapted to live in a
  natural environment without the help of humans.
• Vertebrates
• Vertebrate animal with a backbone.
• Wildness
• Allows the animal to survive without interference
  or help from humans.
• Contributes to human interest for hunting,
  fishing, bird watching and wildlife photography.

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Characteristics of Wildlife

• Must be able to adapt to whatever they have in
  terms of food and the environment or they will
  perish
• Must possess natural senses that allow them to
  avoid predators and other dangers
• Predators animals that feed on small or weaker
  animals.
• Prey animal eaten by another animal
• Ability to avoid over-population
• Wildlife can naturally avoid over-population by
  establishing and defending territories.
• The stress of over-population can cause some
  animals to slow or stop reproducing altogether.

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Types of Wildlife Relationships

• Parasitism
• Parasitism one type of wildlife living and
  feeding on another without killing it.
• Wood ticks, which can live on almost any
  warm-blooded animal
• Warm-blooded animals animals with the ability
  to regulate their body temperature.
• Mutualism
• Mutualism two types of wildlife living together
  for the mutual benefit of both.
• Tick picker birds that pick ticks off wildlife
  for nourishment.
• Plant seeds that will germinate only after having
  passed through the digestive tract of a specific
  bird or animal.

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Types of Wildlife Relationships

• Predation
• Predation a way of life where one type of
  wildlife eats another type.
• Foxes keep down populations of rodents other
  small animals.
• Commensalism
• Commensalism one type of wildlife living in,
  on, or with another without either harming or
  helping it.
• Vultures waiting to feed on the leftovers from
  another animals kill.

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Types of Wildlife Relationships

• Competition
• Competition two types of wildlife eating the
  same source of food.
• Foxes and owls compete for rodents other small
  animals.

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Relationships Between Predators and Prey

• When predators are in abundance, prey becomes
  scarce because of overfeeding.
• Predators Prey
• When prey becomes scarce, predators may starve or
  move to other areas.
• Prey Predators
• This allows the population of prey to increase
  again.

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Types of Relationships Between Humans Wildlife

• Biological
• Humans are animals very similar to wildlife
• Ecological
• Humans are but one species among nearly 1 million
  species of animals that inhabit the planet earth
• Economic
• Originally humans were dependent on wildlife for
  food, clothing and shelter. Today there are six
  positive values.

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Positive Values of Wildlife Relationships with
Humans

• Commercial
• Recreational
• Biological
• Aesthetic
• Scientific
• Social

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Commercial

• Commercial
• harvesting and sale of wildlife and/or wildlife
  products, raising wild animals for use in
  hunting, fishing or other purposes

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Recreational

• Recreational
• hunting and fishing, watching and photographing
  wildlife.

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Biological

• Biological
• pollination of crops, soil improvement, water
  conservation and control of harmful diseases and
  parasites.

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Aesthetic

• Aesthetic
• - inspiration for artwork

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Scientific

• Scientific
• - observation of wildlife by early humans to
  determine what was safe to eat

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Social

• Social
• - ability of the wildlife species to increase the
  value of their surroundings simply by their
  presence

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How has Man Abused Wildlife?

• Overhunting
• Senseless killing
• Reduced habitat
• Pollution of air and water
• Removal of a beneficial animal (example wolf)
• Introduction of a foreign animal

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Classifications of Wildlife Management

• Farm wildlife
• Forest wildlife
• Wetland wildlife
• Stream wildlife
• Lakes and ponds

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Farm Wildlife

• Approved Practices
• Leaving unharvested areas in corners of fields
• Planting fence rows with shrubs and grasses to
  proved winter feed cover
• Leaving brush piles when harvesting wood lots
• Leaving crop residues standing over the winter to
  provide food cover
• Planting crops attractive to wildlife
• Providing water supplies for wildlife during dry
  periods
• Harvesting
• Hunting has little impact on spring breeding
  populations
• Excess population not harvested, usually die
  during winter
• Heavy hunting seldom causes severe damage to
  populations
• Sale of hunting rights increases income for farms
  and ranches

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Forest Wildlife

• Survive best in forests that are of mixed-age
  trees
• Factors Influencing Wildlife
• Type and age of trees in the forest
• Density of the trees
• Natural forest openings
• Types of vegetation on forest floor
• Presence of natural predators
• Approved Practices
• Making clearings in the forest so that new growth
  will make twigs available for deer to feed on
• Selective harvesting so that trees of various
  ages exist in the forest to make a more suitable
  habitat for squirrels other species of wildlife
• Leaving piles of brush for food cover
• Managing harvests of forest products so that
  existing supplies of water are not contaminated.

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Wetland Wildlife

• Wetlands include any land that is poorly drained
• swamps, bogs, marshes, shallow areas of standing
  water
• Wetlands a lowland area often associated with
  ponds or creeks that is saturated with fresh
  water.
• Specifics of Wetlands for Optimum Use
• Open water areas 1/3 of the wetlands
• Depth of standing water should not be more than
  about 18 inches
• Approved Practices
• Impounding water
• Establishing open, grassy areas around wetlands
• Planting millet, wild rice and other aquatic
  plants in wetlands
• Providing artificial nesting sites (wood duck
  boxes, old tires and islands surrounded by open
  water)
• Preventing pollution of water from agriculture,
  industry and domestic waste.

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Stream Wildlife

• Two general categories Warm Water Cold Water
• Based on temperatures at which wildlife (fish)
  can best grow thrive
• Approved Practices
• Preventing stream banks from being overgrazed by
  livestock
• Fencing the stream to limit access by livestock
  to reduce pollution and the destruction of stream
  banks
• Good erosion control practices on lands
  surrounding streams to help maintain clear, clean
  water
• Maintaining stream-side forestation to regulate
  stream temperatures during summer months
• Artificial rearing stocking of desired species
  of stream wildlife
• Regulating sport fishing
• Stream Restoration of desired mix of fish species
• Remove unwanted species by netting, poisoning or
  electric shocking
• Regulating Sport Fishing
• Closed Seasons, minimum size limits, creel
  limits, restricted methods of catching fish.

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Lake and Pond Wildlife

• Approved Practices
• Very similar to stream wildlife management
• Using artificial means of incorporating oxygen
  into the water to prevent fish kills
• Other Notes
• Easier to remove unwanted fish from lakes ponds
  because the water is contained.