Wildlife management, conservation and its challenges

Abstract

Wildlife traditionally refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Global wildlife populations have decreased by 68% since 1970 as a result of human activity, particularly overconsumption, population growth and intensive farming, according to a 2020 World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report and its Living Planet Index measure, which is further evidence that humans have unleashed a sixth mass extinction event. There are two general types of wildlife management. Manipulative management acts on a population, either changing its numbers by direct means or influencing numbers by the indirect means of altering food supply, habitat, density of predators, or prevalence of disease. Custodial management is preventive or protective. The aim is to minimize external influences on the population and its habitat. Conservation challenges faced by Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks in India are Man-animal conflicts, Threat from invasive species, Habitat loss and Poor infrastructure. Patrolling and wildlife monitoring should be taken up on a priority basis and scientific studies to ascertain the status of key species should be undertaken with the help of research organizations.

Keywords: Conservation, Management, Wildlife

Introduction

Wildlife traditionally refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, forests, rainforests, plains, grasslands, and other areas, including the most developed urban areas, all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by human factors, most scientists agree that much wildlife is affected by human activities.

Humans have historically tended to separate civilization from wildlife in a number of ways, including the legal, social, and moral senses. Some animals, however, have adapted to suburban environments. This includes such animals as domesticated cats, dogs, mice, and rats. Some religions declare certain animals to be sacred, and in modern times, concern for the natural environment has provoked activists to protest against the exploitation of wildlife for human benefit or entertainment.

Global wildlife populations have decreased by 68% since 1970 as a result of human activity, particularly overconsumption, population growth and intensive farming, according to a 2020 World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report and its Living Planet Index measure, which is further evidence that humans have unleashed a sixth mass extinction event. According to CITES, it has been estimated that annually the international wildlife trade amounts to billions of dollars and it affects hundreds of millions of animal and plant specimen.

Wildlife Management in the US

The profession of wildlife management was established in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s by Aldo Leopold and others who sought to transcend the purely restrictive policies of the previous generation of conservationists, such as anti-hunting activist William T. Hornaday. Leopold and his close associate Herbert Stoddard, who had both been trained in scientific forestry, argued that modern science and technology could be used to restore and improve wildlife habitat and thus produce abundant “crops” of ducks, deer, and other valued wild animals.

The institutional foundations of the profession of wildlife management were established in the 1930s, when Leopold was granted the first university professorship in wildlife management (1933, University of Wisconsin, Madison), when Leopold’s textbook ‘Game Management’ was published (1933), when The Wildlife Society was founded, when the Journal of Wildlife Management began publishing, and when the first Cooperative Wildlife Research Units were established. Conservationists planned many projects throughout the 1940s. Some of which included the harvesting of female mammals such as deer to decrease rising populations. Others included waterfowl and wetland research. The Fish and Wildlife Management Act was put in place to urge farmers to plant food for wildlife and to provide cover for them.

In 1937, the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (also known as the Pittman-Robertson Act) was passed in the U.S. This law was an important advancement in the field of wildlife management. It placed a 10% tax on sales of guns and ammunition. The funds generated were then distributed to the states for use in wildlife management activities and research. This law is still in effect today.

Wildlife management grew after World War II with the help of the GI Bill and a postwar boom in recreational hunting. An important step in wildlife management in the United States national parks occurred after several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone National Park. In 1963, United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management. In a paper known as the Leopold Report, the committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended active management of Yellowstone’s elk population.

Elk overpopulation in Yellowstone is thought by many wildlife biologists, such as Douglas Smith, to have been primarily caused by the extirpation of wolves from the park and surrounding environs. After wolves were removed, elk herds increased in population, reaching new highs during the mid-1930s. The increased number of elk apparently resulted in overgrazing in parts of Yellowstone. Park officials decided that the elk herd should be managed. For approximately thirty years, the park elk herds were culled: Each year some were captured and shipped to other locations, a certain number were killed by park rangers, and hunters were allowed to take more elk that migrated outside the park. By the late 1960s the herd populations dropped to historic lows (less than 4,000 for the Northern Range herd). This caused outrage among both conservationists and hunters. The park service stopped culling elk in 1968. The elk population then rebounded. Twenty years later there were 19,000 elk in the Northern Range herd, a historic high.

Since the tumultuous 1970s, when animal rights activists and environmentalists began to challenge some aspects of wildlife management, the profession has been overshadowed by the rise of conservation biology. Although wildlife managers remain central to the implementation of the Endangered Species Act and other wildlife conservation policies, conservation biologists have shifted the focus of conservation away from wildlife management’s concern with the protection and restoration of single species and toward the maintenance of ecosystems and biodiversity.

Types of Wildlife Management

There are two general types of wildlife management:

• Manipulative management acts on a population, either changing its numbers by direct means or influencing numbers by the indirect means of altering food supply, habitat, density of predators, or prevalence of disease. This is appropriate when a population is to be harvested, or when it slides to an unacceptably low density or increases to an unacceptably high level. Such densities are inevitably the subjective view of the land owner, and may be disputed by animal welfare
• Custodial management is preventive or protective. The aim is to minimize external influences on the population and its habitat. It is appropriate in a national park where one of the stated goals is to protect ecological processes. It is also appropriate for conservation of a threatened species where the threat is of external origin rather than being intrinsic to the system. Feeding of animals by visitors is generally discouraged.

Objective of Conservation

Parks in India carry two prime objectives:

1. protection from exploitation of the target species
2. long term preservation in a natural state
3. Ensure a balance between needs of people residing inside/near parks and need of ecosystem

Steps taken by Government for Conservation

1. The names of protected species of animals, birds and plants have been mentioned at Schedule I of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
2. The Union Government has established a country-wide protected area network for protection of these species and their habitats of threatened flora and fauna under Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
3. The network includes 730 Protected Areas including 103 National Parks, 535 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 26 Community Reserves and 66 Conservation Reserves in different bio-geographic regions.
4. Legal protection has been provided to wild animals under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 against hunting and commercial exploitation.
5. Special programmes like Project Elephant’ and ‘Project Tiger’ have been launched for conservation of these endangered species and their habitats.
6. In Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSC) of ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’ a specific component of “Recovery programmes for saving critically endangered species and habitats’ is provided for focused conservation action on selected critically endangered species.
7. Financial and technical assistance is provided to the State/ UTs under the CSCs for providing better protection to wildlife including endangered species and improvement of its habitat.
8. Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been empowered to apprehend and prosecute wildlife offenders.
9. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has been set up to ensure co-ordination among various officers and State Governments for the enforcement of law for control of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and its products.
10. National Biological Diversity Act (NBA), 2002 has been enacted to ensure protection of threatened species and their habitats.
11. Under the Section 38 of the NBA, 2002 the species which are on the verge of extinction or likely to become extinct in near future as threatened species, are notified.
12. Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has brought a number of endemic/threatened plants under cultivation (ex-situ conservation) in its and associated botanic gardens

Conservation challenges faced by Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks in India

Conservation challenges

• Road/Railway lines inside protected areas
• Uncontrolled passage of heavy vehicles during night-time.
• Man-animal conflicts:
  • No park exists in isolation as the areas surrounding parks are developed for living space, agriculture, mining, forestry, and more.
  • The iconic species protected inside the parks don’t recognize boundaries and must often move in and out of the parks to feed, mate, or migrate. man animal conflicts like the leopard case in Bengaluru recently.
  • Illegal livestock grazing, illegal fishing, unplanned tourism infrastructure, highway traffic, tourism pressure, crop raiding, etc
• Threat from invasive species:
  • Non-native species can cause havoc once they move in.
  • Invasive species such as water hyacinth and Mimosa are great threats to Kaziranga. Water hyacinth clog water bodies and depletes oxygen in the water. It threatens underwater life and shrinks the size of water bodies.
• Habitat loss:
  • Due to flood and siltation, size of water bodies inside the park are shrinking. Siltation also affects the grazing areas of herbivorous animals.
• Poor infrastructure:
  • Lack proper infrastructure and manpower for efficient monitoring, management and protection of wildlife.
  • The rangers and frontline staff deployed in many parks and sanctuaries lacks modern weapons, advanced communication systems and efficient means of transportation. There is also lack of proper camps and watch towers.
• No bottom up approach and involvement of community:
• Mining, petroleum prospecting, clear-cut lumbering, and other developments are generally prohibited inside parks—but they still pose serious threats to water quality, clean air, and other vital aspects of the park environment.
• Natural disasters and uncertainty due to climate change – floods, forest fires and drought.

Solutions

• Involve local communities in decision making like Critical tiger habitats Gram Sabha is given importance similarly the forest rights act
• Wildlife crossings are structures that allow animals to cross human-made. More such crossings should be constructed in wildlife rich areas.
• Primary infrastructure such as all-weather approach roads and bridges to the park should be constructed
• Anti-poaching camps should be reconstructed.
• Patrolling and wildlife monitoring should be taken up on a priority basis and scientific studies to ascertain the status of key species should be undertaken with the help of research organizations.

References

1. Anonymous-A: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife
2. Anonymous-B: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_management
3. Anonymous-C: http://www.ias4sure.com/wikiias/gs3/wildlife-conservation