Wildlife Management IWildlife Management IES118 Spring 2008

OverviewOverviewToday Managing people and animals

– Case study: tigers Changing attitudes

– Managing our wildlands Restoring wildlife

– Case study: wolvesWednesday Ecosystem management Adaptive management Complexity and wildlife management

– Tools for predicting risk– Scenario planning

REMINDERExam Thursday does not

cover Today and Wednesday (on next exam)

Humans and wildlife in Humans and wildlife in perspectiveperspective Humans and wildlife interacted throughout

history– exploited wild animals for food– exploited animals for sport and culture– we have modified landscapes– we have moved species around the world

Types of interactions– Positive: Agriculture and food production,

aesthetics– Negative: Wild animals eat our livestock, damage

our crops, compete for prey, maybe even kill or injure us

Wildlife conflicts with peopleWildlife conflicts with people

Estimated $22 billion damage from wildlife in US each year

Record 237,766 cases of wildlife-human conflict in U.S. in 2002 – Approximately 40% occurred in urban and suburban

settings

Source: US Department of Agriculture / SCOTT WALLACE -CSM

Herbivores and conflictHerbivores and conflict Crop-raiding

– Agricultural losses often significant

More people killed each year by herbivores than large predators!– Estimated 100-200

people killed each year by Asian elephants in India

– In Kenya, between 1990-97 elephants killed 221 people compared to 250 by predators over same period!

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Great and terrible flesh-eating beasts have always shared the landscape with humans…The teeth of big predators, their claws, their ferocity and their hunger, were grim realities that could be eluded but not forgotten…Among the earliest forms of human self awareness was the awareness of being meat.

-- David Quammen, Monster of God

Challenge of managing Challenge of managing wildlifewildlife

Image: www.nationalgeographic.com

Photograph by Michael T. Sedam/CORBIS

Carnivores and conflictCarnivores and conflict

Large carnivores among the most persecuted– Many have experienced massive declines in US

and globally– Ultimately, retaliation is major cause of species

endangerment/extinction– Many factors that resulted in this decline still

operating today

Panthera tigrisPanthera tigris

Largest cat in the world Lives only in Asia <4,000 tigers in the wild

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Today tigers occupied only 7% of their

historical range. This represents a 93% range

collapse over the last 150 years

“Setting Priorities for Tiger Conservation: 2005 – 2015”Sanderson, E.W., J. Forrest, C. Loucks, J. Ginsberg, E. Dinerstein, J. Seidensticker, P. Leimgruber, M. Songer, A. Heydlauff, T. O’Brien, G.

Bryja, S. Klenzendorf, and E. WikramanayakeIn Tigers of the World

R. Tilson and P. Nyhus, eds.

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Extinct Tiger SubspeciesExtinct Tiger Subspecies

Estimated date of extinction

Javan(sondaica)

1970s

Bali(balica)

1940s

Caspian(virgata)

1950s

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upload

Tiger Subspecies (Tiger Subspecies (Panthera Panthera tigris)tigris)

Bengal(tigris)

Remaining tiger subspecies

Siberian(Amur) (altaica)

Indochinese(corbetti)

South China(amoyensis)

Sumatran(sumatrae)

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Habitat loss, poaching, and inbreeding primary threats to tigers

But retaliation for attacks a significant reason for tiger decline– Killing people– Killing livestock

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Managing human-wildlife Managing human-wildlife conflictconflict Carnivore management is as much a political

challenge as a scientific one! Preservation

– Results in recovery of species– But high costs, including political/social costs

Modifying animal behavior– E.g., sterilize, relocate, non-lethal deterrence

(aversive stimuli), diversion (e.g., elk feeding areas) Modifying human behavior

– e.g., improve livestock husbandry Avoiding intersection of human and carnivore

activities– Barriers and exclusion (fences, trenches, walls)– Zoning schemes

Managing human-wildlife conflict Managing human-wildlife conflict (cont.)(cont.)

Lethal control – Eradication– Bounties– Regulated harvest (typically

with monitoring and permits) In US from 1996-2001 est. 13.7

million animals killed by federal agents to control agricultural damages

South African government has said it will allow elephants to be culled for first time in 13 years

European colonists viewed New England as hostile wilderness full of evil and hardship to be conquered and tamed– “…a hideous and desolate wilderness, full

of wild beasts and wild men.” – William Bradford, leader of Plymouth Bay colony

1832-1870s1832-1870s Rapid destruction of forests and wildlife in

eastern N. America sparked early concern Some argued part of the wilderness

should be owned by the people, managed by the government, and protected as a legacy for future generations

George George CaitlinCaitlinGeorge George CaitlinCaitlin

Growth of a conservation Growth of a conservation ethicethic

“I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil,--to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part

and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society…

in Wilderness is the preservation of the world.”

- “Walking”, H. D. Thoreau

Henry DavidThoreau

John Muir

Progressive Era & Progressive Era & ConservationConservation

Theodore Roosevelt &Gifford Pinchot

Preservation vs wise usePreservation vs wise use John Muir (Founded Sierra Club)

– Preservationist philosophy of protecting wilderness areas like Yosemite Valley from economic development

Gifford Pinchot (Chief of Division of Forestry, USFS, 1898): – Wise Management of natural resources

for economic development– Led to development of “wise use” and

“sustained yield” doctrines

Growth of a land ethic and Growth of a land ethic and modern wildlife managementmodern wildlife management

Aldo Leopold

The Land Ethic"The land ethic simply enlarges

the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the

land.” "The Land Ethic" from A Sand

County Almanac

“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known

ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain.

I was young then, full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves

would mean hunter’s paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain

agreed with such a view.”

--Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac

Wolves as “evil”Wolves as “evil” Wolves once represented depravity of wildness One of first laws passed by Puritans of New Haven

colony established bounty on wolves and foxes– goal to eradicate predator populations

Hunting with wild dogs and trapping in 1600s Habitat destruction (e.g,. draining wetlands) Wolves eliminated from most of New England and mid-

Atlantic by end of the colonial period

Wolf eradicationWolf eradicationCustomary policy permitted

indiscriminate killing of wildlife in many areas– Between 1895 and 1917 30,000 wolf

bounties claimed in Wyoming alone!– 1914 congress appropriated funds

for destruction of predators, including wolves, on public lands—so killing wolves official policy of federal government

By 1970s, however, in lower 48 states wolves only in MN (1,000?)

Return of the wolvesReturn of the wolves As a result of ESA and work of various

groups, wolves making comeback Just a decade ago in 1995 wolves

reintroduced to central Idaho and Yellowstone ecosystem of Wyoming, and Montana and Idaho

Populations in MN have increased substantially, and recolonized (on their own) parts of WI, MI, and Montana

USFWS also returning Mexican gray wolf to Arizona and red wolves to North Carolina

jump

Wildlife compensationWildlife compensation Reimburse people for damage by wildlife

for crops, livestock, property, or injury/death to people

Payment in cash or in-kind assistance Assistance with damage abatement

measures Defenders of Wildlife developed first

permanent compensation fund in US– Since inception fund has paid over $270,000– 225 ranchers compensated for 327 cows,

678 sheep, 34 other animals– In part led to successful recovery of wolves

Wolves as symbolWolves as symbol Challenge of problem definition: What

is the real issue? Biology? Politics? Values?

Wolves (and other species) are often surrogate for broader cultural conflicts– Endangered Species Act– Public lands– Preservation vs resource use– Recreation vs extraction– Urban vs rural– State’s rights vs. federal control

Wolf Wolf RecoveryRecovery

Success?Success?

USFWS announced the removal 2/21/08 of endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains, declaring the species "no longer faces the threat of extinction.“

Minimum recovery goal (at least 30 breeding pairs and 300 individual wolves for three consecutive years) exceeded in 2002

Decision would allow states to impose their own management plans for gray wolves beyond federal land– Wyoming's rule would allow hunting of wolves in the state's

northwestern corner and let landowners also apply for a "lethal take permit" if they experience chronic wolf predation of their livestock or domesticated animals

– 11 environmental and animal rights groups plan to sue to stop the removal of gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from ESA