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What is Wildlife Damage Management?

Wildlife damage management can be defined as the reduction of damage or other problems caused by, or related to, the presence and behavior of wildlife. It can be considered a sub-discipline or component of wildlife management.

Wild animals are valuable natural resources and important to a healthy ecosystem. They also provide economic, recreational, and aesthetic benefits. To many people, the knowledge that wildlife exists is a positive benefit in itself.

Overabundant Animals

The continued growth of human populations, however, and their expansion into new areas has increased interactions between humans and wildlife and added new dimensions to the age-old problem of human-wildlife conflict. Wildlife not only eats food and fiber crops, but rodents and birds (and even coyotes and other carnivores) cause problems in urban and suburban areas, endangered and threatened species are preyed upon, wildlife-borne diseases are transmitted, and environmental damage is caused by invasive (nonnative) species.

Indeed, animal species considered as pests or "problems" have undergone a large increase in only the past couple of decades. Many of the species of animals once considered desirable, increasingly are found in the news-attacking people or pets, damaging property, causing vehicle or aircraft collisions, fouling public areas, or creating nuisances. In the United States, white-tailed deer, beaver, and Canada geese-all species that occurred in limited numbers a century ago-are increasingly requiring management efforts in urban and suburban areas.

Economic Losses

Conover et al. (1995), based on data from literature, estimated annual wildlife-related losses in the United States to be near $3,000,000,000. In addition, they estimated that, in the United States, 75,000 people each year are injured or become ill from wildlife-related incidents and that 415 people die. Pimentel et al. (2000) estimated the economic loss and damage caused by invasive vertebrate species (mammals, bird, reptiles, amphibians, and fish) in the United States at more than $40,000,000,000.

Science and Politics

While it is known that wildlife species sometimes cause significant damage, the problems are not usually easily solved and the solutions are often hotly debated. The science of modern wildlife management involves manipulating wildlife populations, habitats, and people to achieve specific goals. Wildlife species are managed to preserve a diversity of species and ecosystems, to maintain animal populations for both consumptive and nonconsumptive purposes, to control excess nuisance species, and to respond to human needs.

Scientific research and political pressures both affect wildlife management decisions. State and federal agencies have a mandate to provide for the welfare and perpetuation of wildlife but these agencies must also be responsive to the public by resolving damage and other problems caused by wildlife.

References

CONOVER, M. R., W. C. PITT, K. K. KESSLER, T. J. DUBOW, AND W. A. SANBORN. 1995. Review of human injuries, illnesses, and economic losses caused by wildlife in the United States. Wildlife Society Bulletin 23: 407-414.

DECKER, D. J., AND G. R. GOFF, editors. 1987. Page 424 in Valuing wildlife: economic and social perspectives. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

FAGERSTONE, K. A. 2002. Professional use of pesticides in wildlife management - an overview of professional wildlife damage management. Proceedings: Vertebrate Pest Conference 20:253-260.

FALL, M. W., AND W. B. JACKSON. 2002. The tools and techniques of wildlife damage management-changing needs: an introduction. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 49:87-91.

GILES, R. H. 1978. Wildlife management. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, California.

PIMENTEL, D., L. LACH, R. ZUNIGA, AND D. MORRISON. 2000. Environmental and economic costs of nonindigenous species in the United States. Bioscience 53: 53-65.

WOLFE, M. L., AND J. A. CHAPMAN. 1987. Principles of furbearer management. Pages 101-112 in M. Novak, J. Baker, M. Obbard, and B. Malloch, editors. Wild furbearer management and conservation in North America. Ontario Trappers Association/Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.