Principles of Wildlife Conservation

Ankur Awadhiya

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000404111
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Biological Sciences

Wildlife tend our forests — they pollinate flowers, disperse seeds, eat insects that harm trees, and keep herbivores and diseases in check. They keep our forests healthy and resilient — ready and able to face and counter any challenges, such as global warming and climate change. They are the individual cogs that keep the forest machine functioning. And we desperately need our forests — to sequester carbon, to purify our air and water, to protect our soils from getting eroded, and to save our dams and waterways. Wildlife do need our care, concern, and attention, but we also need our wildlife — perhaps much more sincerely. A majority of wildlife arrived on this planet much before humans, and the Earth belongs to them as well.

So how do we conserve wildlife? This is the question that Principles of Wildlife Conservation seeks to answer. It presents a lucid — cogent, yet simple — narration about the why's and how's of conserving wildlife. It begins with the first principles — and thus requires no prerequisite other than an urge to seek knowledge. It is full of pictures and case studies from the field — to facilitate easy grasping of the subject. The book builds a solid foundation of the theory of wildlife conservation, and tops that up with experiences from actually doing wildlife conservation. In this way, it equips the reader to master both the science — and the art — of conserving wildlife.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 What Is Wildlife?

We all have an instinctive understanding of wildlife. Wildlife is often perceived in terms of the reference examples that come to our mind. Often wildlife is something like a tiger, a ferocious, dangerous animal. Or something like a panda, a cuddly creature. If we peruse a dictionary, we would find that the word ‘wild’ is defined as something that is ‘not domesticated or cultivated.’ In other words, something found in, or living in the natural environment, typically forests. And the word ‘life’ denotes a capability of demonstrating aspects like growth, reproduction and activity that differentiate the living from the dead.

Thus ‘wildlife’ refers to those living things (plants and animals) that are undomesticated, or are living in, the natural environment [Fig. 1.1 a–c]. But this definition may lead us to certain queer directions. This is because often some wild animals are domesticated and put to human use. A good example is the elephant that has been used for ages for military conquests, and also as a working beast to carry large logs in the forests. What happens when an elephant is domesticated? Does it cease to be wildlife? What about when an elephant calf is in the process of being domesticated [Fig. 1.1d], but has not yet become domesticated? Can we draw a line for the ‘level’ of domestication that would make an animal cease to be a wildlife? What about a bear that was used in a circus, but now has been rescued, and is being re-wilded [Fig. 1.1e]. When does it become ‘wild’ again? Where do we draw a line? If a tiger strays into an agricultural field (an artificial environment), will it cease to be wildlife? What about a tiger in a zoo [Fig. 1.1f]? These questions make us think whether it is actually possible to draw a line between the natural environment and the artificial environment at all. In certain cases when a forest is being encroached upon and getting converted into a farmland, or a farmland that is being laid fallow and trees are coming up on it, there may be numerous small pockets where forest and farmland meet. In these circumstances, there may not even be a line to distinguish the natural environment from the artificial environment.

Figure 1.1: Some examples of wildlife. Undomesticated animals living in natural environments (a–c) are easily recognised as wildlife. However, it is difficult to draw a line in case of domesticated animals, or animals living in man-made environments (d–f).

When we consider the management of wildlife, we need to understand wildlife, and define wildlife in concrete terms. Definitions are important because they help us understand the nuances of what we are attempting to do. Of course, we cannot manage wildlife without knowing what we are trying to manage! The Oxford Dictionary of English [Stevenson, 2010] defines wildlife as:

“wild animals collectively; the native fauna (and sometimes flora) of a region.”

But what is ‘native’? How long does one species have to remain in a place to qualify as a native species? Lantana camara is a species that was introduced to India over a century ago as an ornamental plant to be used in gardens. Over time, it has spread outside the gardens; it is an invasive species. Today large pockets of forests have dense growth of this plant. It not only provides shelter, but also food in the form of flowers and fruits to several species of animals and birds [Fig. 1.2]. Many species are now dependent on lantana, and if we try to exterminate this species, there will be large ecological impacts. So now, should we count Lantana camara as a ‘native’ species, and call it wildlife? Or look at its history and still call it is a non-native species? And if we choose to call it non-native, will we still call it a non-native species after a century? What about after a millennium? After all, most species at any place have arrived at some time in the past. Where do we draw a line between ‘native’ and ‘non-native’? And even more importantly, do we need to draw a line? Can’t we just say that the because the species that are present today in the wild conditions play a role in the ecosystem, they are wildlife and need to be protected and managed?

Figure 1.2: What is native may not be clearly distinguishable.

These questions can be debated upon ad infinitum for academic purposes. But wildlife management cannot wait that long. So for the purposes of this book, we consider a broad definition of wildlife, one that permits us to include large number of species. It is the legal definition of wildlife. The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 defines wildlife as:

“wild life includes any animal, aquatic or land vegetation which forms part of any habitat.”

Note the word includes. This means that “any animal, aquatic or land vegetation which forms part of any habitat” is wildlife, but wildlife may also comprise somethings that are not “any animal, aquatic or land vegetation which forms part of any habitat.” In other words, the definition leaves scope for incorporating other forms of ‘life,’ say microorganisms, into the scope of ‘wildlife.’ This is important because our understanding of wildlife and the relationships between different forms of life, their importance and the threats being faced by them is constantly evolving. As we imbibe greater details of the Biology and Ecology, we can incorporate more organisms into our list of ‘wildlife’. As per this definition, wildlife includes not only animals, but also plants. And these animals and plants may form part of any habitat, even artificial habitat such as farmlands or cities. These animals and plants may be ‘wild’ in nature (such as a tiger in the forest), ‘domesticated’ in nature (such as a trained elephant being used in forestry operations), or anywhere in between.

1.2 What Is Conservation?

The word ‘conservation’ is derived from the Latin prefix con (meaning together) attached to the Latin word servare (meaning keep). Thus,

$$\begin{array}{l}Conservation=Keepingtogether.\hfill \end{array}$$

When we conserve something, we keep it together, protect it, and do not let it break down. Conservation may be defined as the “advocacy or practice of the sensible and careful use of natural resources.” It includes things such as sustainable harvesting (preventing overuse of resources and removing only that much as will permit the resource to continue, or be kept together for a very long period of time), wise use of soil (avoiding soil erosion, maintenance of fertility, etc.) and water (avoiding overuse, pollution, and so on).

Wildlife conservation emphasises advocacy and practice of sensible, careful and wise use of wildlife resources in a manner that they remain kept together for a very long time. It allows non-consumptive utilisation of wildlife resources through sustainable tourism, and may even permit sustainable harvesting of wildlife resources through controlled poaching, but in a manner that does not harm the resource in toto.

Wildlife conservation is different from ‘wildlife preservation’ which emphasises “allowing some places and some creatures to exist without significant human interference.” Thus, wildlife preservation emphasises that certain wildlife (and areas bearing them) must be left to themselves and not be used at all, whereas wildlife conservation permits sustainable usage of wildlife and the areas bearing them. However, both are also related since excessive usage of wildlife resources may warrant that we leave certain patches for the system to recover, much like leaving a farmland fallow to regain fertility. Thus, wildlife preservation may be considered a component of wildlife conservation, but wildlife conservation has a much broader scope than wildlife preservation.

We also differentiate conservation from ‘environmentalism’ which is “concern about the impact of people on environmental quality.” In environmentalism, the emphasis is on environmental quality, not on wildlife resources. However, here again, both are related since much of the impetus to conserve wildlife has come from the understanding that maintenance of wildlife habitats is crucial for maintenance of environmental quality. This is because of the ‘ecosystem services’ provided by wildlife habitats in the form of air and water purification, prevention of soil erosion, etc. Thus while environmentalism provides a motive for wildlife conservation and wildlife conservation helps impr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Contributors
• CHAPTER 1 ▪ Introduction
• CHAPTER 2 ▪ Organisation of life
• CHAPTER 3 ▪ Population growth and community organisation
• CHAPTER 4 ▪ Threats to wildlife resources
• CHAPTER 5 ▪ Wildlife monitoring
• CHAPTER 6 ▪ Wildlife disease management
• CHAPTER 7 ▪ Animal restraint and immobilisation
• CHAPTER 8 ▪ Wildlife genetics
• CHAPTER 9 ▪ Habitat management
• CHAPTER 10 ▪ Ex-situ and in-situ conservation
• CHAPTER 11 ▪ Emerging aspects of wildlife management
• References
• Index