Booming Wildlife Populations Cause Challenges
International Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies

The report, Bears in the Backyard, Deer in the Driveway, compiles information from studies by the prestigious Berryman Institute at Utah State University and economic research firm Southwick Associates of Alexandria, Va.

With people and wildlife coming in closer contact with each other, problems are escalating nationwide, including deer-auto collisions, the spread of diseases contracted both by animals and people, and destruction of habitat.

The report points out that while many wildlife populations are currently at healthy levels, others have exceeded their limits and are causing problems across the country. As people and wildlife mutually encroach upon each others' territory, more conflicts are inevitable, and resolving problems becomes more challenging for wildlife professionals. Wildlife management alternatives like sterilization and fencing are examined in the report with explanations about why these may - or may not - be the best management techniques in every situation.

Think of it this way," said David Waller, president of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Washington, D.C. and director of Georgia's Wildlife Resources Division, "if you took a scalpel away from a doctor and told him to save lives in the operating room without the use of that instrument, he couldn't possibly do as good a job. If you took hunting and trapping away from wildlife professionals, they couldn't possibly manage wildlife populations as well as they do now."

The public doesn't always fully understand the important role wildlife management plays in conserving America's wildlife resources, according to the report:

A misinformed, albeit well-meaning, public has voted to ban traps in Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts and California. After a horrible attack on a young child by a coyote in Massachusetts during the summer of 1998, voters who previously agreed to ban traps are now reconsidering their decision. Local newspapers articles have harshly criticized the law, pointing out that state wildlife professionals could do nothing to help the tragic situation since they were stripped of their most effective means of managing the coyote."

This report is important because it points out that conflicts between people and wildlife have become a nationwide dilemma," says Waller. "Wildlife professionals have a responsibility to maintain a healthy balance between the two using the best techniques available."

(posted November 12, 1999)