Transcript Wildlife Management

Wildlife Management:
Wildlife Management:
The techniques use to
maintain a balance
between food, cover
and water, and the
number of animal
population
Goal: to maintain and
support healthy herds
and flocks
Endangered Species:
species with population so low, they could easily
become extinct
Threatened Species:
species with below healthy populations and nearly
endangered
Indicator Species:
A species, that if
extinction occurs,
may indicate a bigger,
global problem
Usually small and rarely
seen wildlife
Indicator species can be BIG too.
But why?
Thirsty?
Take a deep breath.
EX. amphibians
frogs
newts
salamanders
snakes
birth defects,
deformities, massive
fish kills
Where???
North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission
NCWRC (biologists)
Try to study & make predictions
about wildlife populations
How?
helicopters
counting tracks and droppings,
spot-lighting
animal dissections
radio/leg band tracking
trapping/relocating
Helps set “BAG LIMITS”
What are bag limits?
Bag limits- pre-determined
number of animals that can
legally be harvested each
season
-based on hunters harvest reports
-based on road-kill numbers from
car insurance companies
Why are bag limits important?
If hunters harvest too
many
rabbits/squirrels/deer/
etc.
Predator numbers
will…..
GO DOWN
NCWRC (Game Wardens)
(animal police)
-education
catching poachers
checking licenses
wildlife research
search & rescue
boating rules
Poaching illegally harvesting wildlife
Poaching = $$$
Traps/Snares
Fighting Back!!!
Stopping Poaching With Technology:
Fair or Unfair???
Spot-lighting
Baiting
Snares
Traps
Turkey hooks
Habitat Management: BIG 3
1) Shelter/Cover
2) Water
3) Food (hard mast, soft mast & browse)
Food Chain/Trophic Levels
Where are we on the food chain?
Are humans the top predator?
Forest mgmt and wildlife mgmt
go hand in hand.
Forestry decisions
affect wildlife habitat.
Timber companies have
to use wildlife as an
excuse to harvest
timber.
clearcut
-animals leave but soon return
and thrive
-thick cover
(browse, shelter, in sunshine and
out of wind)
-insects
(for turkey poults and songbirds)
-rodents and small animals
(for birds of prey like owls,
hawks, eagles)
select cut
- don’t harvest trees that feed
wildlife (oak, hickory, apple,
persimmon)
- Leave old dead snags for densites
old growth
-not very supportive of
wildlife
-not mast producing and
just too BIG
Herbivores – plant eaters
Carnivores – meat eaters
Omnivores – both plants and
animals
Saprotrophs – dead, rotting organic
matter
All of the above?
(Caahhh Caahhh!!!)