Chapter 2: Wildlife Conservation
Wildlife Management Practices

• Monitoring Wildlife Populations: Wildlife managers continuously monitor the birth rate and death rate of various species and the condition of their habitat. This provides the data needed to set hunting regulations and determine if other wildlife management practices are needed to conserve a wildlife species.
• Habitat Improvement: As succession occurs, the change in habitat affects the type and number of wildlife the habitat can support. Wildlife managers may cut down or burn forested areas to promote new growth and slow down the process of succession. This practice enables them to increase the production of certain wildlife species.
• Hunting Regulations: Hunting regulations protect habitats and preserve animal populations. Regulations include setting daily and seasonal time limits, bag limits and legal methods for taking wildlife.
• Hunting: Hunting is an effective wildlife management tool. Hunting practices help wildlife managers keep animal populations in balance with their habitat and provide funding for wildlife management.
• Predator Control: Controlling predators enables wildlife populations to establish stable populations, particularly threatened or endangered species. Forms of predator control include predator hunting and trapping.
• Artificial Stocking: Restocking of game animals has been successful in many parts of the nation. Trapping animals in areas where they are abundant and releasing them in other areas of suitable habitat is an example of restocking.
• Controlling or Preventing the Spread of Disease: Disease can have a devastating effect on wildlife. Avian cholera, for example, poses a serious threat, especially to ducks and geese on crowded wintering grounds. Once cholera occurs, managers must work to prevent its spread by gathering and burning waterfowl carcasses daily.
• Management Funds/Programs: In addition to Pittman-Robertson funds, many states have initiated programs that help finance conservation efforts.