Wildlife management - threats to wildlife

There are few places left on the planet where the impact of people has not been felt. We have explored and left our footprint on nearly every corner of the globe. As our population and needs grow, we are leaving less and less room for wildlife.

Wildlife are under threat from many different kinds of human activities, from directly destroying habitat to spreading invasive species and disease. Most ecosystems are facing multiple threats. Each new threat puts additional stress on already weakened ecosystems and their wildlife.

1. Wildlife Management Threats to wildlife Diseases (zoonosis and reverse zoonosis), competition, hunting, poaching, encroachment, deforestation, tourism, overgrazing, human animal conflict and climate change. Anish Gawande Dr. Manisha Kayande

2. Threats to wildlife There are few places left on the planet where the impact of people has not been felt. We have explored and left our footprint on nearly every corner of the globe. As our population and needs grow, we are leaving less and less room for wildlife. Wildlife are under threat from many different kinds of human activities, from directly destroying habitat to spreading invasive species and disease. Most ecosystems are facing multiple threats. Each new threat puts additional stress on already weakened ecosystems and their wildlife.

3. Wildlife disease Wildlife, domestic animals and humans share a large and increasing number of infectious diseases, known as zoonosis. The continued globalization of society, human population growth, and associated landscape changes further enhances the interface between wildlife, domestic animals, and humans, thereby facilitating additional infectious disease emergence. The wildlife component of this triad has received inadequate focus in the past to effectively protect human health as evidenced by such contemporary diseases as SARS, Lyme disease, West Nile Fever, and a host of other emerging diseases. Further, habitat loss and other factors associated with human-induced landscape changes have reduced past ability for many wildlife populations to overcome losses due to various causes. This disease emergence and resurgence has reached unprecedented importance for the sustainability of desired population levels for many wildlife populations and for the long-term survival of some species.

4. What is zoonosis ? Zoonosis are infectious diseases of animals (usually vertebrates) that can naturally be transmitted to humans. Major modern diseases such as Ebola virus disease and salmonellosis are zoonosis. HIV was a zoonotic disease transmitted to humans in the early part of the 20th century, though it has now evolved to a separate human-only disease. Most strains of influenza that infect humans are human diseases, although many strains of swine and bird flu are zoonosis. Zoonosis have different modes of transmission. In direct zoonosis the disease is directly transmitted from animals to humans through media such as air (influenza) or through bites and saliva (rabies). In contrast, transmission can also occur via an intermediate species (referred to as a vector), which carry the disease pathogen without getting infected. When humans infect animals, it is called reverse zoonosis or anthroponosis .

5. How is zoonosis caused ? Zoonotic transmission can occur in any context in which there is companionistic (pets), economic (farming, etc.), predatory (hunting, butchering or consuming wild game) or research contact with or consumption of animals, animal products, or animal derivatives (vaccines, etc.).

6. Some examples of zoonosis Disease Pathogen(s) Animals involved Mode of transmission Rabies Rabies virus commonly – dogs, bats, monkeys, raccoons, foxes, skunks, cattle, goats, sheep, wolves, coyotes, groundhogs, horses, opossums, mongooses and cats through saliva by biting, or through scratches from an infected animal Bird flu Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 wild birds, domesticated birds such as chickens close contact Brucellosis Brucella  spp. cattle, goats infected milk or meat Cat-scratch disease Bartonella henselae ,  Bartonella quintana cats bites or scratches from infected cats Ebola virus disease   Ebolavirus  spp. chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, shrews, forest antelope and porcupines through body fluids, organs and ticks Zika fever Zika virus chimpanzees, monkeys, apes, baboons mosquito bite, sexual intercourse, blood transfusion and sometimes bites of monkeys Swine influenza any strain of the influenza virus endemic in pigs pigs close contact Rat-bite fever Streptobacillus moniliformis ,  Spirillum minus rats bites of rats but also urine and mucus secretions

7. What is reverse zoonosis ? The many human viral diseases that have crossed from other animal species – such as AIDS, Ebola, SARS, encephalitis and respiratory disease caused by henipaviruses – demonstrate the pathogenic potential of the zoonotic pool. Are there also reverse zoonosis – diseases of humans that are transferred to other animal species.

8. Recent example of reverse zoonosis An example of a reverse zoonosis occurred just last week at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, where a 9 year old chimpanzee died of respiratory disease caused by human metapneumovirus . This member of the paramyxovirus family is responsible for approximately 10% of all respiratory tract infections. All seven members of a group of chimpanzees were infected with the virus, but only one became ill. The virus was likely transmitted to the chimps by humans, but precisely how and when is not known. Outbreaks of fatal respiratory disease in wild chimpanzees have been reported previously, and human metapneumovirus has been one of several human viruses isolated from these primates. Such infections are expected to occur more frequently in zoological parks, and also in game preserves as human encroachment of these facilities increases.

9. Threats to wildlife - Habitat loss Due to destruction, fragmentation, or degradation of habitat—is the primary threat to the survival of wildlife in the United States. When an ecosystem has been dramatically changed by human activities—such as agriculture, oil and gas exploration, commercial development, or water diversion—it may no longer be able to provide the food, water, cover, and places to raise young that wildlife need to survive. Every day there are fewer places left that wildlife can call home . How to Combat Habitat Loss Combat habitat loss in your community by creating a Certified Wildlife Habitat® near your home, school, or business. Plant native plants and put out a water source so that you can provide the food, water, cover, and places to raise young that wildlife need to survive.

10. Threats to wildlife - Habitat loss Major Kinds of Habitat Loss Habitat destruction: A bulldozer pushing down trees is the iconic image of habitat destruction. Other ways people directly destroy habitat include filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees. Habitat fragmentation: Much of the remaining terrestrial wildlife habitat in the U.S. has been cut up into fragments by roads and development. Aquatic species’ habitats have been fragmented by dams and water diversions. These fragments of habitat may not be large or connected enough to support species that need a large territory where they can find mates and food. The loss and fragmentation of habitats makes it difficult for migratory species to find places to rest and feed along their migration routes. Habitat degradation: Pollution, invasive species, and disruption of ecosystem processes (such as changing the intensity of fires in an ecosystem) are some of the ways habitats can become so degraded, they no longer support native wildlife.

11. Threats to wildlife - Climate Change Climate change is quickly becoming the biggest threat to the long-term survival of America’s wildlife. No longer is climate change something only facing future generations—changes to our climate are being documented all across the planet today, and people, animals, and plants are already feeling the heat. This warming signal is also found in ocean temperatures, soil temperatures, melting glaciers, and melting polar ice caps. It has been linked to widespread impacts on ecosystems around the planet. This preponderance of evidence all points to the conclusion that our planet is warming, and natural systems are struggling to keep up.

12. Threats to wildlife - Climate Change What's Happening? Temperatures are increasing: The most striking evidence of a climate change trend is closely scrutinized data that show a relatively rapid and widespread increase in temperature during the past century. Average temperatures in the United States over the last century have already increased by more than one degree Fahrenheit, and the Earth's atmosphere has warmed by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900. The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, with 2016 being the warmest year on record. The rising temperatures observed since 1978 are particularly noteworthy because the rate of increase is so high and because, during the same period, the energy reaching the Earth from the Sun had been measured precisely enough to conclude that Earth's warming was not due to changes in the Sun. Sea levels are rising: Global sea level has increased by roughly eight inches over the past century, and the rate of increase is accelerating. Climate change causes sea level rise in two ways: ocean water is expanding as it warms, and land-based ice in glaciers and ice sheets is melting. Sea level rise has been happening even faster than scientists anticipated a few years ago. If recent projections are accurate, 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit warming could bring about three feet of global sea level rise by 2100, displacing approximately 56 million people in 84 developing countries around the world. Coastal habitats also face major changes as low-lying areas are inundated with saltwater. Sea ice is melting: Declining sea ice is one of the most visible signs of climate change on our planet. Since 1979, Arctic sea ice extent in September (when the annual minimum is reached) has declined by more than 30 percent, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The ice extent has been declining in other seasons too. Despite slightly larger ice extents in 2009, recent observations indicated the ice is thinner and much younger (less multi-year ice) than it used to be. Covering an average of 9.6 million square miles, these areas of ice floating on ocean waters play an important role in regulating our climate, by reflecting some sunlight back to space, and in the life cycles of many polar species, such as polar bears, seals, and walruses.

13. Threats to wildlife - Climate Change Human Impact Climate change is caused by humans. Scientists have concluded that most of the observed warming is very likely due to the burning of coal, oil, and gas. This conclusion is based on a detailed understanding of the atmospheric greenhouse effect and how human activities have been changing it. At the same time, other reasonable explanations, most notably changes in the sun, have been ruled out. The atmospheric greenhouse effect naturally keeps our planet warm enough to be livable. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere. Light-colored surfaces, such as clouds or ice caps, radiate some heat back into space. But most of the incoming heat warms the planet's surface. The earth then radiates some heat back into the atmosphere. Some of that heat is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide. Human activity—such as burning fossil fuels—causes more greenhouse gases to build up in the atmosphere. As the atmosphere "thickens" with more greenhouse gases, more heat is held in. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas are high in carbon and, when burned, produce major amounts of carbon dioxide. A single gallon of gasoline, when burned, puts 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere .

14. Additional Threats to Wildlife Loss of wetlands: Higher temperatures will lead to drier conditions in the Midwest’s Prairie Pothole region, one of the most important breeding areas for North American waterfowl. Sea level rise: Sea-level rise will inundate beaches and marshes and cause erosion on both coasts, diminishing habitat for birds, invertebrates, fish, and other coastal wildlife. Invasive species and disease: Higher average temperatures and changes in rain and snow patterns will enable some invasive plant species to move into new areas. Insect pest infestations will be more severe as pests such as mountain pine beetle are able to take advantage of drought-weakened plants. Pathogens and their hosts that thrive in higher temperatures will spread to new areas.

15. Threats to wildlife - Pollution Every day the byproducts of our daily lives—sewage, exhaust, trash, agricultural and lawn chemicals, industrial and powerplant emissions, and more—make their way via the air and water into the natural environment and become pollutants. As big as our planet is, it's not big enough to dilute or absorb all the waste, chemicals, and nutrients that billions of people are continuously producing. Since the 1960s, the United States has made great progress in reducing air and water pollution. We've succeeded at controlling many point source pollutants—the pollutants that can be traced back to a specific source, such as a sewage treatment or industrial plant. However there are many non-point source pollutants—coming from many diffuse sources—that are still regularly released into the environment. These chemicals and nutrients continue to wreak havoc on wildlife and ecosystems.

16. Threats to wildlife - Overexploitation Wildlife at Risk Fish and other aquatic species : As fishing gear and boats have improved, the fishing industry has become very efficient at harvesting fish and shellfish. The industrialization of the fishing industry and the increasing global demand for seafood have people taking more fish from oceans, lakes and rivers than is sustainable. Prized fish, such as swordfish, cod and tuna, have undergone dramatic declines. In the Great Lakes, overfishing has caused whitefish, walleye, and sturgeon populations to decline. Beyond their role in the food supply, freshwater and marine fish are also trapped for the aquarium trade and fished for sport. Birds : Certain species of birds are collected or hunted for sport, food, and the cage-bird pet trade (parrots and songbirds are prized as pets). Millions of birds are traded internationally each year. Close to 30 percent of globally threatened birds are affected by overexploitation, particularly parrots, pigeons, and pheasants. The Carolina parakeet was once the only species of parrot in the U.S., but it was hunted to extinction early in the last century for food, to protect crops and for its feathers (which adorned ladies’ hats).

17. Threats to wildlife - Overexploitation Mammals : People have always hunted mammal species—for fur, food, sport, and for their horns or antlers. Mammals are also trapped for the pet trade, zoos, and biomedical research. Today illegal hunting still threatens many species, especially large mammals such as tigers, rhinoceros, bears, and primates, whose body parts are highly valued in some parts of the world for traditional medicine. Amphibians : Members of the amphibian class are collected and shipped all over the world for the pet trade, medicine, education (frogs are dissected in many biology classes), scientific research, and for food (frog legs are a delicacy in many parts of the world). The California red-legged frog, now a federally protected endangered species, was over hunted for food and its numbers seriously depleted during the Gold Rush in the area around San Francisco.

18. Threats to wildlife - Overexploitation Reptiles : Wanted for their skins or shells, their eggs, meat, and for the pet trade, reptiles are harvested and traded around the world. Overharvesting of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle’s eggs nearly led to its extinction, and today it is still an endangered species. In the U.S., box turtles are being collected at unsustainable levels for the overseas pet trade. Some reptile skins—such as crocodile, python, and monitor lizard—are highly prized as exotic leathers. Invertebrates : At least 75 percent of all known animal species are invertebrates. Insects, oysters, octopus, crayfish, sea stars, scorpions, crabs, and sponges are all kinds of this animal class. Today many invertebrates—particularly marine invertebrates—are at risk from overharvesting. Chesapeake Bay oysters, once an important part of the Bay economy, are now in decline. Horseshoe crabs, whose eggs provide food for migratory birds, fish and other organisms, are being harvested as bait for eel and whelk fishing. Octopus are suffering declines worldwide due to heavy fishing pressure. Shells and corals are collected for ornaments and jewelry.

19. Threats to wildlife - Poaching The world is dealing with an unprecedented spike in illegal wildlife trade, threatening to overturn decades of conservation gains. Ivory estimated to weigh more than 23 metric tons—a figure that represents 2,500 elephants—was seized in the 13 largest seizures of illegal ivory in 2011. Poaching threatens the last of our wild tigers that number around 3,890. Wildlife crime is a big business. Run by dangerous international networks, wildlife and animal parts are trafficked much like illegal drugs and arms. By its very nature, it is almost impossible to obtain reliable figures for the value of illegal wildlife trade. Experts at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, estimate that it runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.

20. Threats to wildlife - Poaching Some examples of illegal wildlife trade are well known, such as poaching of elephants for ivory and tigers for their skins and bones. However, countless other species are similarly overexploited, from marine turtles to timber trees. Not all wildlife trade is illegal. Wild plants and animals from tens of thousands of species are caught or harvested from the wild and then sold legitimately as food, pets, ornamental plants, leather, tourist ornaments and medicine. Wildlife trade escalates into a crisis when an increasing proportion is illegal and unsustainable—directly threatening the survival of many species in the wild. Stamping out wildlife crime is a priority for WWF because it’s the largest direct threat to the future of many of the world’s most threatened species. It is second only to habitat destruction in overall threats against species survival.

21. Threats to wildlife - E ncroachment Co-relate yourself with this How would you feel if a group of unknown hooligans barged into your house and took up the entire living room to stay and work from? Not good, I’m thinking. But let’s say you have no option. You let them be and make do with living in your bedroom and using the bathroom and kitchen. But wait! These guys soon decide that they also need to cook! So, they decided to come into your kitchen as well. You try to stop them, but they cut you off. Now, you are pretty much stuck with your bedroom and bathroom. Well, I guess you could cook in your room. You decide to adjust some more….. But these guys are relentless. They decide they need the bathroom more than you do. Now all you have access to are your bedroom and the front door. What in the world are you going to do? That is exactly what habitat encroachment and fragmentation is !!

22. Threats to wildlife - Encroachment Humans clearly have been taking up a lot of space in the world. Increased intelligence, increasing population and the development of economics based on maximum resource utilization has driven us into uncharted territories for much of the last century (and continuing…). While this has boosted our way of living, the rest of the world? Not so much. Here’s a short discourse on how we (the hooligans) have managed to wreck havoc in the homes of other life forms and non-living forms around the world . What are the effects of human encroachment into wildlife habitats? Leads to reduction of the habitat. Leads to increased human-wildlife conflicts. Results to migration of some animals. Leads to killing or dying of some animals. Some animals and plants may become extinct. Leads to wildlife predation.

23. Threats to wildlife - D eforestation Deforestation, clearance, or clearing is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. About 30 percent of Earth's land surface is covered by forests. Deforestation occurs for multiple reasons: trees are cut down to be used for building or sold as fuel (sometimes in the form of charcoal or timber), while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock and plantation. The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in habitat damage, biodiversity loss, and aridity. It has adverse impacts on bio sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforestation has also been used in war to deprive the enemy of vital resources and cover for its forces. Modern examples of this were the use of Agent Orange by the British military in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency and the United States military in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. As of 2005, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase in countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland.

24. Threats to wildlife - Deforestation Deforestation can lead to a direct loss of wildlife habitat, as well as a general degradation of their habitat. The removal of trees and other types of vegetation reduces available food, shelter, and breeding habitat. Wildlife habitats can become fragmented, where native species must live on remaining habitat islands that are surrounded by disturbed land that is being used for agriculture and other uses. Habitat fragments may be too small to maintain viable populations of animals, and an animal living in one population may no longer be able to freely breed with individuals in other populations. Animals may not be able to find adequate shelter, water, and food to survive within remaining habitat. Animals may also encounter dangerous situations when they attempt to migrate between habitat fragments, such as increased human-wildlife conflicts and being hit by vehicles. With increased habitat edge, wildlife may experience an increased vulnerability to predation, poaching, wind, sunlight, invasion of exotic plant and animal species into remaining forest habitat, and other factors such as natural disasters that were not as much of a threat prior to the deforestation event. Some animal species are entirely dependent upon old growth forest habitat, such as the Northern Spotted Owl in the Western United States, and cannot survive in secondary forest habitat. Deforestation may reduce the remaining forest area’s resilience to threats such as wildfires. Local hydrological cycles can be dramatically altered, since trees and other vegetation in forests help to retain atmospheric moisture through evaporation and evapotranspiration processes. With no tree canopy present after deforestation, such changes in the water cycle can lead to much drier and warmer conditions, leading to even further impacts on wildlife habitats.

25. Threats to wildlife - Human–wildlife conflict Human–wildlife conflict refers to the interaction between wild animals and people and the resultant negative impact on people or their resources, or wild animals or their habitat. It occurs when growing human populations overlap with established wildlife territory, creating reduction of resources or life to some people and/or wild animals. The conflict takes many forms ranging from loss of life or injury to humans, and animals both wild and domesticated, to competition for scarce resources to loss and degradation of habitat. Conflict management strategies earlier comprised lethal control, translocation, regulation of population size and preservation of endangered species. Recent management approaches attempt to use scientific research for better management outcomes, such as behavior modification and reducing interaction. As human-wildlife conflicts inflict direct, indirect and opportunity costs, the mitigation of human-wildlife conflict is an important issue in the management of biodiversity and protected areas.

26. Threats to wildlife - Human–wildlife conflict Causes As human populations expand into wild animal habitats, natural wildlife territory is displaced. Reduction in the availability of natural prey/food sources leads to wild animals seeking alternate sources. Alternately, new resources created by humans draw wildlife resulting in conflict. The population density of wildlife and humans increase with overlaps in geographical areas used increasing their interaction thus resulting in increased physical conflict. Byproducts of human existence offer un-natural opportunity for wildlife in the form of food and sheltered interference and potentially destructive threat for both man and animals. Competition for food resources also occurs when humans attempt to harvest natural resources such as fish and grassland pasture. Another cause of conflict comes from conservation biased toward flagship or game species that often threatens other species of concern.

27. Threats to wildlife - Human–wildlife conflict Outcomes of conflict Human–wildlife conflict occurs with various negative results. The major outcomes of human-wildlife conflict are: Injury and loss of life of humans and wildlife Crop damage, livestock depredation, predation of managed wildlife stock. Damage to human property. Trophic cascades. Destruction of habitat. Collapse of wildlife populations and reduction of geographic ranges One of the initiators of the concept of man-animal conflict was Das and Guha . They described the two-sided impacts of this conflict. From one side, the source of conflict is the restriction on the local people to access forest resources. On the other side, the source of conflict is the damage incurred to them by wild animals.

28. Thank you…… !!