Wildlife - Introduction

?

Wildlife Management and Rehabilitation

  • more than working in a rescue centre or conservation
  • may come across wildlife casualties in veterinary work 
1 of 10

Aim & Purpose

  • understanding of principles of wildlife management and rehab and how they can be put into practice
  • skills to survey, monitor and manage wildlife populations
  • assess wildlife casualties and plan for successful rehab and release
  • issues between humans and wildlife and how this can cause conflict 
2 of 10

Wildlife Management

  • research into habitat and the species living within it
  • includes culling
    • control population numbers
3 of 10

Wildlife Rehabilitation

  • way of helping animal species which have been injured/orphaned
  • release them back into the wild
4 of 10

Learning Outcomes

  • a field study of wildlife populations
  • how to rehabilitate wildlife
  • wildlife and human interactions
  • manage wild animal populations 
5 of 10

Assessment

  • carry out wildlife population surveys and create a management plan
    • unsupervised
    • plan, survey and present PPT
  • Rehabilitate wildlife
    • triage report rehabilitation plan
    • unsupervised
  • wildlife and human interaction
    • report
    • supervised
6 of 10

What should you do if you find an orphaned/injured

  • what is it? why does it matter?
  • how do you know it is healthy?
  • how much should it weigh?
  • what kind of enclosure?
  • what does it eat?
  • you must ID to understand the animal's requirements and legal responsibilities
  • appropriate husbandry varies with species
  • you don't know if it is healthy if you can't ID - you would need a vet to assess
7 of 10

Key Terms

  • Conservation - preservation of habitats and wild species. Preventing decay, waste or loss. Prevention of wasteful use of resources.
  • Ecosystem - a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment
  • Wildlife Management - balancing the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using it. Keeping wild species at desirable levels. 
  • Population dynamics - the scientific study of how populations change over time
  • Ecology - the science of relationships between organisms and their physical environment
  • Wildlife Rehabilitation - the process of rescuing wildlife and providing care with the aim of releasing them back into the wild.
  • Invasive Species - a non-indigenous species, non-native, introduced
  • Wildlife niche - the job or role of the species within its natural community 
  • Conservation strategies - strategies in place to preserve and protect species and the environment 
  • Animal ethics - moral consideration in regards to human-animal relationships. Right and wrong.
  • Indigenous species - native, naturally occurring within their natural range.
8 of 10

Unit Content: 1, 2 and 3

  • conduct a field study of wildlife populations
    • population surveys: planning requirements, mark-recapture, harvesting, distance sampling, age, sex ratio, risk assessment, health and safety, the relationship between monitoring findings and wildlife population sustainability
    • capture equipment: nets, live capture cages
    • marking equipment: rings, tags, tattoos, dyes, radio tracking, microchips
  • understand how to rehabilitate wildlife
    • initial assessment: animal welfare, consciousness, shock, haemorrhage, dehydration, fracture, emaciation, parasite load, infection, health and safety
    • rehabilitation plan: appropriate methods for species such as social grouping, isolation, fostering, hand-rearing, feeding (e.g. forage/live prey), human interaction, bat flights, type of release, health and safety, risk assessment, animal welfare
    • enclosure: construction (e.g. brick, wood, aviary). bedding, light, heat
  • Understand human and wildlife interaction
    • Threats: Habitat destruction, pollution, injury, persecution, disease, the release of non-indigenous species, predation
    • Ethical Issues: arguments for and against rescue, rehabilitation, permanent captivity, euthanasia, display to the public, population dynamics, relocation, views of different groups (e.g. farmers, conservationists, city dwellers, road users), current legislation
9 of 10

Unit Content: 4

  • Understand how to manage wild animal populations
    • Species Identification: owls, badgers, foxes, hedgehogs, water birds, passerines, falcons, hawks, the difference between similar species e.g. shrew/vole/mouse, stoats/weasels/polecats
    • Behaviour: normal behaviour (e.g. feeding, activity levels, sociability, sleeping patterns, precocial/altricial juveniles), stages of development
    • Habitat Requirements: conspecifics, food, water, shelter, predators, human proximity
    • Population Management Plan: monitoring of population numbers, availability of food, predator numbers, home range, capture and release factors, animal physiological and behavioural characteristics in relation to wildlife rehabilitation and release, the survival of released wildlife, ecology and population dynamics in relation to survival of released wildlife
10 of 10

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Other resources:

See all Other resources »See all Animal Management resources »