Various species of
deer are commonly seen wildlife across the Americas and Eurasia.
A
Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) surfs the wake of a research boat on the Banana River, near the Kennedy Space Center, and is an example of wildlife.
includes all non-
domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative.
Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, rain forests, plains, and other areas—including the most developed
urban sites—all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by human factors, most scientists agree that wildlife around the world is impacted by human activities.
Humans have historically tended to separate civilization from wildlife in a number of ways including the legal, social, and moral sense. This has been a reason for debate throughout recorded history. Religions have often declared certain animals to be sacred, and in modern times concern for the natural environment has provoked activists to protest the exploitation of wildlife for human benefit or entertainment. Literature has also made use of the traditional human separation from wildlife.
Food, pets, traditional medicines
Anthropologists believe that the
Stone Age peoples and
hunter-gatherers relied on wildlife, both plant and animal, for their food. In fact, some species may have been hunted to
extinction by early human hunters. Today, hunting,
fishing, or gathering wildlife is still a significant food source in some parts of the world. In other areas, hunting and non-commercial fishing are mainly seen as a
sport or
recreation, with the edible meat as mostly a side benefit. Meat sourced from wildlife that is not traditionally regarded as game is known as
bush meat. The increasing demand for wildlife as a source of traditional food in
East Asia is decimating populations of
sharks,
primates,
pangolins and other animals, which they believe have aphrodisiac properties.
In November 2008, almost 900 plucked and "oven-ready" owls and other protected wildlife species were confiscated by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Malaysia, according to
TRAFFIC. The animals were believed to be bound for China, to be sold in wild meat restaurants. Most are listed in
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which prohibits or restricts such trade.
“Malaysia is home to a vast array of amazing wildlife,” said Chris S. Shepherd, co-author of the report for . “However, illegal hunting and trade poses a threat to Malaysia’s natural diversity."
A November 2008 report from biologist and author Sally Kneidel, PhD, documented numerous wildlife species for sale in informal markets along the Amazon River, including wild-caught marmosets sold for as little as $1.60 (5 Peruvian soles) . Many Amazon species, including peccaries, agoutis, turtles, turtle eggs, anacondas, armadillos, etc., are sold primarily as food. Others in these informal markets, such as monkeys and parrots, are destined for the pet trade, often smuggled into the United States. Still other Amazon species are popular ingredients in traditional medicines sold in local markets. The medicinal value of animal parts is based largely on superstition.
Religion
Many wildlife species have spiritual significance in different cultures around the world, and they and their products may be used as
sacred objects in
religious rituals. For example,
eagles,
hawks and their
feathers have great
cultural and
spiritual value to
Native Americans as religious objects.
Different Animals are considered sacred in different places because in some cultures have different gods. Gods are usually the reason animals are worshiped or considered sacred. Examples: peacocks and cows were sacred in Greek Mythology because peacocks and cows were considered sacred to the goddess Hera. Dogs and owls are also considered sacred in Greek Mythology because the dog was Ares favorite animal and the owl was Athena's favorite animal. Other animals are considered sacred cause of there use and/or sacrificial offerings to the gods. The cow is also considered sacred for that very reason. Lastly an animal can be sacred if a god has chosen to turn into that animal for whatever reason. For example, Zeus would transform himself into a certain animals, so he could escape the watchful eye of his wife, Hera.
Television
Wildlife has long been a common subject for
educational
television shows.
National Geographic specials appeared on
CBS beginning in 1965, later moving to
ABC and then
PBS. In 1963,
NBC debuted
Wild Kingdom, a popular program featuring
zoologist Marlin Perkins as host. The
BBC natural history unit in the
UK was a similar pioneer, the first wildlife series LOOK presented by
Sir Peter Scott, was a studio-based show, with filmed inserts. It was in this series that
David Attenborough first made his appearance which led to the series Zoo Quest during which he and cameraman Charles Lagus went to many exotic places looking for elusive wildlife—notably the
Komodo dragon in Indonesia and
lemurs in Madagascar. Since 1984, the
Discovery Channel and its spin off
Animal Planet in the USA have dominated the market for shows about wildlife on cable television, while on
PBS the NATURE strand made by WNET-13 in New York and NOVA by WGBH in Boston are notable. See also
Nature documentary. Wildlife television is now a multi-million dollar industry with specialist documentary film-makers in many countries including UK, USA, New Zealand
NHNZ, Australia, Austria, Germany, Japan, and Canada.
Tourism
Fueled by media coverage and inclusion of conservation education in early school curriculum, Wildlife
tourism & Ecotourism has fast become a popular industry generating substantial income for developing nations with rich wildlife specially ,
Africa and
India. This ever growing and ever becoming more popular form of tourism is providing the much needed incentive for poor nations to conserve their rich wildlife heritage and its habitat.
Destruction
This subsection focuses on
anthropogenic forms of wildlife destruction.
Exploitation of wild populations has been a characteristic of modern man since our exodus from
Africa 130,000 – 70,000 years ago. The rate of
extinctions of entire species of plants and animals across the planet has been so high in the last few hundred years it is widely considered that we are in the sixth great extinction event on this planet; the
Holocene Mass Extinction.
Destruction of wildlife does not always lead to an extinction of the species in question, however, the dramatic loss of entire species across Earth dominates any review of wildlife destruction as extinction is the level of damage to a wild population from which there is no return.
The four most general reasons that lead to destruction of wildlife include overkill, habitat destruction and fragmentation, impact of introduced species and chains of extinction.
Overkill
Overkill occurs whenever hunting occurs at rates greater than the reproductive capacity of the population is being exploited. The effects of this are often noticed much more dramatically in slow growing populations such as many larger species of fish. Initially when a portion of a wild population is hunted, an increased availability of resources (food, etc) is experienced increasing growth and reproduction as
Density dependent inhibition is lowered. Hunting,
fishing and so on, has lowered the competition between members of a population. However, if this hunting continues at rate greater than the rate at which new members of the population can reach breeding age and produce more young, the population will begin to
decrease in numbers.
Populations are confined to islands – whether literal islands or just areas of habitat that are effectively an “island” for the species concerned – have also been observed to be at greater risk of dramatic population declines following
unsustainable hunting.
Habitat destruction and fragmentation
Deforestation and increased road-building in the
Amazon Rainforest are a significant concern because of increased human encroachment upon wild areas, increased resource extraction and further threats to
biodiversity.
The
habitat of any given species is considered its preferred area or territory. Many processes associated human habitation of an area cause loss of this area and the decrease the carrying capacity of the land for that species. In many cases these changes in land use cause a patchy break-up of the wild landscape. Agricultural land frequently displays this type of extremely fragmented, or relictual, habitat. Farms sprawl across the landscape with patches of uncleared woodland or forest dotted in-between occasional paddocks.
Examples of habitat destruction include grazing of bushland by farmed animals, changes to natural fire regimes, forest clearing for timber production and wetland draining for city expansion.
Impact of introduced species
Mice,
cats,
rabbits,
dandelions and
poison ivy are all examples of species that have become invasive threats to wild species in various parts of the world . Frequently species that are uncommon in their home range become out-of-control invasions in distant but similar climates. The reasons for this have not always been clear and
Charles Darwin felt it was unlikely that exotic species would ever be able to grow abundantly in a place in which they had not evolved. The reality is that the vast majority of species exposed to a new habitat do not reproduce successfully. Occasionally, however, some populations do take hold and after a period of acclimation can increase in numbers significantly, having destructive effects on many elements of the native environment of which they have become part.
Chains of extinction
This final group is one of secondary effects. All wild populations of living things have many complex intertwining links with other living things around them. Large
herbivorous animals such as the
hippopotamus have populations of
insectivorous birds that feed off the many parasitic insects that grow on the hippo. Should the hippo die out so too will these groups of
birds, leading to further destruction as other species dependent on the birds are affected. Also referred to as a
Domino effect, this series of
chain reactions is by far the most destructive process that can occur in any
ecological community.
See also
