Wildlife management facts for kids

Various types of deer are often seen in nature across America and Europe.

Wildlife management is all about taking care of wild animals and plants. It's about making sure there are enough of them, that they are healthy, and that they live in good places. This work helps keep nature balanced.

Wildlife management includes different parts. It can mean protecting animals so they don't disappear (called wildlife conservation). It can also mean looking after animals for hunting or viewing (called game keeping). Sometimes, it even involves controlling animals that cause problems (called pest control).

Scientists use many subjects to do this work well. They use biology to understand living things, ecology to study how living things interact with their environment, and even mathematics, chemistry, climatology (weather), and geography (land features).

Protecting Wildlife (Conservation)

Wildlife conservation works to stop animals and plants from disappearing forever. It uses scientific ideas to find a good balance between what wildlife needs and what people need.

A big part of conservation is protecting and improving the places where animals and plants live, called their habitats. This can involve planting new forests, controlling harmful pests, making sure there's enough water through irrigation, or special ways of cutting trees like coppicing and hedge laying.

Managing Animals for Sport (Game Keeping)

Game keeping is about managing wild animals, often birds, for hunting or for people to enjoy watching. This might mean making sure there are many of a certain type of animal, like pheasants in a woodland.

Sometimes, game keepers might control other animals that eat the game birds or compete with them for food. This helps keep the population of the desired animals high.

Aldo Leopold was a very important person in wildlife management. In 1933, he wrote a book called Game Management. He said that game management is "the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use." This means helping land grow enough wild animals year after year for people to enjoy.

Images for kids

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  Han dynasty tomb brick showing a fishing and hunting scene

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  The Game Act 1831 protects game birds in England and Wales

See also

In Spanish: Manejo de la vida silvestre para niños