Wildlife management is the process of keeping certain wildlife populations, including endangered animals, at desirable levels determined by wildlife managers. Wildlife management is interdisciplinary, integrating science, mathematics, imagination, and logic. It deals with protecting endangered and threatened species and subspecies and their habitats, as well as with non-threatened agricultural pests and game species. Aldo Leopold, one of the pioneers of wildlife management, defined it as "the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wildlife."
In the United States, wildlife management practices are often implemented by a governmental agency to uphold a law, such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Many wildlife managers are employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and by state governments. In the United Kingdom, wildlife management is often undertaken by privately employed gamekeepers on shooting estates. Also, hunters and private land owners work to manage wildlife for better quality wildlife.
Wildlife managers aim to use the best available science to balance the needs of wildlife with their perception of the needs of people. Wildlife management takes into consideration ecological principles such as carrying capacity of the habitat. Most wildlife management is concerned with the preservation and control of habitat, but other techniques such as reforestation, predator control techniques such as trapping, re-introduction of species or hunting may also be used to help manage "desirable" or "undesirable" species.
If a habitat is to be maintained, it must include natural disturbances that are normally present, such as wildfire and grazing by wild animals. Fire is a natural phenomenon that is required for many ecological processes, such as the clearing of dead plant materials and the germination of some types of plant seeds. For this reason, controlled burns are sometimes implemented in areas where wildfire is suppressed. Using controlled burns and other techniques of habitat manipulation, wildlife management aims to maintain a diversity of successional stages, from the first pioneer species to the full array resident in the climax community.
Wildlife management sometimes involves enhancing keystone resources in the habitat, such as sources of food, water, and protection. Some examples of artificial enhancements to keystone resources include water sources, nest boxes for cavity-nesting birds, and salt licks to provide minerals to animals.
There are two general types of wildlife management:
