MWM Episode 010 Human Behavior Ramblings in Wildlife Management

Maine Wildlife Management Podcast

In nearly all cases of wildlife management the focus is on how to control the wildlife. Humans are very much a part of that conversation, although they are often in the background. By that, we mean that wildlife is often viewed from an anthropocentric model, or utilitarian model. As in, how can the wildlife help for hurt us? Therefore, how can we manipulate either wildlife(or habitats) to serve out needs.

I'm not arguing that this is a wrong position at all in this podcast. Perhaps in a future one. For now, I only want to touch on the aspect of changing the human element when managing wildlife. It's becoming increasingly common, particularly in wildlife control work, to manage wildlife you need to manage people.

Also note, when we mention wildlife, habitat is often included as an obvious amendment. At least for this particular podcast episode. If everyone is finding it too random, let me know and we'll make an effort to clean things up and be more technical so we can paint a clearer picture or present our ideas better.