USGS Circular 1401: Why Bother About Wildlife Disease?

Why Bother About Wildlife Disease?

In most developed countries, the maintenance of the numbers of wildlife¹ is vested in the natural resource agencies of those countries. During earlier times, game species were the primary focus of natural resource agencies^2,3 however, current wildlife conservation continues to transition towards a more holistic focus on biodiversity⁴ and environmental health^5,6. Nevertheless, that transition lags behind in addressing wildlife disease in “…the struggle for existence between different forms of life…”.⁷ Thus, the primary objective of this presentation is to provide a pragmatic assessment of wildlife disease that is irrespective of one’s orientation towards wildlife conservation. A secondary objective is to highlight the changing role of disease over time as a wildlife conservation factor. That transition is relevant to the insights provided for current and future efforts focused on sustaining global biodiversity and desired levels of wildlife populations in nature.

¹ Burnet, F.C., 1940, Natural history of infectious disease (1st ed): New York, The MacMillan Company, 310 p.
² Leopold, A., 1933, Game management: New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 481 p.³ Grange, W.B., 1949, The way to game abundance: With an explanation of game cycles: New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 365 p.
⁴ Van Dyke, F., 2008, Conservation biology: New York, McGraw Hill, 478 p.
⁵ Rapport, D., Constanza, R., Epstein, P.R., Gaudet, C., and Levins, R., eds., 1998, Ecosystem health: Malden, Massachusetts, Blackwell Science, Inc., 372 p.
⁶ Waltner-Toews, D., 2004, Ecosystem sustainability and health: A practical approach: New York, Cambridge University Press, 150 p.
⁷ Zinsser, H., 1935, Rats, lice, and history: Boston, Little, Brown and Company.

National Wildlife Health Center

Why Bother About Wildlife Disease?

By Milton Friend

Why Bother About Wildlife Disease?

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