Milton Friend 2014 <p><span>In most developed countries, the maintenance of the numbers of wildlife</span>¹<span>&nbsp;is vested in the natural resource agencies of those countries. During earlier times, game species were the primary focus of natural resource agencies</span>^2,3<span>&nbsp;however, current wildlife conservation continues to transition towards a more holistic focus on biodiversity</span>⁴<span>&nbsp;and environmental health</span>^5,6<span>. Nevertheless, that transition lags behind in addressing wildlife disease in &ldquo;&hellip;the struggle for existence between different forms of life&hellip;&rdquo;.</span>⁷<span>&nbsp;Thus, the primary objective of this presentation is to provide a pragmatic assessment of wildlife disease that is irrespective of one&rsquo;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.</span></p> application/pdf 10.3133/cir1401 en U.S. Geological Survey Why bother about wildlife disease? reports