This was a talk by Stuart Marsden. In the seminar he discussed the impacts of the over exploitation of wildlife. The over exploitation of animals is something that has been going on for years and is in no way a new or recent problem.
Examples of this include:
- Hunting
- Trapping
- Culling
- Poaching
- Harvesting
There are a variety of reactions to all of these form of exploitation. Many believe that hunting animals for sport only has negative impacts.
Whereas other forms of exploitation such as harvesting have less negative impacts on the wildlife.
However there can be some unexpected benefits to the more controversial of these examples. For example the money paid by big game hunters for permits can be used to benefit conservational efforts.
Sustainability
Many believe that the exploitation of animals is acceptable as long as I is done in a sustainable way.
However the problem with a lot of animal exploitation is that the harvest numbers are not available or are not accurate.
When discussing sustainability it is important to determine how the species will react and whether they are an r or a k selected species.
Exploitation of songbirds
Tradition in countries such as Indonesia mean that masses of songbirds are kept in cages. Their culture states that in order to become a man a boy must own a songbird.
Such enormous numbers are sold that 19 songbird species are now listed as critically endangered.
Stuart is working in Java to reduce the demand for these song birds, educating locals of the threat to the bird’s extinction.
Individual thoughts and opinions
I found this seminar very interesting as I always thought of animal exploitation as always negatively impacting wildlife. It was interesting to hear a realistic view on the need for animal exploitation in order to conserve other species that are more critically endangered.
Oliver Stoakes Zoology 