Wild Life Meaning

Chapter Two

The Concept and Significance of Wild Life and Its Preservation

2.1 Definition of Wildlife

The term wildlife means different things to different people. To a backyard wildlife enthusiast, it may mean chickadees, nuthatches, and cardinals. To a hunter, it may mean white-tailed deer, bobwhite quail, and gray squirrels. To a sheep producer, it may mean coyotes. To a poultry producer, it may mean mink, weasels, skunks, and raccoons. To a gardener, it may mean hummingbirds and butterflies.

However, it is important to identify and define the meaning of the term wildlife. The term wildlife refers to the animals of this earth that are not the property of human beings and are not under direct human dominion and control. That means wildlife

From that time forward, the message has been clear that there is a separation of those organisms termed wildlife, not only from other vertebrates, but most certainly from other groups of lower animals and plants. If anyone asks a professional biologist to define wildlife, he or she would probably identify two distinct vertebrate groups, birds and mammals. Much has happened in the field of wildlife management since early times, and this is reflected in new definitions of wildlife based on a more holistic viewpoint. The beginnings of this new viewpoint of wildlife began in the 1960s. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 recognized fish and wildlife as any member of the animal kingdom, including without limitation any mammal, bird, fish, amphibian, reptile, mollusk, crustacean, arthropod, or other invertebrates. About the same time, many states began adopting nongame wildlife programs. These programs were aimed at managing protected, endangered or threatened wildlife with respect to the definition of fish and wildlife provided in the Endangered Species Act. From a purely objective standpoint, wildlife

The first Federal action aimed in part at protecting wildlife resources on a designated area appears to be an Act of Congress on June 30, 1864 in California. Later on, in the year of 1902, members of the a conservation group founded in United states by a group of leading explorers, writers, scientists, sportsmen and political leaders, drafted a plan to create a series of wildlife preservation rules to protect the endangered wild animal and their natural habitats. And by Executive Order of March 14, 1903, President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt established Pelican Island National Wildlife Preservation System. Early wildlife biologists viewed wildlife preservation as the art of making land produce adequate game for recreational use (hunting, fishing, or trapping). Later definitions emphasized wildlife preservation as the science of manipulating wild animal populations and their habitats for specific human goals. Current definitions stress wildlife preservation as applied animal ecology that benefits the habitat and both wildlife and human