The negative impacts public opinion can have on wildlife management plans

Abstract

Certain wildlife management plans are in place to balance overpopulated species. Years of scientific research and monitoring are done to come up with the most beneficial way of maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Wildlife managers have a single goal of trying to maintain a balanced ecosystem to ensure the ecosystem is healthy. Some wildlife management plans are controversial, with annuals culls or extra hunting seasons needed to bring over-abundant populations back down to a sustainable number. This controversy is caused from strong public opinion not in favour of killing animals. In most cases, these opinions are from people that are not directly affected by the species in question or the wildlife management plan. This thesis looks at many different examples where a management plan either changed or received a lot of backlash because public opinion strongly disagreed with the wildlife management plan in place. This thesis will show the negative impacts that public opinion can have on wildlife management plans.