Responsible Management of 

 Wildlife Damage 



death is increased significantly when 

 wildlife is not kept away from airports and 

 runways. 



• Wildlife-borne diseases of significant 

 concern to humans include rabies, 

 bubonic plague, and histoplasmosis. 

 These diseases can be carried, 

 reservoired, or transmitted by wildlife to 

 other wildlife, domestic livestock, and 

 people. During 1995, the U.S. Public 

 Health Service's Centers for Disease 

 Control and Prevention reported 8,566 

 cases of animal rabies in the United 

 States. Of these cases, 92 percent 

 were in wildlife; 50 percent of these 

 involved raccoons. Rabies prevention 

 costs between $230 million and $1 billion 

 a year in the United States. 



Many people do not realize that 

 everyone is adversely affected by the 

 actions of wildlife at one time or another. 

 Every consumer pays more for com- 

 modities when supplies are decreased 

 or damaged by wildlife. However, the 

 total value of the damage is extremely 

 difficult to estimate on a national scale. 

 According to a survey conducted by 

 USDA's National Agricultural Statistics 

 Service, more than half of U.S. farmers 



experience economic loss from wildlife 

 damage. Birds cause an estimated 

 annual loss to U.S. agriculture of $100 

 million. During 1 year in Pennsylvania, 

 white-tailed deer caused crop losses 

 totalling $30 million. The annual total 

 dollar loss in the United States from 

 wildlife damage to agriculture is esti- 

 mated to exceed $550 million. 





£3 i - -\ 



WS has joined with the FAA and the U.S. Air 

 Force in an effort to reduce bird-aircraft 

 collisions at airports. 



Maintaining a balance between human 

 and wildlife needs requires sensitivity. 

 In addressing the conflicts between wild- 

 life and people, wildlife managers must 

 thoughtfully consider not only the needs 

 of those directly affected by wildlife dam- 

 age but also a range of environmental, 

 sociocultural, and economic factors. 



Wildlife is a valuable public resource. 

 Federal and State Governments are 

 responsible for maintaining healthy, 

 stable wildlife populations. Accordingly, 

 when wildlife causes damage, govern- 

 ment has an obligation to control that 

 damage. Wildlife damage-control 

 responsibilities and authorities fall to dif- 

 ferent agencies depending on the spe- 

 cies, type of problem, and location. The 

 U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish 

 and Wildlife Service has primary respon- 

 sibility for managing migratory birds and 

 federally listed threatened and endan- 

 gered species. State wildlife manage- 

 ment agencies have primary authority 

 for the management of nonmigratory 

 birds and all other species of wildlife not 

 federally listed as threatened or endan- 

 gered. Legislation mandates that the 

 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 



