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Florida panther kittens at Big Cypress National Preserve dosed with dewormers. Black-footed ferrets at Badlands National Park inoculated against plague. Sterilizing horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore and elk at Rocky Mountain National Park. And now Yellowstone National Park bison that could be vaccinated against brucellosis via air gun.
These are just some examples of how the National Park Service has taken a somewhat more active, hands-on role in managing its wildlife. To be sure, the agency almost from the beginning back in 1916 has actively managed the wildlife that fell within the park system's borders. Predators such as wolves and coyotes were killed, "favored species, such as bison, bears, and game fish" were nurtured, points out Richard West Sellars in his book, Preserving Nature in The National Parks, A History.
“There’s been human intervention for purposes of public enjoyment, not for species survival or more ecological goals," Mr. Sellars said the other day. "I’d say from the get-go they’ve been managing species.”
But these days Park Service biologists are wielding a higher-tech set of tools to vaccinate, inoculate, and, in some cases, sterilize species all in the name of wildlife management. The field veterinary work can seem contrary to the agency's mission to let natural processes play out. But circumstances, both political and biological, that largely are beyond the agency's control are forcing its biologists to manage some species almost like zookeepers manage theirs.
more at: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...e-wildlife5982
These are just some examples of how the National Park Service has taken a somewhat more active, hands-on role in managing its wildlife. To be sure, the agency almost from the beginning back in 1916 has actively managed the wildlife that fell within the park system's borders. Predators such as wolves and coyotes were killed, "favored species, such as bison, bears, and game fish" were nurtured, points out Richard West Sellars in his book, Preserving Nature in The National Parks, A History.
“There’s been human intervention for purposes of public enjoyment, not for species survival or more ecological goals," Mr. Sellars said the other day. "I’d say from the get-go they’ve been managing species.”
But these days Park Service biologists are wielding a higher-tech set of tools to vaccinate, inoculate, and, in some cases, sterilize species all in the name of wildlife management. The field veterinary work can seem contrary to the agency's mission to let natural processes play out. But circumstances, both political and biological, that largely are beyond the agency's control are forcing its biologists to manage some species almost like zookeepers manage theirs.
more at: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...e-wildlife5982
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