What exactly is wildlife damage management…?
Wildlife damage management is best described as any action taken that aims to balance the needs of people with the needs of wildlife with mutual benefit to both. Sometimes solutions require changing an animal’s behavior, yet other solutions to human-animal conflict require a change in human behavior.
The strategies and tools used in wildlife damage management may include exclusion, trapping, repellents, habitat modification, relocation, behavior modification, and many others.
However, there are two primary objectives that characterize wildlife damage management:
- Solve the problem, not needlessly kill animals
- Prevent problems from reoccurring
Successful wildlife damage management requires a holistic approach to problem solving often termed integrated wildlife damage management (IWDM). The IWDM philosophy is applying the best combination of effective management methods with respect to cost-effectiveness and while limiting any harmful effects on people, animals, and the environment. Another way to describe IWDM is to say it focuses on being effective, selective, and humane with regard to safety, laws, the environment, societal values, cost, practical limitations, etc.
The successful integrated wildlife damage management professional is constantly considering everything that can color a wildlife damage issue and its resolution. You can likely recall learning the Six W’s in grade school and this concept is wonderfully illustrative of integrated wildlife damage management.
- Who is the problem animal, who is it impacting
- What are options of resolution, what are the constraints
- When is the issue occurring: constant, seasonal, day or night
- Where is damage occurring, where are entry or access points
- Why is the animal(s) being attracted
- How will I succesfully resolve, repair, prevent
And there are certainly numerous other examples of questions to ask with the Six W’s, but this hopefully illustrates the complex nature of the integrated wildlife damage management approach that Trifecta Wildlife Services applies to wildlife damage issues daily.
