Problems in Management of Locally Abundant Wild Mammals

Problems in Management of Locally Abundant Wild Mammals contains the proceedings of the Management of Locally Abundant Wild Mammals: A Workshop to Examine the Need for and Alternatives to the Culling of Wild Animals, held in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts from September 29 to October 3, 1980. Contributors reexamine the scientific basis for possible management aimed at restraining local increase in numbers of locally abundant wild mammals, with emphasis on the issue of culling. This text is organized into six sections encompassing 19 chapters and begins with an overview of the dilemma of local overabundance or overpopulation of threatened mammals. In particular, it considers the extent to which past predictions have been fulfilled in practice, and whether understanding of the dynamics of living systems is adequate for useful prediction. This book also discusses the circumstances that allow a species to become so abundant and the adverse effects that arise. The chapters that follow present case studies that reflect experiences around the world concerning management of locally abundant mammals, including the white rhino in South Africa and deer in North America. This book also explores proposed solutions for problems involving the management of polar bear, the Northwest Atlantic humpback whale, and the British grey seal. This reference material is a valuable resource for zoologists, conservation biologists, and those with interest in the protection of wild mammals.

Contributors

Foreword

Preface

I. Introduction

II. What is Overabundance?

Overpopulation

III. Case Studies

Management of Locally Abundant Mammals—The South African Experience

Stability Properties of Semiarid Savannas in Southern African Game Reserves

An Outline of a Management Plan for Kasungu National Park, Malawi

The Management of Elephant and Other Large Mammals in Zimbabwe

The Problems of Overpopulation of Deer in North America

The White Rhino Overpopulation Problem and a Proposed Solution

Locally Abundant Marine Mammals—Problems and Attempted Solutions

The Case of the Sea Otter

The Leopard—Problems of an Overabundant, Threatened, Terrestrial Carnivore

The Northern Fur Seal—An Example of Complexity

IV. Theory and Management

Notes on Some Topics in Theoretical Ecology, in Relation to the Management of Locally Abundant Populations of Mammals

Large Mammal Feeding Strategies and Related Overabundance Problems

Responses of Vegetation to the Abundance of Mammalian Herbivores

Environmental Carrying Capacity and the Evidence for Overabundance

V. Diagnosis

The Debate about the Vicuna Population in Pampa Galeras Reserve

The Vicuna of the Pampa Galeras National Reserve—The Conservation Issue

The Elephant Seal

The Pacific Walrus

VI. The Workshop Report

Index