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Chapter 1.Introduction to wildlife Management

1. Definition and concepts of wildlife Management
1.1. What is wildlife?
Different scholars and professionals have tried to define the term wildlife in various forms. Some
defined wildlife as:
 All wild animals and plants. (Including the fish, amphibians, plants and bacteria, etc.)
 All living things that are neither human nor domesticated including their habitat.
On the other hand most wild life organizations and federations define wildlife as:
 All living things outside human beings direct control i.e. non-cultivated plants and non-
domesticated animals. (plants , invertebrates ,fish, reptiles ,amphibians, birds and mammals)
 Others define wildlife towards large mammals and birds (what is called higher forms of life)
 In recent years the term wildlife is moving closer to the term biological diversity
(biodiversity)
Here in Ethiopia majority of the population coined the term wildlife by the Amharic word “Dur
Arawit”. It has the meaning of large wild mammals, elephants, buffaloes, lions, baboons,
bushbucks, wild pigs and the like, that can be a danger to man and a nuisance to crops. A much
more meaningful translation of the term “Wildlife” into Amharic term would be “Ye Dur
Hiwot.” Meaning the spirit of the wild, the essence of living things that make up wild
ecosystems. This term would include all aspects including small mammals, birds, insects, herbs,
bushes, trees, lichens, algae, fungi, and in fact all wild living things, where the word “ wild “
means not managed directly by man.
Therefore, wildlife is a term whose meaning expands and contracts with the view point of the
user. For this reason it is difficult to have precise and universal definition.
However, in practice the term wildlife has centered more on free-ranging (UN domesticated)
birds and mammals.

1.2. What is wild life conservation and management?

1.2.1. What is conservation?
According to the world conservation strategy the term conservation defined as:

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“Conservation is the management of human use of the biosphere so that it may Yield the
greatest sustainable benefit to present generations of people while maintaining its
potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations”
Conservation is thus inclusive term, meaning it includes management, preservation,
maintenance, sustainable utilization restoration and enhancement of the natural
environment. It is an ethical imperative, expressed in the belief that “we have not
inherited the earth from our parents; we have borrowed it from our children”
Conservation does not simply mean the “locking away “of resources. It is analogous to
using the interest while keeping the capital
Living resources conservation, such as wild life, forestry, is different from non - living
resources because living resources are renewable if conserved, destructible if not.
Renewable living resources- inherently renewable if managed properly. So sustainable
use must be necessary in order the remaining individual or resource able to reproduce or
continue to exist. e.g. Wildlife, forestry, agriculture.
Non - renewable resources - non- renewable and irreplaceable once over, they over
forever. Therefore, conserving in wise manner (with maximum utilization and minimum
waste) will reduce resource depletion in short period of time.
e.g. It is used to refer to deposits of fossils fuels and mineral materials such as coal and
copper
1.2.2. What is wild life management?
Wildlife management is a science and an art of applying knowledge in the management
of wildlife populations in a manner that strike a balance between the needs of the wildlife
populations and the needs of the people.
It is also defined as the art of making decisions and taking actions to manipulate the
structure, dynamics, and relations of populations, habitats, and people to achieve desired
goals. The goals may be one or more of the following:
1. To increase the population size - of both plants & animals.
2. To remove / harvest individuals from the population on sustainable basis – which
requires leaving enough or viable numbering of individual in the population so that to
insure their reproduction to replace those removed or harvested.
3. To stabilize or reduce the population - if happen to be beyond the carrying capacity

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Management of living resources / wildlife in a protected area involves steering the

ecosystem. What management is necessary will be determined by the objectives
stipulated for a given conservation area.
There are essentially two kinds of management: active and passive.
Passive management, if the goals are to allow nature to manage itself. It is the
prevention of certain actions or letting natural development takes its own course. The
manager may not need to do anything to the habitat, because the natural process is
dynamic, for example area closure. In short, it means to leave the area alone but keep an
eye on it.
Active management manifests itself in positive measures to create better conditions for
the survival of wildlife to achieve the intended objectives. For example, increasing Oryx
population through planting food patches, or Swayne’s hartebeest population through
making prescribed burns of range lands to produce food: stabilizing some populations
through specifying harvest dates and methods while stabilizing food production;
decreasing some populations by harvesting, for example, baboons that are damaging
their habitats. Active management of the wildlife resources will be required to reach or
maintain those stipulated objectives.
Why is active management necessary? Because
 To ensure species survival
 Man has already injured nature to a great extent - unlimited exploitation ultimately
lead to extinction of species.
 There is almost nothing in nature that can be called a “stable environment” even
within the large blocks of undisturbed climax rain forests. The element that managers
wish to preserve or protect in conservation area can easily be lost through lack of
management simply because the nature of the reserve changes.
 Any conservation area naturally continues to change as wind, animals, man or other
agencies introduce new species. Other species drop out through local extinction,
disease, pest, succession and other ecological factors.
Thus, it is clear that, a good deal of active management is needed to maintain the qualities
managers wish to preserve in conservation area. However, it must also be stressed that
interference with natural processes is full of dangers unless cautiously manipulated.
Therefore, it requires proper understanding of ecological principles and an appreciation
of the ecological processes operating in nature before manipulation natural system/ wild

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life resources. There is an expression which summarizes unwise intervention and play
with nature:
“Bad management can be worse than no management”
Ecological processes are often unpredictable because of their complex inter -
relationships. Although ecological knowledge is growing rapidly, scientists are still so
ignorant of the working of many tropical ecosystems that it is wise to be cautious.

1.3. Reasons for conserving wildlife

1.3.1. To maintain essential ecological processes and life support systems.
Essential ecological processes are those processes that are governed, supported or
strongly moderated by ecosystems and are essential for food production, health and other
aspects of human survival and sustainable development. Such as soil regeneration and
protection, the recycling of nutrients, ensuring the availability of quality and clear water,
natural regulation of plants and animal population and the many other ecological
processes. The maintenance of such processes and systems is vital for all societies
regardless of their stage of development. Let’s see some more examples:
 Majority of higher plants depend for their reproduction on other wild life especially
on the transport of pollen by organisms either wild insects or wild mammals and
birds.
 Changes in Ecosystems by man’s activities will reduce the efficiency with which
reproduction is carried out in many plants.
 Many seeds will not germinate unless they are first passes through the gut of some
animals or birds species. This process.
* Damages the seed coat,
* Provides nutrients as well as,
* Usually transports the seed from one location to another, giving the tree species a
chance to occupy new habitat and spread the species further.
For example, the valuable tree (Calvaria major) known to be reproductively associated with
the dodo bird on Mauritius Island. The decline and reproduction failure of the tree Calvaria
major on Mauritius Island has been attributed to extinction of the dodo bird, which may have
been its main seed dispersal agent.

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 Natural regulation of plant and animal population- an example of the extermination of

top predators leading to extermination of the prey of their prey has been happening in
different parts of the world.
 Watershed vegetation or Natural forests are particularly important because they
protect soil cover on site and protect areas down streams from excessive floods and
other harmful fluctuation in stream flow and help to ensure a continuous flow of clean
water. By thus reducing the silt load of rivers, watershed forests are helpful to prevent
the closing of reservoirs, irrigation system, canals etc.
e.g. the contribution of Bale Mountains National Park in this regard
 Natural forests or Vegetation has an influence on local and regional climates,
generally by making them milder and calm.
 Wild plants and animals also contribute to soil fertility maintenance through nutrient
retrievement. Moreover, plants give cover to the soil and protect it from soil erosion
either by water or wind so that they keep the essential soil nutrients on site.
 Environmental sanitation- here we should not forget the role played by scavengers in
removing dead carcasses from our surrounding so that it will be clean and conducive
for our health and survival.
1.3.2. To preserve genetic or bio-diversity in general
It is the range of genetic material found in the world’s organisms, on which depend the
breeding programs necessary for the protection and improvement of cultivated plants and
domesticated animals. It is the variety of different genes, as found within a breeding
population, within a whole species or of all species found within a given area.
The preservation of genetic diversity is both a matter of insurance and investment -
necessary to sustain and improve agricultural, forestry and fisheries production to keep
open future options, as a buffer against harmful environmental change and as a raw
material for much scientific and industrial innovation. It is very essential for the breeding
programs in which continued improvements in yields, nutritional quality, flavor,
durability, pest and disease resistance, responsiveness to different soils and climates, and
other qualities are achieved.
In general cultivated crops and domesticated animals man using today in long run will be
extremely vulnerable to out breaks of pests and diseases and to sudden changes in

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environmental conditions. Therefore, existence of genetic reservoirs is indispensable.

Loss of diversity thorough loss of wildlife will make it more difficult for man to breed
resistant cultivars.
The other importance of preserving genetic diversity is for its medicinal value (resources
for health). Although only a minute portion of the world’s plant and animals has been
investigated for their values as medicines and other pharmaceutical products, modern
medicine depends heavily on them. There are undoubtedly many more natural chemical
compounds that can be used for this purpose which man still does not know about. Loss
of diversity will lose man the opportunity to exploit these compounds, as new disease
evolve in man, such as AIDS.
There are three ways of preserving genetic diversity
a. On site (in - situ) - In which the stock is preserved by protecting the ecosystems in
which it occurs naturally.
b. Off site ( ex - situ), part of the organisms - in which the seed , semen or other
element from which the organisms concerned can be reproduced is preserved
c. Off site (ex - situ), Whole organisms - in which a stock of individuals of the
organisms concerned is kept outside its natural habitat in a plantation, botanical
garden, zoo, aquarium, ranch or culture collection.
1.3.3. To ensure the man’s sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems =
Economic Value of Wildlife
The necessity of ensuring the utilization of an ecosystem or species is sustainable varies
with a society’s dependence on the resource in question. For a subsistence society,
sustainable utilization of most, if not all, its living resources are essential. The greater the
diversity and flexibility of the economy, the less the need to utilize certain resources
sustainable. Sustainable utilization is somewhat analogous to spending the interest while
keeping the capital. Unfortunately, most utilization of an aquatic animals, of the wild
plants and animals of the land, of forests and of grazing lands is not sustainable.
Wildlife can bring two types of economic benefits.
a) Wildlife may be used directly as food, fodder, fuel, fiber etc.=Consumptive Use
Value
b) That same wildlife may be sold, providing communities or countries with much

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needed income- commercial benefits= productive use value

The commercial value of wild life is the capitalized value of the income derived from
selling or trading animals/ plants or their products, or from conducting a business based
on access to wild life population. This value can usually be measured in Dollars.
There are two forms of wild life utilization
a) Consumptive utilization
The organism concerned is used up - either killed if an animals, or cut down if a plant.
Examples are hunting for meat or skin, harvesting or cutting of wild trees, “sport”
hunting, and fishing. In Ethiopia sustainable utilization and farming of wildlife is in its
infancy stage, however there has been encouraging attempts:
 Ostrich farming - at Abijatta - Shalla lakes National Park
 Crocodile ranching - at Arbaminch, close to Nechisar National Park.
 “Sport “hunting, at different cotrolled hunting areas.
 Trophy sales ( ivory, skins of spotted cats & colobus monkey
 Live animal export (monkeys, baboons and birds).
b) Non - Consumptive utilization
The organism is available again and again to generate income, or its products are
harvested without killing it. In Ethiopia there are examples with regard to this form of
utilization.
 Tourism - tourist viewing of wildlife and scenery.
 Civet musk collection- from individually reared animals.
 Wild coffee collection- from natural forest.
 Incense and gums collection- from arid and semi-arid parts of Ethiopia.
1.3.4. Recreational and aesthetic value
 Recreational value
People derive benefits of pleasure, adventure, and enhanced physical and mental health
from outdoor activities involving the pursuit or sometimes-accidental enjoyment of wild
life.
People can recreate by hunting, fishing, bird watching, photographing, hiking, and
camping and by other wildlife based outdoor activities. Sometimes these activities are
take place in conservation areas such as National parks, sanctuaries, game reserves which

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are set aside for the purpose, or sometimes they take place in remote or un-populated
areas where there is little other possible use for the land.
The value people receive is usually measured by their willingness to pay for the outdoor
recreation, to the extent that wildlife is wholly.
 Aesthetic value
It is the most personal and variously conceived value of wildlife. Everyone appreciates
the sight of a lion, leopard, colorful birds, beautiful mountain scenery, songs of ducks etc.
This is beautiful that meets the eye and ear, and our response to it seems innate.
Aesthetic values of wild life are usually impossible to quantify. They are values that stir
the emotions and they are often the first value that attracts and initiates people to the
conservation of wildlife.
1.3.5. Educational and scientific values.
The scientific value of wild life is the value of wild populations as object of scientific
study. Wild life and their habitats can be considered as field laboratories where scientists
such as ecologists, evolutionists, geneticists, behavioral researchers and others can do
study to extend their knowledge in their discipline.
The modern science of gene technology, which allows researchers to use and manipulate
the gene characteristics of different species of animal and plants, continued discovery of
new and useful genes that can be transferred from one species to another (in order to
improve viability, disease resistance, survival and/or other qualities)- are scientific values
of wild life.
The educational value of wildlife is realized in the use of wild life examples in schools
and at nature centers and parks.
1.3.6. Cultural values of wildlife
Many forms of wildlife and their products have great significance in local cultures/
ceremonies or beliefs. Certain trees and plants are collected for their special beliefs
(healing properties) or for their ability to ward off evil spirits and events. Amongst
certain societies / local communities, feathers (from ostrich or other different colorful
birds), skins from certain animals (e.g. leopard), horns from Greater kudu or other
animals are used or displayed at different ritual ceremonies.

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The Colobus Monkey in Ethiopia is sometimes called the forest monk and is said to have
very special respect during times of fasting. As a result, some people do not like to harass
or kill Colobus Monkey.
1.3.7. Moral / Ethical/ religious reasons
The issue of moral principle relates particularly to species extinction. We are morally obliged to our
descendants and to other creatures to act prudently (sensibly and wisely, carefully to consider one’s
advantage, especially by avoiding risks). We cannot predict what species become useful to us.
Indeed we may learn that many species that seem dispensable are capable of providing important
products, such as pharmaceutical, or are vital parts of life support systems on which we depend.
Thus, for reasons of ethics and self-interest, we should not knowingly cause the extinction of a
species.
Lastly, but not least, we all should agree on that, every creatures of GOD has the right to
live.

Chapter 2. Ethiopian Wildlife Resources and protected areas

2. What is protected area (PA)?
The definition of a PA adopted by the international union for the conservation of nature (IUCN)
is:
“An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological
diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other
effective means” (IUCN, 1994)
The IUCN definition is similar to one adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
although the CBD definition focuses more narrowly on the role of protected areas in biodiversity
conservation: Protected area: A geographically defined area that is designated or
regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives.
A protected area may be a wetland, a tropical or deciduous forest, a cultivated landscape of
value, an alpine region, a savannah, a marine area or any number of other types of natural or
partially modified ecosystems or indeed any combination of types of ecosystems. In addition to
covering an array of ecosystem types, protected areas are defined in a number of different ways
relevant to the objectives and values for which they are managed.

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1.2. International categories of PAs and their definitions

The international classifications system reduces confusion about terminology demonstrates the
range of purposes that PAs serve, provides an agreed set of international standards and facilities
international comparison and accounting. The IUCN (1994a) has developed a system of
classifying (categorizing) PAs that ranges from minimal to intensive use of the habitats by
humans, with the following six categories:
Category I
Ia - Strict Nature Reserve;
PA managed mainly for science. “An area of land and/or sea possessing some outstanding or
representative ecosystems, geological or physiological features and/or species available
primarily for research and/or environmental monitoring”.
Ib- Wilderness Area
PA managed mainly for wilderness protection. “A wilderness area is a large area of unmodified
or slightly modified land and/or sea retaining its natural character and influence without
permanent or significant habitation which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural
condition”.
Category II-National Parks
PA managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation. “A natural area of land and/or sea
designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and
future generations; (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of the area;
and (c) provide foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational, and visitor
opportunities all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible”.
Category III-Natural Monument and Land Marks
PA managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features. “An area containing one or
more specific natural or natural/cultural feature which is of outstanding or unique value because
of its inherent rarity, representative or aesthetic qualities or cultural significance”.
Category IV-Managed Wildlife Habitat /Species Management Area
PA managed mainly for conservation through management intervention. “An area of land and/or
sea subject to active intervention for management purposes so as to ensure the maintenance of
habitats and/or to meet the requirements of specific species”.
Category V-Protected Landscape /Seascape

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PA managed mainly for landscape /seascape conservation and recreation. “An area with coast
and sea, as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an
area with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value and often with high biological
diversity. Safeguarding the integrity of this traditional interaction is vital to the protection,
maintenance and evolution of such an area”.
Category VI-Managed Resource Protected Area
PA managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems. “An area containing
predominantly unmodified natural systems managed to ensure long term protection and
maintenance of biological diversity while providing at the same time a sustainable flow of
natural products and services to meet community needs”.
Internationally and national PA designation may differ, but for a PA to be recognized
internationally it’s expected to conform to one of the six categories in terms of its primary
management objective. For example, irrespective of the legal designation used by a specific
country, if an area is strictly protected ,consists of largely unmodified ecosystems, is free of
human intervention , and has limited access mainly for research purpose ,it would qualify under
category I (strict nature reserve) of IUCNs international classification.
Prior to 1994, IUCNs international classification of PAs had ten categories. In that system,
biosphere reserves (BRs) and world heritage sites (WHSs).were, respective category IX and X
areas. The realization that these were designations accorded by international conventions and not
related to management functions led to a reorganization of the system into the present six
categories in 1994(IUCN 1994). Under the new system, the core PA of a biosphere reserve or
world heritage site could belong to any one of categories I-IV.
Table Matrix of management objectives and IUCN protected area management categories
(IUCN, 1994)
Management objective Ia Ib II III IV V VI
Scientific research 1 3 2 2 2 2 3
Wilderness protection 2 1 2 3 3 - 2
Preservation of species and genetic diversity (biodiversity) 1 2 1 1 1 2 1
Maintenance of environmental services 2 1 1 - 1 2 1
Protection of specific natural /cultural features - - 2 1 3 1 3
Tourism and recreation - 2 1 1 3 1 3
Education - - 2 2 2 2 3
Sustainable use of resources from natural ecosystems - 3 3 - 2 2 1
Maintenance of cultural /traditional attributes - - - - - 1 2

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Key: 1 = Primary objective; 2 = Secondary objective; 3 = potentially applicable objective;

– = not applicable
2.1. History of Wildlife Development and management in Ethiopia
The wealth of wildlife and its use in Ethiopia is well documented by early chroniclers and
travelers. For example, Ethiopia has been trading in civet musk, ivory, leopard and lion skin and
frankincense since the time of Queen of Sheba. Cosmos, an Egyptian monk, saw time giraffes and
elephants in Axum in 525 AD. The Axumite kings of Ethiopia around 570 AD, used to have
chariots pulled by elephants. Ethiopia kings used to give live wildlife as presents to Egyptian
sultanates to obtain patriarchs for the Orthodox Church.
The first rcorded indigenous conservation-oriented activity took place during the reign of Emperor
Zerea Yacob (1434-1468).
Despite the fact Ethiopia has a long known history in the use of some wildlife; the first attempt to
protect the wildlife of Ethiopia was made by emperor Menilik II, who passed legislation to
regulate hunting, especially elephants in 1908.
In 1944 further legislation was passed to regulate hunting of wildlife to ensure that certain species
were not over-hunted. These regulations can be seen as the modern formalized advent of wildlife
conservation efforts in Ethiopia, and an indication that concerns for wildlife protection started.
Wildlife in Ethiopia, prior to 1944, was accepted as a self-sustaining resource, and had been used
for aeons as an infinite source of food and other materials, and had been hunted for ‘sport’ by the
upper echelons of the society and later by expatriates in the country.
During brief occupation of Italian period various attempts of wildlife conservation, primarily
aimed at huntable animals were introduced, over the same period hunting pressure was causing for
the continued existence of some species.
In the 1940s an office controlling hunting and issues licenses was established under the MoA.
Wildlife conservation interests by the state, rests of the world and non-governmental conservation
organizations didn’t start until 1960s.
Outside interest in the conservation of Ethiopian wildlife did not start until the 1960s. In 1961, a
team from the former New York Zoological Society made a visit to the country and recommended
the establishment of protected areas to preserve the larger mammalian wildlife of the country.
The most important landmark in the conservation of Ethiopia wildlife came after the visit of the
UNESCO Mission in 1963 following a request from the Ethiopian government. The UNESCO

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Mission recommends the establishment of three national parks at Awash, Siemen Mountains and
the Omo Valley, and the department responsible to deal with matters was established in 1965.
The conservation programs of the authority at that time were based on the following objectives:
a) To conserve the precious heritage of Ethiopian wildlife resources for the enjoyment of the
present people and the generation to come;
b) To preserve the wildlife, particularly the endangered species from depletion and consequent
extinction, for the continued development of the Ethiopian economy, education and for their
scientific value; and
c) To protect and develop the wildlife resources of Ethiopia as a potential tourist attraction
The authority latter called the Ethiopian Wildlife Organization (EWCO) structured in such a way
to have three main sections. These are the education, conservation and utilization sections. Each
section has its own objectives and targets. The education section was to agitate the broad masses
to have a better and greater participation in the development, protection, rational utilization and
management of wildlife resources. The conservation section was to conserve and manage the
natural ecosystem. The utilization section was to promote sustainable utilization of species and
ecosystems.
It has evolved several times and now it is called Ethiopian wildlife conservation authority
(EWCA) that is accounted to the ministry of culture and tourism.
2.2. The Concept of Protected Areas (PAs) in Ethiopia
The wildlife protected areas in Ethiopia fall into four conservation categories. These are Wildlife
National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, Wildlife reserves or game reserves and wildlife control
hunting areas.
National Parks: Conservation areas which may include terrestrial land or land covered by lake,
or other wetlands set aside for the purpose of conserving and protecting wildlife and objects of
aesthetic, ecological and scientific interest. The following activities are prohibited in the national
parks. These are hunting, cultivating, grazing livestock, felling trees, burning vegetation, residing
in, or exploiting natural resources in any manner, unless these activities are for the development
and management of the park.
Sanctuaries: They are set aside to conserve characteristic wildlife communities or to protect a
particularly threatened species or habitat. Prohibited activities in sanctuaries include grazing of

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cattle, settling, and hunting of animals, unless acting in accordance with the conditions of a
permit, or written permission of the general manager or a game warden.
Wildlife reserves or game reserves: These areas are set aside for protecting and propagating
wildlife and its habitat; however it is not as exclusive as a national park. Persons are prohibited
from residing in game reserves without written permission from the authority. Persons
authorized to reside in game reserves have the right to cultivate their land and to pasture and
water domestic animals therein. Prohibited activities include possession of firearms and hunting
of animals.
Controlled Hunting Areas: The controlled hunting areas come under Extractive Protected
Areas where areas are managed to protect and utilize wildlife species. Hunting is allowed to
those who has permits from the wildlife authority.
In Ethiopia there are more than 17 National Parks, of which only two are gazetted (Awash and
Semien Mountains National Park). In addition there are three sanctuaries (senkelle ,yavello and
Babelle ) and 11 game reserves, and 17 Controlled Hunting Areas
Target wildlife species of Ethiopian wildlife protected areas.
Siemen mountains NP: Walia Ibex, Ethiopian Wolf, Gelada Baboon, Rodents spp, and endemic
birds
Bale Mountains NP: Mountain Nyala, Ethiopian Wolf, Giant Mole-Rat, Rodent SPP, and
Endemic Birds
Omo NP: Eland, Tiang, Elephants, Giraffe, Cheetah, Lelwel’s Hartebeest, Buffalo and Lions.
Mago NP: Elephants, Buffalo, Lelwel’s Hartebeest
Abjata-Shalla NP: variety of water birds
Gambella NP: White-eared kob, Roan Antelope, Nile Lechwe, and Elephants.
Nechsar NP: Greater Kudu, Grant’s gazelle, Swayne’s Hartebeest and Burchell’s Zebra.
Awash NP:Oryx, Soemmerring’s Gazelle, Greater And Lesser Kudu
Yangudirassa NP: Wildass, Dorcas Gazelle, and Other Lowland Games.

2.3. DIVERSITY OF ETHIOPIAN WILDLIFE

Ethiopia is one of the most bio-diverse countries in Africa, with exceptionally high levels
of endemism. This is by virtue of its extensive areas of land with high altitude, and
variety of habitats, isolated from the rest of Africa by low altitude and arid areas,
possesses a wide range of species of flora and fauna, many of which are endemic to the
country.

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The large diversity of ecology conditions determined by a topography ranging from 110
meters below sea level at Kobar Sink in the Afar depression to a peak of 4620 meters
above sea level at Ras Dejen.
The wildlife present is rich in variety reflecting the diversity in climate, vegetation, and
terrain. The highland regions, although having fewer species than many lowland parts of
tropical Africa, have a large number of endemic, particularly birds, mammals, and
amphibians. The eastern low-lying parts of the country have some species in common
with Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti, notably antelopes. The western and
southern parts share their fauna largely with southern Sudan, and this area is rich in
species.
According to the National Conservation Strategy Secretariat, 227mammals, 816 species
of birds, 201 species of reptiles, 63 species of amphibians and 184 species of fish have
been identified of which 28,16, 14, 23 and 14 species are endemic to the country
respectively. Even though less is known about insects and other groups of invertebrates,
they are likely to contain at least the same proportion; if not more, of endemic species.
Moreover, more than 7,000 species of plants are so far recorded to be found in Ethiopia
of which around 12% of them are identified to be endemic.
Endemic species means species limited to a geographical or political area, and not found
anywhere else than that country.
Summary of Vertebrate Wild Animals Diversity in Ethiopian
Class Total no. of Endemic Endemic species
species species %
Mammalia 227 28 12.3
Aves 816 16 1.96
Reptilia 201 14 6.67
Amphibia 63 23 36.5
Fish 184 14 7.7
Most of the endemic wild animals are found in the highland parts of Ethiopia.
Endemic birds of Ethiopia
Degodi’s lark Yellow-fronted parrot
Abyssinian Cat bird Harwood’s francolin
Abyssinian longlaw Yellow throated serin
Black-headed siskin Abyssinian woodpecker
Nechsar Nightjar White-tailed swallow
Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco White - backed Black Tit

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Salvadori’s seed eater Black - headed siiskin

Spot-breasted plover Ankober seed Eater
Endemic bird species shared b/n Ethiopia and Eritrea
Wattled Ibis White - collared pigeon
Golden - backed wood pecker Black - winged love bird
Ruppell’s chat Banded Barbet
Black headed Forest Oriole White - billed starling
Thick - billed Raven
Blue winged Goose
Rouget’s Rail

Endemic mammals of Ethiopia

Semien fox (Ethiopian Wolf) Steno cephalemys albocaudata
Mountain Nyala Blick’s Grass Rat
Walia Ibex Harrington’s Grove - toothed mouse
Gelada Baboon Lophuromys melanonyx
Giant molerat Nikolaus’climing mouse
Wild Ass Starck’s Hare
Menelik’s Bush- Buck Scott’s Hairy Bat
Swayne’s Hartebeest Kerivoula eriophora
Patrizii’s Bat Mahomet’s mouse
Morris’Hairy Bat
Bailey’s shrew
Bale monkey

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2.4. Wildlife conservation problems in Ethiopia

The wildlife resources of Ethiopia suffer from the pressures of population growth, poverty,
poor farming systems, civil strives, commercial land-use activities and climate changes. The
root cause of wildlife management problems in Ethiopia is poverty and consequently the
heavenly dependence of the growing population numbers of the country on readily available
natural resources. Population growth coupled with increasing demand for more agricultural
lands and natural resources mainly forest products such as for construction materials and fuel
wood exacerbate wildlife conservation and management in Ethiopia.
Some of the specific problems are:
 Wildlife habitat destruction- more forests, bushes and savanna lands cleared each year to
make ways for poor farming systems and extraction of forests for fire wood and
construction materials.
 Institutional instability –frequent changes of institutions that govern wildlife conservation and
management in Ethiopia.
 Mismanagement of marginal lands-marginal lands could be best utilized if let for wildlife than
nomadic land use system.
 Poaching (illegal killing of animals) - animals are illegally killed and their products are
smuggled to foreign countries. Elephants are the major victims.
 Financial and trained manpower constraint
 Lack of enabling legislation and minimal attention given to the sector by the government
 Lack of desired awareness about wildlife and their benefits among the general public
 Climate change-global issues that have effects on wildlife conservation in Ethiopia.

CHAPTER 3: WILDLIFE ECOLOGY

3.1. Wildlife Habitat, Cover, Home Range and Territory
3.1.1. Wildlife Habitat
Numerous factors of the environment affect wildlife habitat. These factors vary in time and
space and interact in complex ways to favor or hinder the functions of wildlife.
The place to live is what we mean by habitat; a space where wildlife secures habitat
resources and an environment suited to a particular species. Ecologist often classifies
environmental factors as:

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Biotic Physical Edaphic (soil).

 Food quantity  Temperature  Depth.
 Food quality.  Precipitation.  Moisture.
 Predation.  Snow characteristics.  Texture
 Disease.  Humidity.  Chemistry.
 etc.  etc.
These physical, biotic and edaphic factors are determining characteristics of wildlife habitat.
It is often possible to confuse habitat with ecological niche. One has been described as the
animal’s ‘address’ and the other as its ‘profession’. The two terms are not that easily
separated, since the animal’s ‘profession’ is carried out only at a particular ‘addresses’.
The term habitat is sometimes also confused with the geographical range. Actually,
geographical range is a broader term indicating the map area in which a species occur. But
one expects to find a particular species only in suitable habitats within a geographic range.
The particular range or extent of distribution of a species is determined generally by:
 Climate,
 Vegetation and,
 Topography to which the species can become adapted.
However, human occupancy of the earth has changed the ranges of many species, expanding
some and contracting others. At the same time, species themselves are not fixed entities, but
are evolving and changing, developing the capacity to occupy environments differing from
those used in the past.
In all habitats there is a limit to the number of animals of any one species that can be
supported. That is known as the carrying capacity of the habitat. The question what
determines carrying capacity is not as easy to answer as it might seem. Certain obvious
factors are involved:
 The right kind of food, and the quantity of it available,
 The presence of water, for most animals,
 The right kind of soil, for some species,
 The necessary topography-mountains, plains, lakes, streams,
 Cover-meaning arrangements of land and vegetation suited to nesting, resting, hiding,
flying and all the various activities the species perform.

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3.1.2. Wildlife Cover

Wildlife cover: is the shelter from adverse effects of weather. It is a place where an animal gets in to
avoid sun, wind, predation etc.
In addition to provide shelter, cover may favor the welfare the animals by providing for any
natural function such as: breeding, feeding, travel, escape, nesting or resting. Cover
requirements of wildlife vary among species and within individuals of a species for various
reasons:
 Physiological Function of the animals – such as feeding, resting or travel.
 Season – a suitable area for summer shelter or escape can lose its value when leaves are
shed in the autumn. A dense grassland, useful for shelter in spring becomes too open as the
grasses dry in the autumn
 weather condition – severe weather not only increase the need for cover, but can also
destroy it
 Among sex – age classes – species function such as reproduction, often occur seasonally
and may involve only certain sex – age classes, thus, the requirements of grouse for brood
cover occurs seasonally and involves only hens with young chicks.
 According to prevalence of predator or pests – escape cover is not necessary when
predators are absent.
 Among geographic regions – within species having large geographic renege, populations
in different regions may be adapted to very different environments and may have evolved
very different cover requirements.
Cover availability vary with land-use practices, site disturbance or biotic succession among
season conditions.
3.1.3. Wildlife home range
Much of the activity of animals will center on some favored feeding ground, or a place where
it rests or sleeps or perhaps a patch of cover in which it feels secure from enemies. This area,
its center of activity (feeding grounds, resting places, and escape) is what is meant home
range. This is the area in which the animals spends all or most of its time.

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The size and number of home ranges vary among animals. Sedentary animals may have only
one home range. While others may have several seasonally used home ranges. Generally:
 Carnivorous have larger home ranges than herbivores of the same body size
 Home ranges are often larger for males than for female of the same species.
 Home ranges may be much reduced in some seasons e.g. when demands of
reproduction tie animals to nest.
 Home ranges to be smaller in good habitat than in poor habitat because animals do not
have to travel as far to fulfill their needs.

3.1.4. TERRITORY
Animals that exhibit antagonism toward other members of their species often space themselves
within a habitat in such a way that contacts between individuals are minimized. When this
results in the occupancy an area by an individual or a group to the usual exclusion of other
individuals or groups of the same species, the area occupied is known as a territory.
It is part or all of a home range that is defended and protected by a species from outside
comers. It is an area occupied by individuals, Breeding pairs, Social groups to exclude others
of the same or different species. Animals often use Scents, songs, urine; feces etc. are used to
demarcate the territory.
Such behavior that leads to such exclusive, or nearly exclusive, occupancy and spacing of
home area is known as TERRITORIALISM.

3.2. Wildlife habitat preference and Adaptations mechanisms

Why Gelada baboon found only in Semien Mountains National Park? Why not in any other
place in the world where the environmental condition is similar to Semien Mountains National
Park? Why do animals choose to live in certain areas through they can disperse into
unoccupied range?
Why a species may occur in a much smaller space than it has the potential to occupy.
Often a species is capable of living within a much broader geographic range than it actually
occupies. Due to:
 Its place of origin,
 Ability to travel,

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 The presence of barriers (biotic, physical, and climatic barriers) that it is unable to cross
may result in its occupying a much smaller space than it has the potential to occupy.
The evolution of habitat preference can be viewed from two main aspects: Natural selection
and adaptation. Wildlife is located in its habitat by natural selection or adaptation. Gelada
baboon is found in SMNP either by natural selection or adaptation.
 The first principle states that natural selection will favour individuals that are fit to the
environmental conditions: the theory of the survival of the fittest (Charles
Darwin).individuals that can use the specific habitat condition and are fit to the habitat
will be favoured by nature while those unfit will die out.
 The second, habitat preference can be viewed from animals adaptation point of view. An
adaptation fits the animal for survival and reproduction within a particular environment
or within a limited range of environments. Consequently the animal is less fit to operate
in other environmental settings, which it is not adapted. For example, we do not expect to
find ducks in desert, fish out of water, waterbucks and hippos in areas of devoid of water.
Animals adaptation can be classified as:
a) Anatomical adaptation: are adaptation involving the external anatomy/ morphology of
the animal like the shape, colour, body size etc
 E.g. long leg and neck in Giraffe, darkish coloration and back warded horn formation in
forest mammals, feather formation of birds
b) Physiological adaptation: are adaptations involving the internal/ physiological systems of
the animal like digestive and reproductive system, development of sensory organs, water
storage capacity (desert ruminants), resistant to disease.
 E.g. Simple digestive system in carnivorous, acute eyesight for birds and extra ordinary
sense of smell for forest dwelling mammals, nocturnal habits (desert animals)
c) Behavioural adaptation (innate and learned): involves adaptation in social grouping
(wildebeest), mating system (birds) , feeding habits (herbivores), synchronized
reproductive season, defense mechanism of (hippos), breeding strategies (salmon fish)
Some animals are highly specialized. I.e. they are adapted to a narrow range of
environments with specialized requirements. Rare and endangered species can be
classified as specialized. On the other hand, animals like elephants, zebra and buffalo

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are adapted to a wide range of environments that permit them to have large geological
and ecological ranges are known as Generalized.

3.3. Wildlife Food, Nutrition and Water Requirement

3.3.1. Wildlife food and nutrition requirement
Obviously, food is important to all wild life. Animals having good nutrition throughout their
lives grow larger and more vigorous and healthier than animals having experienced poor
nutrition during part or all of their lives. Size, vigor and health are usually measures of general
physical condition.
Animals in good condition generally have higher rates of reproduction and are more resistant
to most forms of mortality than are animals in poor condition. Thus, nutrition affects birth
rates and death rates and is important in the dynamics of managed wildlife populations.
All animals must obtain the food component such as water, energy and various nutrients from
their environment and surroundings.
Animals require energy for basal metabolic processes and need additional calories for daily
activities. Special nutrients that required to regulate body metabolism and for growth and
maintenance of tissue are:
 Protein,
 Vitamins,
 Essential fatty acids, and
 Minerals.
Proteins are especially important for:
 Growth
 Reproduction
 Disease resistance
Vertebrates require small amounts of vitamin and certain fatty acids in their diet because they
are metabolically unable to synthesize these compounds. Deficiencies of these nutrients may
occur more in domestic animals restricted to artificially produced feeds. In wild animals on
good habitat such deficiencies are less apt to occur because the animals have access to a great
variety of foods. In ruminants vitamins and fatty acids are synthesized by symbiotic rumen
bacteria and can be absorbed by the animal.

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At least 13 elements are essential in vertebrate physiology. Among these the major mineral
nutrients are calcium,
Phosphorus, magnesium, Sodium, potassium, chlorine and iron. Other like copper and cobalt,
are needed in trace amounts.
Wild life food requirements are variable
The amount and quality of food required by wild life may vary according to the following
a) Among species
Naturally different species require different quantity and quality of food.
b) Between the sexes
Male and females of the same species usually exhibit similar but not necessarily the same food
habits.
c) Among age classes
Young growing animals, being small, have a higher metabolic rate relative to body size than
do adults. They also require extra energy, protein, and other nutrients for rapid growth, often
necessary for survival. Young animals usually compensate for their relatively (compared to
body size) greater requirements for energy and nutrient by eating more continuously and easily
digested food.
d) With physiological function
The quantities of energy and nutrients required by an animal depend on nutritional demands of
functions like pregnancy, growth, lactation, molting, and energy storage prior to hibernation or
migration. Quantitative demands for nutrients are small in early pregnancy but increase several
fold towards late pregnancy.
e) Season of the year
Food habits of vertebrates vary with seasonal changes in the availability and qualities of the
food types as well as with seasonal change in animals’ physiological and nutrient
requirements.
This variation in food habits may involve foods that are used intensively during one season,
yet are unable to sustain the animal at another season. For example, during early rainy season
bushbuck use the new growth of grass, this may become green and nutritious. However, at
other season when grasses are not in a stage of vigorous growth, bushbuck requires succulent
forbs and leaves of woody plants.

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f) With weather condition and geographic location.

This may also affect the food requirement of animals below the lower and above critical
temperature. Below the lower critical temperature the animal must burn extra food to produce
heat energy and above the upper critical temperature animal must facilitate evaporative
cooling, usually by panting, a process that also require extra energy.

3.3.2. FOOD PREFERENCE

Wild animals differ in their food preferences. Most carnivores are opportunistic feeders,
adapted to catching certain types of prey (fish, birds, small mammals, large mammals), but
generally feeding on any species that is available and vulnerable. These carnivores do not
exhibit marked food preferences. Their food, raw meat, provides a high quality diet, and
almost any raw meat suffices. As a result, nutritional problems of wild carnivorous are
problems of food quantity and availability, not of food quality. In contrast, herbivores exist on
comparatively crude foods, mainly carbohydrates with low concentrations of proteins and
other nutrients. Thus, herbivores feed mainly on plant species and parts of plant (bud, leaves,
flowers, fruits) in which nutrients are concentrated, they exhibit strong preferences for certain
high quality plant foods. Nutritional problems of wild herbivorous are usually due to a lack of
food of adequate quality.
Animals may be malnourished or starving in a habitat where, superficially, food appears to be
adequate because vegetation is available and preferred food is absent. However a biologists or
wildlife ecologist familiar with the wild life species and its nutrition might recognize that
preferred foods are absent and that the animals are subsisting on unpalatable and poorly
digestible foods.
Because herbivores usually have marked food preference. Some foods are:
 preferred foods and usually high quality
 Emergency food less preferred and usually of mediocre quality emergency foods become
especially important when all preferred foods have been used. They may sustain a
herbivore population through a critical period of food shortage.
 Starvation foods, of inadequate quality and eaten only when other foods are absent. Use
of starvation foods indicates that the habitat is inadequate and cannot support the number
of animals present.

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Food habits and nutritional requirements obviously vary from species to species according to
each animal’s array of structural, physiological, and behavioral adaptations to their
environment.
Carnivores, adapted to using easily digested foods in which nutrients are concentrated, need
only a simple digestive tract for digestion and absorption. In contrast, herbivores utilize a
comparatively less – digestible diet.
Compared to carnivorous herbivores may
1- Masticate or otherwise grind their food more thoroughly,
2- Feed more continuously,
3- Have larger, longer and more complex digestive tracts,
4- Pass food through their tracts more slowly and in some cases more than one time
These structural and functional adaptations favor digestion of course, relatively indigestible
materials and permit animals to utilize large volumes of food, thereby substituting food
quantity for food quality.
Many herbivorous have evolved special digestive organs in which physical and chemical
conditions serve to maintain populations of symbiotic microorganisms that digest plant
material and synthesize proteins and vitamins, benefiting the host animal. The rumino-reticula
of ruminants and the ceca of rabbits are good example of these organs. Ruminants rely on
microbial digestion for survival.

3.3.3. WILDLIFE STUDIES OF FOOD HABITS AND REFERENCES

Different methods have been used to study food preferences of wild animals. Each method has
its own limitations, being applicable to some, but not all, species or season of the year and
involving possibilities for biased results. The methods include:
1. Feeding site observation.
This method usually involves observation of feeding herbivores often at a distance with field
glasses or binoculars. The location of feeding is noted; then the observer inspects plants at this
“feeding site” to see which have been fed upon. The method cannot be used for animals that
are difficult to observe, and it is often difficult, onsite inspection, to determine which plants
have been fed up on. Some plants may be eaten completely and provide no evidence of use.
Other plants, such as shrubs, or plant parts, such as fruits will be conspicuous and their use

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may be observed accurately at a distance. As a result, use of conspicuous foods may be

overestimated.
2. Observation of the digestive tract.
This method involves collecting animals and noting foods present in crop or stomachs.
Probably it is the most commonly used method. Its disadvantage lies in the need for collecting
or killing animals. Moreover, there is also the possibility that the most easily digested and
presumably most nutritious foods will be more difficult to identify in stomach contents than
will the least digestible foods.
3. Observation of feces.
Feces of both carnivores and herbivores may be examined for undigested food particles. In
carnivores droppings there will be undigested hairs, bones, and feathers. In herbivores feces,
microscopic examination of the fecal materials is usually required.
In fecal analysis there will be a possibility that, highly digestible foods may be under
represented in resulting food habits data.
4. Observation of regurgitated pellets.
Many birds notably owls, hawks, and herons regurgitate indigestible hairs and bones from
their food. Regurgitated pellets may be collected, especially around nests where they may be
numerous, and the remains of food items will be identified.
Biased data may be obtained when some prey items are completely digested and
underrepresented in regurgitated pellets.
5. Observation of food remains and sign.
Partially eaten carcasses of prey often accumulate around dense or nests. Tabulation of these
items provides food habits information during a limited season of the year.
6. Preference trails.
Animals in captivity may be presented with two or more food items. In each trail, the items
most eaten are rated as preferred than less eaten items. In the field, free – ranging or tame
animals may be followed to observe their food preferences.
Esophageal fistulas have been used with tame domestic animals to obtain samples of ingested
foods, and this method may soon be used with tame wild animals as well.
7- Measurement of forage use.

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Food habits of herbivores may be evaluated by quantifying the evidence of grazing or

browsing on naturally available plants.

3.4. WILD LIFE WATER REQUIREMENTS

Water is necessary dietary component, participating in many chemical and physical processes
in wild animal’s life. It is necessary for digestion and metabolism, to carry off body wastes and
for evaporative cooling (particularly in hot environments).
Wild life vertebrates may obtain water from:
a) Free water in lakes, ponds, and streams,
b) Succulent vegetation,
c) Utilization of dew, or
d) Metabolic water produced in a process of metabolizing fats and carbohydrates.
Wildlife respond to water shortage or deprivation in various ways:
 Elephants will dig in dry river bottoms, exposing water for themselves and other species,
 Mobile species, like doves and many birds, will migrate to water sources.
 Some wildlife must abandon waterless ranges during dry seasons and concentrate around
surface water.
There are certain dis-advantages of concentration around surface water. Such as:
 Local forage supplies may be overused or trampled and will be causes for site degradation.
 The numerous animals may attract predators and may be forced to use habitats where
predators have advantages.
 It may facilitate transmission of disease and parasites.
Water requirements of wild animals will vary with weather conditions and according to
seasonal pattern of physiological functions. Water intake must increase in hot weather to
replace that lost by evaporative cooling. The demand of reproductions can also increase water
requirements. Water requirements are also vary greatly among species, since some animal
species are adapted to arid environments, some to cooler environments etc.
What are the adaptations of wild animals to arid environments?
1- Nocturnal or fossorial habits
Many desert adapted species avoid the demands of evaporative cooling by confining most of
their activities to times and places with lower temperature and high humidity. Many rodents

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and insects simply avoid the desert heat by going underground during the heat of the day and
by being active at night.
2- Concentrating excreta
Desert adapted species produce dry feces and have powerful kidneys that concentrate urine,
reducing water loss for these functions. In such a way they conserve water.
3- Morphological adaptations
Usually large body size and abundant insulation can prevent heat uptake and provide mass for
‘thermal inertia’. In big mammals, insulation is usually greatest on the back to protect skin
from the sun. Other body parts may be scantly haired to enhance heat loss by convention.
These body parts may be enlarged, like elephant ears, to expel heat; or they may be associated
with mobile appendages or hair patterns that increase air movement, enhancing heat loss by
convention.
4- Use of metabolic water
Oxidation of carbohydrates and fats produces water in the body to augment intake. Such water
used internally.
5- Water storage
Some species are physiologically adapted to withstand temporary reductions in body fluid
levels. Ruminants have an advantage in that water can be stored in the rumen. Desert big horn
sheep can withstand losing 30 % of their body water, mostly from the rumen, and can re-
hydrate quickly by refilling the rumen. However camels, domestic animal, do not store water
contrary to popular wisdom. Their humps contain fat, valuable for energy but not for water.
The body temperature of camel is quite variable. The key to the camel’s success in warm
environments. When a camel deprived of water, its body temperature rises during the day to
about 400 and falls at night to about 35 0. Excess heat during the day is stored in the body and
dissipated in the cool desert night without the need to evaporate large quantities of water.
6- Mobility
Birds have the advantage of flight in visiting water sources distant from their feeding, roosting,
or nesting sites. Doves may migrate daily to water. Other types of wild animals do also travel
variable distance in search of water.
7- Patterns of reproduction

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The reproductive seasons of most desert wildlife are timed to avoid the driest period of the
year. This usually enhances reproductive success in that both water availability and forage
quality are best at a critical time.

CHAPTER 4: WILDLIFE MOVEMENT, REPRODUCTION AND MORTALITY

4.1. WILDLIFE MOVEMENT
Wild animals move around the land escape to fulfill their habitat needs. In fact the frequency
with which animal travel and the distance they go vary with species, and habitat type. For
example, Golden plover leave Alaska and fly non- stop across the pacific to land on the Island
of Hawaii - a tinny land target in a vast oceanic expanse. Some species travel in flocks (groups
of flying birds) or herds (groups of moving ungulates) or school (groups of moving fish or
hippos). Some kind of movement involves individuals instead of social groups.
TYPES OF WILDLIFE MOVEMENT
a) MOVEMENTS INTERNAL TO THE POPULATION AREA.
Those internal to the area occupied by the population. It involves both the relatively short daily
travels of an individual within its home range area (local movements) and the mass movement
of an entire population from one portion of its range to another (commonly called migration).
Such movements do not affect the dynamics of the population.
Migration - a two - way movement within the area normally occupied by a species population.
Migration commonly represents travel from one seasonally suitable habitat to another with a
subsequent return to the first.
The word migration should not be (but frequently is) confused with immigration or
emigration, which are forms of dispersal. Migration is well studied in birds, but there are also
migrations or mass movements of mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians.
Several studies have revealed that most birds follow regular migration routes or fly ways each
year. Mammals’ migrations and the travels of marine reptiles such as sea turtles can be equally
important as those of birds.
Costs of migration;
 Investment to develop complex physiological systems that make navigation possible
 Spending lots of energy
 Too many risk

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 Predation
 Climate
 Land slide etc
Benefits of migration;
 Richer resource base
 Suitable reproductive ground
 Reduce competition
 Escape from unfavorable environmental conditions
b) - MOVEMENT EXTERNAL TO THE POPULATION AREA.
It is external movement to the population area that takes individuals out of (emigration) or
brings them in to the population (immigration). It involves those travels known collectively as
dispersal, which ultimately establish new populations and result in the colonization of new
areas. Thus, such movement is known to change population composition (dynamics).
Dispersal movements fall in to two categories, depending on how you look at them:
 Immigration - movements in to a new area
 Emigration - movements out of a previously occupied area.
Dispersal permits a species to spread to new areas, and is essential for the survival of species
confronted with sever environmental changes. This is, it enables the species to exploit new
habitats and thus protecting the species when old habitats became unsuitable or destroyed.
Dispersal rates and tendencies vary greatly among species. Some introduced species may
spread quickly throughout the area but other may survive well in the area, in which they were
first introduced, have failed to spread at the same rate.

4.2. WILDLIFE REPRODUCTION

Changes in a wildlife population are brought about by reproduction (births), deaths, and
movement. When these are in balance, the population remains stable in size; when they are out
of balance, it grows or declines.
Wildlife species shows large variation in patterns of reproduction, some species breed at any
season, other species breed at any season and still others do not breed every year.
The wildlife biologist, to understand population growth, he or she should understand or
consider the following characteristics;

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a) Age of sexual maturity of both males and females.

b) Length of gestation period.
c) Sex ratio.
d) Whether the species is monogamous or polygamous.
e) The number of female breed at each age.
f) Number of young per female of various age.
g) Influence of nutritional condition on reproduction.
Definition of terms.
Fecundity- is the ability of an animal to produce egg or sperm. The major concern in wild life
management has been over the fecundity rate of females, or the number of eggs produced per
female.
Natality- the production of new individuals by a population. Usually expressed as the number
of new individuals born, hatched, or otherwise produced per unit of time (natality rate) or
individuals produced per unit of time per breeding individuals in the population (specific
natality rate). It is often less than the fecundity rate because eggs may not be fertilized or
embryos may not survive to birth or hatching. Natality, in itself, tells much about a population
and its relationship to its habitat, and knowledge of it is essential, if a population is to be
managed actively.
Recruitment- refers to production of sexually mature animals. Recruitment rate is the number
of sexually mature animals produced per female or per adult (males and females). It is usually
less than the natality rate as environmental factors limit survival of new born animals.
Sex relations
Monogamy- the pairing of a male and a female for at least a breeding season is common in
birds. Maintaining of an even population sex ratio is important in achieving high rates of
reproduction in monogamous species
Polygamy includes Polyandry- the pairing of one female with several male, is rarely occur in
nature and Polygny- the pairing of dominant male with several females, is common in
ungulates.
THE REPRODUCTIVE PROCESS.
Total annual reproduction process by wildlife is determined by:
a) Prenatal survival rate

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It is death before birth or hatching. For example, nest destruction of birds by predation,
flooding, or agricultural machinery are fairly common causes prenatal death. In mammals,
prenatal mortality of embryos may account for differences between observed ovulation rates
and observed natality rates.
Disease such as brucellosis in ungulates may cause abortions. Poor nutrition can causes
prenatal losses and the social stresses of crowding can also cause prenatal mortality.
b) Clutch size and litter size
Species greatly differ in the numbers of young produced by a breeding female in a single
laying or birthing period. Some animals will have only one egg to a clutch, others many. Most
African ungulates produce only one young to a litter, whereas many Eurasian and American
ungulates produce twins under favorable conditions. Clutch or litter size is to some extent
determined genetically, so that within a particular species it will not vary greatly from an
average number. Thus, a human female usually has one child at a time, and this is considered
normal, but twins, triplets, up on to octuplets have been born.
Clutch or litter size is also influenced greatly by the environment. Living in a regions with a
longer day length during the breeding season, will have more time for foraging and obtaining
food for their young. In some species it has been found that well-situated populations with
abundant and nutritious food will have larger litters or clutches than those that suffer from
dietary or nutritional deficiencies. Some species will cease to produce young when
environmental conditions are unfavorable.
c) Parental care and teaching of the young.
For example, fish may lay thousands of egg, but each young fish must depend largely on the
packet of instincts with which it is born. Parental care can hardly be lavished on hundreds of
offspring.
A species that takes a long time to mature, and requires a prolonged period of care and training
in order to survive, will usually produce a single young, and often will not breed in successive
years.
d) Length of breeding season and numbers of clutches or litters per year.
The number of young produced by a population is influenced not only by the size of clutch or
litter, but by the number of times a female will go through a complete breeding cycle during a
single year. This in turn influenced by the length of the breeding season, the gestation or

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brooding period, the nature of the sexual cycle in the species concerned, and the fate of the
preceding clutch or litter.
A species with a short gestation period, such as the meadow vole with a gestation period of 21
days, which also has the capacity to breed immediately after giving birth could produce
spectacular numbers of young. At the other extreme, the African elephant has a gestation
period of almost 2 years. If they breed immediately after giving birth, they could at best
produce 1 calf in 2 years. However, the females apparently do not breed during the period
when the young are nursing heavily, and they produce at most 1 young in two and half years,
and often at still longer intervals.
e) Breeding age (maximum and minimum breeding age).
The number of young produced by a particular population will be influenced also by the
minimum and maximum breeding ages of individuals in the population.
The elephant, for example, does not breed until it is 13 to 14 years of age. Consequently, a
high percentage of an elephant herd will be made up of immature, non-breeding individuals.
There is also some evidence that elephant like humans, survive past their maximum breeding
age, so that some part of the population will consist of non-breeding elders. The total
production of young per 100 individuals in the population will therefore appear to be low,
since most of the population may consist of non-breeders. In the same area the common
duiker, a small antelope, breeds and produces its first young by 1 year of age. It is unlikely that
many individuals survive past the age of sexual activity. Hence, a duiker population will
consist only of breeding adults and young of the year and its percentage of production of
young will be relatively high, even though each female will give birth to only a single lamb
(calf).
The apparent natality in one population can appear to be higher than in another of the same
species only because the former has a lower percentage of non-breeding young.
f) Density
In sparse population of any species, individuals may have difficulty finding mates and natality
may thus be kept at a low level. Once somewhat higher densities are obtained males and
females can locate one another without difficulty.
There is often an inverse relationship between natality and density. With increasing density,
pressure on the food supply can develop, and the health of breeding individuals may decline.

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This can result in reduced natality. Even when food or other necessity do not become limiting,
social friction can develop at higher densities, which will inhibit breeding.
It will be not that with some species an inverse relationship does not appear until some
threshold density is created, after which food or other factors interfere with breeding.
g) Viability of young or new born
In mammals nutrition is the environmental factor most often implicated as influencing the size,
vigor and viability of new born.
h) Sex ratio and mating habits.
Some wild species are monogamous, some polygamous; the human species appears to be
undecided.
The potential natality in a population will be influenced by its breeding habits and by the ratio
between the sexes. If a species is monogamous, an equal sex ratio would tend to favor the
maximum production of young.
A polygamous species, by contrast, would be favored in its production of young by the 25:75
ratio, since 75 females would potentially give birth in a given year, as compared to 50, if the
sex ratio were even.

4.3. WILD LIFE MORTALITY

Just as a healthy wildlife population will reproduce, no population is immune from
mortality for long. The causes of death are many, but if all else fails, eventually sheer
physiological break down through old age will cause the death of the individual.
Just as populations have a maximum natality rate, so they could under unusually favorable
conditions have a minimum mortality rate, at which old age is the only important causes of
death. Usually, however, many other factors come in to play first, and it is unusual for a
wild animal to die of old age.
Mortality can be divided as normal mortality and abnormal mortality.
Normal Mortality includes those rates and types of mortality that have been common in
a wild life species evolutionary history. A species is adapted to these mortality It has
evolved a potential nattily rate that tends to balance normal mortality rates. Normal
mortality is good for wild life population, because it is a mechanism of:
 Natural selection

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 Removing inferior organisms

 Maintaining genetic quality of the population and
 Forcing continued adaptation of the population to environmental changes.
Abnormal mortality - includes those rates and types of mortality that have not been
common in species evolutionary history. A species in not adapted to this mortality.
Therefore, abnormal mortality, perhaps an introduced disease or predator or can be
disastrous that reduce a wild life population well below expected levels of abundance, even
to extinction.
The factor that causes death sometimes has been termed as decimating factors. The
common causes of wild life mortality are several, some described below.
 Predation
 Disease and parasite
 Poisoning
 Accidents
 Weather
 Stress
 Starvation and malnutrition
 Hunting (Harvest)

CHAPTER 5: WILD ANIMAL SOCIAL SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATION

5.1. Wild Animal Social System
Social system is a group of animals living together as a unit .social systems exhibit coop
rations as well as competition among group members. Wild animals experience benefits and
costs out of social systems. However, benefits often outweigh the costs.
Benefits of sociality;
 Protection against predators: defense and communication
 Access for mating :common for insects and some vertebrates
 Location and procurement of food: large group have the advantage of locating food easily
by virtue of their social organization. E.g. increased capture rate and larger prey caught in
lions and social spiders, food location by flocks of birds.
 Division of labour among specialists:
 Defend territory against computing species : large colonies have such advantages

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 Richer learning environment for young :important to primates and migratory birds
 Natural pollution regulation: intra specific competition results in reduction of surplus
reproductive success by limiting resources.
Costs of sociality
 Increased competition for resources: food, water, shelter, mates etc
 Increased chance of disease spread and parasitic infection
 Interference in reproduction: e.g. cheating in parental care, infanticide by non-parents (e.g.
lions)
Types of social system in wild animals
i. Solitariness: such wildlife pairs for breeding only otherwise they are solitary. E.g.
cheetah, leopard, black rhino and marsupials.
ii. Families
1) Family bond: is the type of social organization established when adult male and female
join up and live together. Male and female cooperate in rearing the young’s that remains in
the family until maturity. Most are strong territorialist. E.g. jackals, dikdik, orbi and
lovebirds.
2) Harem family: in this social structure one male collects harm (group of beautiful female)
of female which he defends against other male. Females from cohesive social unit.
Young’s remain with the family until maturity.
E.g. Burch ell’s zebra, mountain zebra
3) Extended families:
I. Patriarchal: several males and females associated together without hostility .but a
dominant male as a leader. Young’s always leave the family after maturity. E.g. gorillas,
baboons
II. Matriarchal: a few closely related females a nucleus of leader out of which one mature
female often leaders the group. Males from bachelor groups with loose social structure
especially in elephants and cohesive in lions. Most young male leave families at maturity
but females always remain. E.g. elephants and lions
III. Packs, clans and herds

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a) Packs: animals of all age closes and both sexes associated in stable cohesive groups.
Individual’s band together to form a group capable of over powering large preys. E.g. wild
dogs, hunting dogs
b) Clans: groups of individuals of hyena band together in blood relation and elaborative
greeting ceremonies between members of the groups. E.g. spotted hyena
c) Herds: animals of all age and both sexes associated in stable and cohesive groups. Well-
developed social hierarchy. Mostly old males from bachelor groups. Non-territorial.
E.g. wildebeest, buffalo or most ungulates
d) Mixed social organization &mixed groups% and individual of a species of many species
that are territorial or non-territorial forming stable and cohesive groups for various social
benefits.
E.g. group of zebra, buffalos, gazelles, giraffe, primates even cattle

5.2. Wildlife Communication

Communication refers to the transmission of signals from one individual to another such that
the sender benefits, on average from the response of the receiver. It refers to all interactions
between animals that transmit information between them.
Communication is said to occur when one animal responds to a signal sent out by another
animal. An action by one individual, the signaler, conveys information that alters the behavior
of another, the receiver.
There are two types of wildlife communication:
a) Deceitful communication: false information given by some animals to lure or distract
predators. Such animals require that the receiver react in ways that lower its fitness.
b) Incidental communication: is the transmission of true signals usually to communicate
with individuals of the same species or any other individuals of another species occupying
the same area and associated particularly in defending predators.
Forms of signals/ types of communication
Communication =sender + message + receiver
Different groups of animals relay on different sensory channels for communication.
E.g. small mammals =smell, birds =songs, coral reef fish=brilliant poster colours.

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 Visual communication: changes in posture and colour are the main type of communication
here, and it is the most important means of communication used by predators that hunt by
day. This is best useful in private, short range communication. e.g. Advertising displays of
some animals.
 Auditory/acoustic communication: sound is not private as sight; it travels out from a source
in all direction and not easily limited. It can pass round corners and more rapidly through
the environment. A signaler should be large enough to generate sufficient noise.
 Olfactory communication: diffuse slowly through the environment, their speed and
direction of travel highly depend on wind. Common in small animals, e.g. moth.
 Tactical communication: this is mostly used in sexual behaviour in care of young. E.g.
laying the chin on the female’s rump, muzzling the genital areas or touching various other
parts of the body.
 Echolocation: is spending out sound and sensing the time it takes for the sound to return
from the object, this is to avoided objects in capturing prey. E.g. bats.
Significance values of communication
a) Recognition: e.g. greeting ceremony in hyena or wild dog.
b) Mate attraction: where mostly chemical and auditory signals used
c) Courtship: help in species identification and more specifically sex identification within a
species.
d) Alarm signals: sometimes the calls given are so specific for different types of predators.
E.g. vervet monkey have different calls for different predators( leopard, snake)
e) Finding food
f) Mother young recognition and relation
g) Playing in the wild animals
h) Synchronization of hatching at times when resource is available

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CHAPTER 6: WILDLIFE CENSUS TECHNIQUES

6.1. THE NEED FOR INVENTORY AND MONITORING
A wildlife manager should to answer two types of questions about the species in the reserve.
1. What species communities occur within the protected area, where and in what numbers?
(INVENTORY).
The following questions could be answered after carrying out inventory.
 What plants, animals and other natural resources are present? And what not?
 Are there reliable estimates of species and population densities? Particularly target
species.
 How are they distributed in space and time?
2. What are population trends over time? (MONITORING) i.e. decreasing, increasing,
stable and the reason for these results should be investigated.
An inventory can be carried out in a single year but to make it reliable for wildlife
management decision making, it has to be conducted for several years in the same area so
that population modeling could be possible.
Total enumeration is mostly impossible (time consuming and costly and sometimes
destructive to wildlife and their habitats) so that it is better to use an appropriate sampling
technique depending upon the level of precision and objective of the inventory.
Wildlife populations and their habitats are not static entities. To know the type and rates of
these changes, it is essential to conduct wildlife inventory and monitoring.
Importance of conducting biological /ecological monitoring and inventory in wildlife
management includes:
 To measure the stability of the ecosystem that experiences interference by man.
 To test the value of predictive models which attempt to stimulate the dynamics of the
ecosystem or part of it.
 To give an early warning of changes which are considered undesirable in the
management of species or protected areas? E.g. occurrence of epidemic diseases, fire,
 To provide information for the formulation of wildlife management plan for protected
areas and for land use plans in areas surrounding protected areas.
 To evaluate how the management of wildlife species and protected areas is effective to
achieve the stated goals.

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 To ensure the intensity and extent/ type of sustainable wildlife utilization practiced in
the area.
 To get recent/ updated field information on the biological resources (wildlife
communities and their habitats).
 To investigate habitat types, species composition and richness, wildlife populations
distribution, abundance and productivity.
 To evaluate condition and quality of wildlife and their habitats.
6.2. Different Techniques/Methods for Counting or Estimating Wild Animals
I. Direct sighting and counting methods: include
 Counting from set of observation posts
 Counting while walking along nature trails
 Counting from boats along rivers
 Counting from moving vehicles
 Counting from aerial survey
II. Indirect signs such as:
 Tracks/spoors /footprints
 Droppings
 Mark-recapture
 Mapping calls /vocalization
 Feeding signs
 Counting of nests, etc.

6.2.1. Direct techniques of wild animals counting

1) Aerial sample count includes:
 Aerial transact sampling
 Aerial quadrate sampling
 Aerial block sampling
Aerial sample count
It is now a very frequent used method of counting large mammals. Particularly aerial transect
sampling count is most popular type of sampling method employed.
 The principle is that the aircraft flies in a straight line from one side of the census zone to

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the other at a fixed height above the ground.

 Streamers are attached to the wing struts of the aircraft so that the observer sees a strip
demarcated on the ground.
 The transects are sample units, and the observer counts all the animals that he sees
between the streamers.
Use of aerial photographs and satellite images are also used to estimate population density of
bigger animals.
2) Ground sample counting
This could be carried out by using vehicle or on foot.
 Total counts
 Point transect
 Line transect sample counts, which could be:
i. Fixed width method
ii. Variable fixed with method
iii. Fixed visibility profile method
iv. Variable visibility profile method

Total Count: Used When,

 It requires large number of personnel’s, which line up, walk through the area and drive all
animals from the area.
 It is a method use to count relatively large and conspicuous animals
 The counting area is small
 Observers must be stationed around the target area to count any animal leaving it.
 The applicability of total count methods obviously varies among species and their habitat
 Sometimes the whole area must be searched; every animal must be located and accurately
counted.
The limitations to this method are:
 It only possible on smaller area.
 Applicable only to observable & larger animals.
 It will be difficult for fast moving animals. Because it is likely to count the same
animal twice & the animal aware and disappear before locating them.

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Advantage of total count

 Can provide a count of all individuals and information on distribution
 Data on age and sex composition can often be collected at the same time
Points to be considered in total counting method:
 The census zone must be divided into blocks. i.e. searching and navigation becomes
more efficient
 The flight line or walking line must be marked on a map.
 Photographs must be used on large herds.
 An overlap zone between block boundaries must be counted.
 The time taken over each block and the time of animal sighting must be recorded.
 Some experimental pilot works should be done to test the efficiency of the total
count.
Transact Sample Counts
A. Line transect
The observer walks, drives, or flies a line of specific length (transect) and count all the
animals seen, measuring one or more subsidiary variables like sighting distance , the time of
sighting, the right angle distance between the animal and the observer. Animals are counted
and recorded on both sides of the transect.
Assumptions in line transect
 All animals directly on the transect line will never be missed (their detection
probability=1).
 Distance and angles are measured exactly with no measurement errors and rounding
errors.
 Animals are detected before they flee away; none of them are counted twice.
 Sightings of individual animals are independent events.
Important principles for accuracy / reliability depends on:
 The greater the number of unit samples, the greater the accuracy of the estimate.
 The more clumped (aggregate) the animal, the more sampling unit is needed.
 The population of each sample area must be known exactly.
 The sample must represent the whole area; this is achieved by random sampling.
 The transect should be oriented to cross the major vegetation boundaries.

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 The simple formula used to estimate population density is given by:

O = (KxSx2) km2
D = N/O
P = N/O x H
Where:-
O = Observed area (sample area)
K = Length of the transact distance traveled while counting, when vehicle used it determined
from the speedometer and on foot census determined by number of paces.
S = Sighting distance on both sides of the transact. The distance of any group of animals
form the observes is checked with a range finder.
D = Density, number of animals counted per km2
N= Total number of animals counted on observed area.
H = Size of the whole conservation area on which one wants to estimate population size.
P = Total population size of the whole are or population estimate.
There are various approaches how to measure the strip width during a vehicle or foot
transacts count.
i) Fixed width method
In open country where there is no visibility problem a fixed width of transact strip has been
used with success. The width is usually about 400 meters either side of the vehicle/ observer,
the distance of a group of animals from the vehicle being checked with a range finder.
The width 400 has chosen because it is possible to locate all animals with minimum
difficulty.
_______________________________________

Vehicle or foot path.

_______________________________________

Eg. Suppose you have one type habitat (open grassland) and the following information.
Thus, calculate the total population density.

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H = 98 km 2
S = 400 m = 0.4km
K = 24 km
N = 90 warthogs
O = (KxSx2) km2
= 24 km x 0.4 km x2
= 19.2 km2
D = N/O
= 90 warthog/19.2 km2
4.69 warthog /km2
P = N/O x H
= 4.69/km X 98 km 2
= 459.62 warthogs

ii) Variable fixed width method.

In open country it is possible to count all animals within 400 meters on either side of the
transact, while in thicker country this is reduced to 200 meters either side of the vehicle or
observer.
As usual distances of the animal from the transact/ observer is determined with a range
finder.
____________________

__________________________

__________________________
Thick country
___________________

Open country
i.e. for conservation area which have different habitat or vegetation type, population estimate
must be done for each habitat type independently and the result finally summed up. Because
different habitat support different densities of animals.

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iii) Variable visibility profile

a) Mean sighting distance
The visibility profile is measured each time along the transact and the animal distance from
the transect.

_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ S
XS

The distance S of each sighting from the vehicle or observer path is measured and XS is
calculated and used as one half the effective strip width.

XS = The sum of sighting distances (ES)

Number of stops
O = (XS x K x 2) km2
Eg Suppose you have the following data:
 Es = 1800 m = 1.8 km , K = 11 km
 No of stops = 12, H = 50 km2 , N = 35 warthog
 XS = 1.8 km = 0 15 km
12
O = ( K x XS x 2)
= ( 11 x 0.5 x 2) = 11 km2
D = N/O = 35/11 = 3.18 warthogs / km2
P = N/O x H = 35/11 X 50 = 159 warthogs
b) Kelker’s method
In this method, all animals seen are counted and the distance of each group from the transect
line is measured. The number of animals seen is then tallied for belts of increasing distance
away from the transact line.
Eg. In belts of 0-50 m, 51 - 100m, 101-150 m etc.

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The number of each species in each belt is then inspected, and the point at which the numbers
“fall off” is taken to represent one half of the effective strip width. Animals seen further
away than this are discarded from the calculations.
The method usually overestimates the density.

201-250
3 animals

151-200
4 animals

101-150
5 animals
51-100 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Fall off point
12 animals
0-50m
_________________________________________________ 10 animals

The figure below shows the number of animals seen is tallied in belts of increasing distance
from the transect line

Number of
Animals
Counted

Distance from vehicle

But what happens when the number of animals seen fall off in the ways shown in curves a, b
and c? Where is the fall off point? This shows that sometimes difficult to get clear ‘fall off’
points.
B. Point transect
 It entails the observer remaining at one point for a fixed time and recording the animals
detected.
 Distance may be recorded in terms of concentric zones around the point up to the limit

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beyond which the animals are not identifiable.

 Similar to estimating densities from line transect but area of points are used rather than
distance.
 To assume that there is no immigration during the time of observation.
 The recording period must be long enough for all close animals to the observer to be
recorded.
Comparison of line transect and point transect
Line transect
1- Usually cover a much greater area in a given time so that the more individuals are seen=
improves precision and accuracy.
2- Tend to be more accurate as an error in estimating distance will change linearly with
distance from a transect.
3- Transects may be subdivided into sections and data for each section recorded separately and
related to habitat or management zones.
Point transect
1- Fewer individuals are seen
2- Covers a small area especially for the nearest band.
3- Under difficult conditions it can be better to stop at a series of points that attempt to
record continuously.
4- Point counts are reasonably independent data points and so are easily related to
habitat.
For foot census three individuals are usually needed
* One observer
* One pacer
* One recorder
6.2. INDIRECT METHODS OF COUNTING ANIMALS
- Could be applied for animals which are hardly possible to see by using direct
counting methods.
A- Capture-Mark Release – Recapture ( Capture- Recapture ) method
Used for animals where actual counting is difficult.
The technique involves:
 Capture
 Marking
 release and
 Recapture.

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It is very important method not only estimate density but also for to estimate birth and death
rates of the population. It is also important technique to study wild life movement.
The weakness of this method is that it requires considerable time and effort to get the
required data.
Different types of marking are identified.
 Paints -Labels (tag)
 Dyes -Mutilation
The result obtained using such techniques sometimes become inaccurate because:
1- Opportunity of capture- many studies on birds and mammals shown that some
individuals are easily captured, whereas others are rarely captured.
2. The problem of marking- poorly placed mark disturb the natural camouflage of the
animals as a result easily spotted by the predators.
3. Durability of the mark - some mark fade away within a short period of time and the
result will be biased.
4. Handling technique unless handled it properly, the organisms would be affected.
5. The result of learning -these are thus “Trap happy” individuals and ‘’trap shy”
individuals. In some species an experience (learning) with trapping on the part of an
individual animal may reduce the probability of subsequent recapture. Whereas is others
it may enhance it. Such behavior patterns bias the data and reduce the value of the
population estimates obtained through this method.
6. Sometimes the marked animals affect the behaviors of other animals in the population.
There are several techniques used under mark recapturing method such as Lincoln or
Peterson index, Trellis diagram / Fischers technique, Schumaschers and Eschmeyer
technique, The Jolly - Seber method and Bailey’s triple catch method.
For reason of simplicity only Lincoln or Peterson Index is discussed below.
The method involves capturing animals, release and recapture and determine the population
density.
e.g. If you want to determine the population of bushbuck in a forest, capture and mark 100
individual, all of which are then released, and then if on a second trapping program, one
again trap (catch) 100 Bushbucks of which 20 were previously marked. The total Bushbuck
populations estimated to be 500.

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The formula is:

P = T2 or P = M1 x T 2
M1 M2 M2
Where
P = the unknown population
M1 = the total number of individuals marked in the first capture period
T2 = the total number of individuals captured is the second capture period
M2 = equals the number of those in the second capture period which were marked.
The validity of this method involves several major assumptions.
1. The marked animals should mix randomly in the population
2. Marked animals are not lost during the study periods.
3. There is no immigration or emigration, death or births between release and recapture.
Actually, these conditions are rarely attained in natural populations
Because, birth, death, immigration, and emigration are often continuous processes with
populations, so their effects can rarely be eliminated entirely.
B- Pellet counts
The defecation rate of the animal should be known first.
The main practical problems are:-
* Knowing the rate of defecation,
* Locating all the piles of pellets, and
* Accurately identifying and aging the pellets.
Advantage of this method
 Conceivably be applied to counting illusive animals and animals using latrines. E.g.
Dikdik, forest elephant, etc.
 The dung produced by different age and sex can differ in size and shape; however,
there may be some overlaps.
Disadvantage
 Related species may have very similar dung, which is difficult to identify. Defecation rate
may vary with diet, age, sex and season.
C- Broadcasting tape recorded calls.
The idea here is to use a tape recording of a social call to elicit a vocal or visual response
from an otherwise silent or invisible animal.

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E.g. the method is used in east Africa on hyenas. In this case lion feeding noises were broad
cast to attract hyenas, and vice-versa.
D- Footprints/ Tracks/spoors
 Count the number of footprints appeared when the wild animals cross high ways and
other roads where the animals could leave their footprints on the passage.
 However, wind, rain and other disturbing factors could affect this.
 Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate the footprints produced by two different species
whose footprints are so similar.
E- Vocalization
E.g. the number of pheasant calls heard per 15 minutes in the early morning has been used as
an index of the size of the pheasant population.
CHAPTER 7: THE ART OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
Wild life management is the art of making land produce populations of wild life, for harvest
or other values. In simplest terms, wildlife management consists of a series of decisions and
management interventions. The decisions must be made every year and whenever necessary.
Decisions in reality are often based on limited information about how the target wildlife
population, its habitat, or the public may respond to management practices. Therefore,
decisions based on limited information should include provision for increasing the
information base; i.e. the response of the target population, of its habitat, or of the public to
management practices.
Wildlife management could be either custodial or manipulative.
Custodial management: it is preventative or protective. It is aimed at minimizing external
influences on the wildlife populations and their habitats. It is no necessarily aimed at
establishing the system but allowing free rein to the ecological processes that determine the
dynamics of the system.
Manipulative management: does something to a wildlife population either changing its
numbers by direct means or influencing by the indirect means of altering food supply,
habitat, density of predators, or prevalence of diseases.
Manipulation of wildlife population could mean:
 Limit population levels. I.e. proportion it to the carrying capacity of the habitat.
 Reduce competition

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 Allow for rang extension

 Adjust age and sex ratios
 Treat for diseases.
 Predator control, etc.
Manipulation of wildlife habitat could mean:
 Supply deficiencies in habitat requirements like food, cover, water, space etc.
 Increase amount of usable area.
 Improve pattern (Interspersion), etc.
Wildlife management, therefore, is a complex procedure of inventorying and evaluating
wildlife habitats and populations, determining people’s goals and superimposing those goals
on the natural system.
7.2. Extensive and Intensive wild life management
Ideally, wild life managers would have unlimited budget and would know all they needed to
know about their target populations and habitats. Tested methods for measuring each
population and habitat would be available. Alternatives for testing each population and
habitat would be several, and their consequences would be well known. There would be no
limits imposed by budget or lack of knowledge, and as the very intensive management could
be applied.
In reality, many management programs have suffered or constrained by insufficient budget,
knowledge or staff, information and inadequate data analysis and interpretation.
The greater the constraints imposed by limited budget and limited knowledge (staff), the
more extensive management program must be. In the most extensive programs, wild life
managers deal with much uncertainty. There is uncertainty over the status of the target
population and its habitat, over public desire for the population and habitat, and over the
consequences of management treatments. Therefore, extensive programs of management
involve a cautious testing of treatments until their consequences have been measured than
intensive management programs.
As management staff and budget increase, management programs becomes more intensive,
managers can obtain more and better information on target population and their habitats. This
information provides a more accurate and more complete picture of conditions and tends of

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population, and the public desire. More accurate predictions of the consequences of
management options and more precise attainment of management objectives will be possible.
Currently, almost all wildlife management programs in Ethiopia are extensive.
TABLE 1 comparison of extensive and intensive programs for managing wildlife Resources.

Management Characteristics Extensive Management Intensive Management

Budget Small large

time, labor, dollars
Knowledge of biotas, Little, empirical, Much detailed, tested,
techniques untested and reliable.
Management units Large areas, many Small areas, few
population populations
Goals Unsure, tested by Well-defined, based
Public needs and desires public response to more on surveys of
incremental changes in public desires
program
Local data Little, disjointed More, some can be
Experience, population and integrated in to models
habitat data, information on
user satisfaction
Uncertainty of Population, Large Small
habitat, or status of user
satisfaction
Predictions Large confidence limits Small confidence
based more on theory, limits based more on
less accurate local data, more
accurate
Management treatments Small incremental Larger incremental
changes, cautious changes, bold

7.3. Wild life management attributes

Wild life management has several attributes/ characteristics.
A- Management is dynamic
Wildlife managers deal with changes at different levels, because:
 Habitats change with land use, disturbance and biotic succession,
 Public interest, demand, and goals change,
 Management budgets are rarely stable,
 Research produces new knowledge of wild life and habitats, and

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 New management techniques are developed.

B – Management is goal oriented
Management activities are usually designed to change the status of the wildlife resources
and/ or the satisfaction of resource user from an unsatisfactory condition to another, more
desirable condition. The more desirable condition is the management goal.
The goals of wildlife management should be precise and measurable that helps to asses’
success /failure. Although goals at first seems to be a simple concern, but they are often
surprisingly appear complex.
For example- we would like to have more Mountain Nyala (MN) in Bale Mountains National
park. This goal could mean either:
I. a larger year - round population of MN
II. a larger annual harvestable surplus of MN
III. a larger annual harvest of trophy-sized MN.
IV. More MN in places where tourists can see them.
Management is almost always begins with some information; however, little about the target
wildlife population, its habitat or about user satisfaction with the population. If the condition
or trends of any of these is unsatisfactory, more satisfactory goals are selected.

C- Species management requires life- history information.

When the management goals include increasing or controlling a population of one wildlife
species, the wildlife manager’s job is to become thoroughly familiar with all that is known of
that species. This information is commonly called a species life history. Knowledge of the
life histories of species is essential to most wildlife management programs.
The life history of wildlife species includes;
 Life span
 Habitat requirements
 Pattern of distribution
 Rate of movement and size of home range
 Behavior
 Rate of reproduction
D- Management is an art

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Although there are contrary allegations, wildlife management is not a science, but applies the
science of biology and use same methods of science in its work. Thus, wildlife management
is an art.
Science is anybody of organized, tested, and accepted knowledge; or it is research, the
process of developing, testing, organizing and communicating knowledge. Neither of these
definitions fully satisfies wildlife management. As an art, wildlife management is the
application of knowledge to achieve goals i.e. primarily it is the application of biology,
especially ecology. Therefore, wildlife managers should be well educated in these
disciplines.
The wildlife manager uses scientific methods to obtain information about populations and
habitats. In this, he or she requires the objectivity of a scientist. Moreover, wildlife managers
also require knowledge of social sciences, skills achieved through experience,
communication and manual skills.
Especially when decisions must be based on limited, often empirical information, the
managers use judgment in making decisions. In selecting management goals, they often
compare and judge values. But science does not deal in value judgments.
7.4. Managing Over Abundant Animals
Theoretically, populations in the wild should not become over abundant or if they do
periodically. Natural checks on population numbers such as limited resources, climate,
disease, predation or dispersal should act to control population size for reason of stock health
or to limit habitat damage. Unfortunately, few ecosystems have escaped the influence of man
or are large enough to allow such mechanisms to operate effectively.
What can the manager do when he thinks that a species in protected area is too numerous.
Firstly, he can seek expert advice to check whether the situation merits action.
Secondly, he can decide on suitable control measures, again with expert involvement. He
should take note of methods used to deal with similar problems elsewhere and, if possible,
run a trail on a small scale before more widespread application.
Generally, the methods of control will fit into one of the following three categories:
I. Culling - involves capturing or killing of selected individuals or groups that considered to
be too numerous. It should be performed by experts and the action should cause as little

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disturbances as possible to the remaining and other wildlife. The decision to cull or control
animal numbers in national parks should be based entirely on ecological considerations.
ii. Live-trapping and removal -if practicable this method is preferable than killing or
culling excess animals. It has the advantage that captured animals can be released into other
areas of suitable habitat where they may be poorly represented or utilized to stock captive
breeding projects or zoos or even be used for domestication. Eg. Asian elephant, eland.
There are different types of capture techniques including immobilization with dart guns .
iii. Biological control - in theory this method is an attractive option but, in fact, it is
fraught with problems. It may be a useful tool in the control or eradication of exotic
species but is of rather limited value in protected area where, as a general rule, anything
involving the introduction of more exotic species should be avoided.
7.5. Translocation, Introduction And Reintroduction In Animals
Translocation of animals means moving or transferring animals from one area/location to
another.
Translocation can be classified in to two categories:
a) Introductions - in to areas outside the historical distribution of the species, when the
species would be considered an exotic. Introduction may be particularly useful in
stocking new or artificial altered habitats. For example, where dams or irrigation projects
have created new lakes and swamps or where reforestation projects have created new but
faunally impoverished habitats (new plantation).
b) Re-introduction’s -within the species historical distribution range either as
reintroduction’s to areas where the species has died out, or translocations to boost falling
populations.
Translocation is considered in three main circumstances:
1- Where land development is about to destroy wildlife habitat and translocation is seen as a
possible way to prevent the wastage of valuable wild life resources.
2- When a manager decides to split a population to reduce the risk of losing the entire
population.
3- Where a wild population is not fairing well and the manager wishes to boost its numbers.
As a general rule, if a management decision has been made to augment a population of
animals rather than release animals that have been held for a long time in captivity, it is better

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to capture wild animals and transfer them to new homes. Such operations from habitats that
are about to be destroyed can save significant numbers of animals and the captives are
released before they became fixed on their captors or pick-up human diseases. They are
already wise in the ways of their environment and need little rehabilitation before release.
Care should, of course, be taken to choose a suitable release point, preferably one where the
resident population is low and needs boosting or has died out but conditions are now
favorable for reintroductions.
Captive propagation followed by re-establishment is most likely to be successful when:
1- It can be of short duration, and genetic or physiological changes in founding stock are
minimal.
2- The causes of decline may be temporary, such as over-hunting or introduced predators,
disease or competitors, rather than gross habitat destruction.
In-situ care (The process of relocating threatened animals and plants within their original
range).
Ex-situ care involves relocating threatened population of wild plants and animals away from
their natural distribution. Its techniques included capture translocation, propagation, storage,
replacement and some kind of ecological support. This is as a means of preventing total loss
and because the technology to sustain them locally is unavailable.
Generally Ex-situ care is proposed if only populations are diminishing and insecure in the
protected area.

7.4. Wild Animals Disease

Most wild animals at most times are subject to various kinds of infectious disease and serve
as hosts for numerous parasites. Most commonly an adjustment occurs between the host
and the disease organism or parasite. When that balance is disturbed, the death of the host
can occur.
In natural communities there will normally be many kinds of bacteria, protozoan, viruses,
and parasites or other orders to which wildlife species have achieved a mutual adaptation.
The presence of these organisms (parasites, diseases) can thus serve as a check to prevent
excessive habitat destruction by a herbivorous animal, just as predators can prevent a prey
population from increasing to the point of habitat destruction.

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Control of wild life disease involves:

a- Maintaining populations at relatively low ecological density so that animals are not
malnourished nor under stressed from competition and crowding. These believed to
reduce Disease transmission.
b- Infected animals might be culled and removed.
c- Intermediate or reservoir hosts may be controlled directly by shooting or poisoning or
indirectly by habitat manipulation.
d- Wildlife may be captured or baited and vaccinated or fed or ingested with prophylactic
drug.

Chapter 8: Human-wildlife Conflict and its management

Definitions
Vermin- wild animals that cause damage to cultivated crops, livestock’s and human.
Pest- animals that cause harm directly or indirectly to mankind and his/her properties.
Wildlife damages are negative values of wildlife to mankind. A wildlife manager may be
called upon to attend to such damages. On the other hand, wildlife damage can be viewed as
conflict between wildlife and their environment. Also we can say that damage is described as
harm or injury that causes loss of value and they arise naturally or from man’s activity.
Identification and assessment of wildlife damage:
i. Identify the type of damage e.g. crop raiding, fouling, predation, loss of human life.
ii. Identify the animal causing damage e.g. elephant, lion , birds, crocodiles, baboons, rodents
iii. Identify the time damage is caused e.g. day, night, year round
iv. Describe the magnitude of damage-full description on the state of the damage at its
qualification.

Forms of wildlife damage/ conflict

Wildlife damage can be classified in different forms ranging from the type or kind of harm
or injury caused to the system or organism affected. The forms of damage are:
1. Crop damage: this is the negative effect of wildlife on crop production. The damage can
either be from direct feeding to mechanical damage. Mechanical damage includes
trampling, debarking, and breaking the whole or part of the plant.

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2. Predation on livestock’s: predators (carnivores, birds of prey, crocodiles) preying

livestock’s, poultry and etc.
3. Injuries to human: wild animals make direct or accidental attack to human leading to
injuries (e.g. buffalo and elephants) or loss of life.
4. Disease transmission: some wildlife species act as host of pathogenic parasites that can
be transmitted to other animals.
5. Pollution: wild animals especially birds pollute human habituations through fouling,
noise etc.
6. Deformation of infrastructures: wild animals destroy /damage infrastructures such as
houses, vessels, roads, communication media, utilities, houses, etc.
Animal damage control methods
Biological control
- Introduction of competitive exotics
- Use of decoy organisms
- Habitat management- buffer zone plantation
- Public education- train people about the effect of wildlife
Mechanical control
- Barriers- use of canals, moats, ditches, fences, etc.
- Scaring method- models, alarm, chasing, etc.
- Shooting and trapping
Chemical control
 Poisoning, repellents, exploders, antifertility compounds, etc.

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