What is Wildlife Conservation?

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Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. It involves all non-domesticated flora and fauna. Rain forests, grasslands, deserts and plains have distinct forms of wildlife. However, most wildlife around the world is impacted by human activities. Several hundred species of rare animals have already become extinct due to the destruction of their habitats from industrial, agricultural, and urban development. Such wildlife species are becoming endangered. 

What is Wildlife Conservation?

Wildlife conservation is the act of protecting and managing wildlife species at local, regional, national or global levels. Laws and acts are passed in order to safeguard the habitats of wildlife species and create an environment conducive for their living. Wildlife conservation is very critical to the survival of the farmers in agriculture dependent states. The trees and rivers prevent soil erosion and lend fertility to the agricultural soil respectively. If these are disturbed then the ecological balance of the system gets destroyed. Moreover, the protection of wild animals ensures that the natural food chain is maintained and we are not affected adversely.

How can one become a Wildlife Conservationist?

The groups of people who study the positive and negative impacts of the human society over wilderness are called wildlife conservationists. They give recommendations on the preservation of environments as well. If one wishes to be a wildlife conservationist then a bachelor or masters degree is required in Zoology, Biology, Chemistry or Environmental Science. The universities that are best suited for the environmental studies are Ashford University, Walden University, Colorado Technical University, Penn Foster Career School and Ashworth College. A wildlife conservationist is supposed to protect wildlife against any kind of human encroachment. They conduct research and experiments, record and analyze data and publish observational reports. They conduct regular meetings with the policy-makers and convey the inference of their field research. They track the population of endangered species in a region. 

What are the various Wildlife Organizations?

Wildlife conservation organizations can be international, national, regional and local. They can be governmental organization or privately run. Wildlife organizations can be categorized under three different groups,

• Dark
• Light and
• Bright Greens

The Light Green organizations usually conserve the wildlife thinking it to be their personal responsibility. Fundamental political reforms are not something for which they look for. The Dark Green organizations believe that the problems with environment are parts of industrial capitalism and so they seek changes in politics. Economic and political changes are needed for wildlife conservation. They support environment protection laws. New technologies and innovations should also help in the process of wildlife conservation. These are the beliefs of Bright Green wildlife conservation organizations. Some of the well known wildlife conservation organizations are

• WWF (World Wildlife Fund),
• Natural Resources Defense Council,
• The Sierra Club,
• International Crane Foundation,
• Friends of Haleakala National Park,
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Oceana,
• Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society.
• Nature Conservancy
•  Endangered Species Conservation Fund

What are the steps we  should take to help Conserve Wildlife?

Many nations are blessed with a wide variety of animal and plant species. It is one of our responsibilites to help our fellow living beings on earth by adopting wildlife conservation methods so they can survive and prolong their species. We humans have made  many changes to our surroundings with innovations in technology and science. But unfortunately this hasn't helped wildlife at all. It has resulted in their habitats being destroyed which has lowered their numbers dramatically, putting  quite a few of them on the endangered list. By taking a few simple steps can help conserve wildlife.

• Making sure to use less fossil fuels to trim our backyards and let more native plants thrive. In an effort to keep the surrounding land around the houses look trim , we waste immense amount of fuel and energy , trimming and landscaping which does not help the birds and animals around  us ans we take away the plants that help them thrive.
• Using less fertilizers and pesticides to kill weeds. As these chemical toxins finally end up in streams and rivers which cause longterm problems and are detrimental to wildlife.
• Keep pet cats in indoors specially during fall and spring as it helps the birds from being killed. Pet cats kill many local birds as well as endangered birds. And since these cats have no natural predators to kill them since they are not in the wild anymore, they are thriving and many birds are killed each year. The Americal Bird Conservancy has been working towards educating cat owners to keep them inside. It doesn't harm their freedom as cats mostly like to sleep and they can be helped to live indoors by providing them with other ways to enteratin them. This is not to say cats should not have the freedom to go outdoors but with the reduction in nesting habitats for birds, the migratory birds find it already hard to survive  and having cats  around will help in declining of their population and put them on the endangered list.
• Reduce the use of off road vehicles as these cause distrubance to wildlife and their behavior patterns due to the noise. Try to limit your vehicles to state parks and public areas as this is the only way for us to help in conserving wildlife. When too many vehicles start going offroad and into forest areas, it causes erosion of soil which might not be immediate but nevertheless results in damage to trees and the animal habitats which get destroyed because of this. 
• Make sure to take your trash with you home where you can dispose it off properly. 
• Stick to trails when you go on a nature walk. Follow the roads and don't get out of the car when driving throug a wildlife area.
• It is the cumulative careless deeds of each one of us that ultimately results in massive destruction of wildlife habitats. We have to be aware that even our small actions have effects on wildlife. So it is our responsibility to be extra careful.
• Reuse, Recycle and Reduce in the way we use our resources.
• Improving sustainable agricultural practices can help conserve water and reduce the amount of chemicals that are added to the rivers and seas which result in the death of many animals and marine life
• Using minimal water. Try to take short showers as it can help less water being drawn from the local water ways thus helping provide for the the wildlife as well
• Visit your local nature conservation socieites such as Audubon and other local wildlife conservation societies to learn more about conserving and helping wildife around us.

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