There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes.

There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.

A. Leopold

We seem ultimately always thrown back on individual ethics as the basis of conservation policy. It is hard to make a man, by pressure of law or money, do a thing which does not spring naturally from his own personal sense of right and wrong.

A. Leopold

Every head of wildlife still alive in this country is already artificialized, in that its existence is conditioned by economic forces.

A. Leopold

Wildlife Values & Ethics

• Of what value is wildlife?

• Attitudes towards wildlife

• Emotions

• Ethical considerations

• How does knowing this help me as a wildlife biologist/manager?

Wildlife Values

• Commercial• Recreational• Biological• Scientific, philosophical, & educational• Aesthetic• Social• Undiscovered or undeveloped• Negative

Commercial Wildlife Values

• Income (part of economic value)– Selling or trading wildlife or their parts– Conducting business based on access to wildlife

• Meat, fur, etc.• Guides, sporting goods stores, motels, etc.• Leases & fee hunting

Recreational Wildlife Values

• Pleasure, adventure, & advanced physical & mental condition from wildlife activities– Hunting, photography, bird watching, etc.

Biological Wildlife Values

• Contribution of wildlife to healthy ecosystems– Stability– Pollination, seed dispersal, soil tillage, nutrient

transport, etc.

Thinking like a mountain

Biological Wildlife Values

Civilization is a state of mutual and interdependent cooperation between human animals, other animals, plants, and soils, which may be disrupted at any moment by the failure of any of them.

A. Leopold

Scientific, Philosophical, & Educational Wildlife Values

• Studies (scientific & philosophical)– Understand ecology, physiology, behavior,

etc. & ourselves– Baseline information

• Use information in classrooms to educate about the environment and develop an environmental ethic– Conservation

Aesthetic Wildlife Values

• As objects of beauty, historical significance, or as part of literature, poetry, art, & music– Human communication & expression– Cultural importance

• Indigenous peoples

Social Wildlife Values

• Any benefits that have a positive affect on the community as a whole– More income, less stress, increased physical

& mental health• Overlap with others

Undiscovered or UndevelopedWildlife Values

• Unknown & underutilized– Medicine, foods, etc.

• Antlers• Gall bladders

Negative Wildlife Values

• Cost of wildlife damage or its prevention– Beavers, deer, coyote, Lyme disease, etc.

Economics of Wildlife

• Florida (National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, & Wildlife Associated Recreation-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2012)

– 242,000 Hunters spent $720,190,000 (↑)

• $2,976/hunter/year

– 3,092,000 Fishers spent $4,626,975,000 (↑)

• $1,497/fisher/year

– 4,308,000 Wildlife Watchers spent $3,041,333,000 (↑)

• $706/person/year

Over 8 Billion dollars spent in 2011!

Economics of Wildlife

• U.S. (National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, & Wildlife Associated Recreation-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2012)

– 13,700,000 Hunters spent $33,700,000,000 (↑ 9%)• $2,484/hunter/year

– 33,100,000 Fishers spent $41,800,000,000 (↑ 11%)• $1,261/fisher/year

– 71,800,000 Wildlife Watchers spent $54,900,000,000(↑ 9%)

• $766/person/year

Over 130 Billion dollars spent in 2011!

Economics of Wildlife

• U.S. (AFWA 2007)

– 12.5 million hunters– $725 million/yr in license sales– $280 million/yr in P-R funds generated– $300 million in conservation donations– $9.2 billion/yr in paid taxes– $24.7 billion/yr in retail spending

Overall economic impact of $66 billion & ~600,000 jobs in 2006!

Economics of Wildlife

• Non-consumptive uses– Whooping Cranes

• Aransas National Wildlife Refuge• 1993: 78,000 people spent $4,000,000

– Whale Watching (worldwide)• 2008: 13 million people• $2.1 billion in revenue generated• >13,000 jobs

(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)

(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)

Economics of Wildlife

• Non-consumptive uses– Ecotourism

• A conservation tool or problem?

– United States• Bird Watchers spent $32,000,000,000 in 2001• $62,600,000+ spent feeding birds and other wildlife

in 2006

(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)

Economics of Wildlife

• Non-consumptive uses– Wildlife Viewing in the United States (Outdoor Industry

Foundation 2007)

• 66 million participants• Supports 467,000 jobs• Generates 2.7 billion in taxes• Economic impact of $42 billion/yr

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– Farming Wildlife

• Fur, feathers, meat, musk, antlers, milk, & trophies• Mink, ostrich, red deer, egrets, chinchillas, etc.

• New Zealand: 1.8 million deer (80% red deer) on 4,000 farms (1/2 worlds farmed deer) yielded $144,523,400 in 2003

– 38,000,000+ lbs venison– 388,000+ lbs velvet antler– 565,000 hides– 105,000 m2 leather– 2,800,000+ lbs co-products (sinews, blood, other)

• $30-150+/lb of antler

• Higher quality meat, often less environmental impact, but social problems in U.S.

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– Hunting

• Value of each species ($ spent/animal harvested)– $11,000+/CO bighorn sheep– $250+/pronghorn antelope– $6,500+/black bear– $800+/mule deer– $20+/northern bobwhite– $18+/eastern cottontail

(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– Hunting: Livestock vs. Wildlife

• 10-50% more $/acre from wildlife than livestock– Cows, quail, deer, turkeys, hogs, waterfowl

» Individually or combined

» Florida leases: $4-18/acre/year» TX leases: more

• Improves habitat for all wildlife

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– Hunting

• Harvest fees ($) at private Florida ranches – White-tailed deer: $500-3,500+– Elk: $3,500-8,000+– Feral Hogs: $200-750+– Alligators: $500-3,500+– Turkey: $500-3,000+– Quail: $50-500

• Helps other wildlife & habitat

(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– Hunting Preserves & Producers: Game birds (U.S.)

• Ring-necked pheasant, northern bobwhite, chukar, mallard, & turkey

• 19 million participants• Industry spends $1.6 billion/yr• Industry contributes $0.25 billion in federal taxes• Economic impact: $5 billion/yr

• Restored & maintained habitat on >16 million acres– Non-target benefits

NAGA (2004)

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– Sport Hunting?

• Harvest fees ($) of safari companies in South Africa (Furniss 1991)

– Ostrich: $350-400– Rhino: $25,000-30,000– Zebra: $550-700– Kudu: $700-950– Giraffe: $1,000-2,500

(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– 2011 Hunting

• 13,700,000 Hunters spent $33,700,000,000– $2,484/hunter/year

– If hunting was a business it would be in the Fortune 500 top 50!

Economics of Wildlife

• Consumptive uses: Wildlife– Other harvests/collections (Luxmoore 1991)

Costs of Wildlife & Negative Values• If hunting & trapping were lost as wildlife

management tools in the U.S. (IAFWA 2005)

– An additional• 50,000 injuries & 50 deaths from wildlife-auto interactions (=

297,000 injuries and 250 deaths total)• $3.8 billion in auto repair costs• $1.45 billion in health care from just rabies• $128 million in aircraft damage

– Governments would need to spend• Up to $9.3 billion/yr to control deer• Up to $265 million/yr to control furbearers

– Loss of revenue from hunting licenses & PR$

Wildlife Attitudes/ValuesAttitude/Value Identifying Terms & Definitions Correlated With Antagonistic Toward

Naturalistic Wildlife exposure, contact with nature Ecologistic, humanistic Negativistic

Ecologistic Systems & species interdependence Naturalistic, scientific Negativistic

Humanistic Affection for individual animals, anthropomorphic associations, pets

Moralistic Negativistic

Moralistic Ethical concern for animal welfare Humanistic Utilitarian, dominionistic, scientific, aesthetic, negativistic

Scientific Curiosity, study, knowledge Ecologistic None

Aesthetic Artistic character, attractiveness, symbolic appeal

Naturalistic Negativistic

Utilitarian Practicality, usefulness Dominionistic Moralistic

Dominionistic Mastery & control, typically in sporting situations

Utilitarian, negativistic Moralistic

Negativistic Avoidance, dislike, indifference, fear Dominionistic, utilitarian Moralistic, humanistic, naturalistic

• Perceptions, emotions, cultures, & values– Who is correct?

Kellert

Ethics

• Ethics (part of some values)

– A moral philosophy– Standards we employ to determine our actions

and evaluate whether something is good or bad

• Do we have an ethical obligation?– Can it include consumptive use?– Necessary for conservation success?

Individual animals v. Environment

Ethics

• Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world. (Wikipedia 2009)

• Roosevelt – Wise Use

• Leopold – Land Ethic

Ethics• Leopold

– Land/conservation ethic• Land is a community (and includes us)• Land is to be loved & respected• The existence of an ecological conscience

– See, feel, understand, love, or otherwise have faith in

• The Outlook: “Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

• Necessary for conservation success?

Ethics

Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching – even when doing the wrong thing is legal.

A. Leopold

Wildlife Values & Ethics

• Wildlife is Valuable!

• Economic vs. non-economic values– Human dimensions

• Ethics

• Who cares?