Wildlife Monitoring

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Wildlife monitoring sometimes involves nothing more than keen observation with no technical equipment at all, as Meriwether Lewis demonstrated. Backcountry hikers, hunters, fishermen, and bird-watchers all notice trends in nature and often report them to park rangers and other professional naturalists. The list below illustrates examples of the trends in nature that have been discovered without advanced technology.

• increases or declines in game animals
• large or small numbers of waterfowl and raptors during migration
• trends in songs from songbirds and hooting by owls
• size and frequency of schools of fish
• diseased trees or discoloration in leaves
• variety of tide pool species
• coral bleaching
• frequency of whale sightings
• limited beach and dune areas

 

The ivory-billed woodpecker was considered extinct by the early 1970s until two
observant naturalists sighted what they believed was the woodpecker in Arkansas
in 2003. Ornithologists have since debated the accuracy of recent sightings, but the
excitement over the prospect of finding a species presumed to be extinct was undeniable.
This event showed that ordinary people could be as valuable in detecting rare species in
the wild as trained naturalists. (Digital sketch by George M. Sutton, Cornell University)

The chance sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker (see chapter 1) happened because two kayakers decided one day to explore a secluded swamp. Wildlife protection may never be successful until ordinary people take the time to see nature truly.

People enjoying nature might do well to observe other humans in addition to appreciating plants and wildlife. Ordinary people have the best chance of stopping trouble if they catch someone harassing wildlife. Nature enthusiasts also can be an important deterrent to illegal wildlife hunting, capture, trapping, or interference with wildlife’s normal behavior. Other, more advanced techniques of stopping wildlife crime are described in the “How Forensic Science Fights Poaching” sidebar.