The profession and wildlife management

Abstract

Extract

The idea that disease may be a potent factor in the environment of indigenous wildlife, ranking with things like habitat destruction and introduced predators and competitors in shaping the distribution and fortunes of our native species, has yet to enjoy wide currency, or even thorough and systematic examination in New Zealand. Its potential importance is recognised, however. Referring particularly to mammals, Gibb and Flux (1973) stated:

Diseases and parasites are rarely primary causes of mortality in wild animals, even in New Zealand where the mixing of mammals from diverse continents could have upset formerly stable equilibria between pathogens and their hosts. The recent history of myxomatosis in wild rabbits in Australia shows how a pathogen can cause calamitous mortality to a new host before evolving a new equilibrium.

Even so, disease among indigenous wildlife species is generally dismissed in a word or two because of lack of data.