Search

In conservation biology, understanding the basic demography of populations across their range, provides opportunities to identify and prioritise management actions to improve the conservation of both, populations and of the species as a whole. The Galapagos land iguana or land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus) (endemic to the Galapagos Islands), is an ideal model to explore these ideas and to generate information that can assist its conservation. Currently, the species is classified as IUCN: Vulnerable. Land iguana populations are threatened by introduced species and habitat loss but the intensity of these threats varies between populations. The population sizes across the species range are partially known and suspected to relate to the presence/absence of introduced predators. Although demographic trends are virtually unknown, it is suspected that populations in disturbed areas have a lower recruitment of juveniles and limited population growth. Overall, these gaps in knowledge represent a challenge to a formal evaluation of the species’ conservation status. Historically, translocation of land iguanas to predator-free or predator-managed sites in the Galapagos Islands has played an important role for its conservation. Since the 1970s there have been calls for translocating land iguanas to Santiago Island, considered to harbour one of the largest land iguana populations until the early 1900s. Although the mechanism for the extinction of the Santiago Island population is not understood, it is most likely linked to habitat changes driven by humans and the effects of introduced predators, which are common denominators in significant iguana population declines on other islands around the world. Since the early 2000s, introduced predators have been eradicated on Santiago Island, and the possibility of reintroducing land iguanas there has resurfaced with greater intensity. While the habitat on Santiago Island is considered suitable for land iguanas, and the expertise to ha

This is the rare carnivore study on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The forest is surveying in particular for Canada Lynx and Wolverine to see if they are actually present in the Uinta Mountains and a couple of sites in the Bear River range also. Volunteers are helping to check 30 different camera sites in remote drainages. The cameras are motion activated and they take both still images and video. The project is a really great opportunity to get members of the public involved in conservation on their public lands while they are out recreating and help contributing to the data set of the survey. The volunteers will check the cameras, checking the scents, and swap out the batteries and memory cards. There is a gap in data and the forest is doing this study to find out if these rare carnivores are present, if they are living here or if this area is just a travel corridor.

Mule deer numbers are declining across the West, and recent deer hunts have been difficult for many Utah hunters. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) takes hunters' concerns very seriously and is focused on improving deer-herd numbers. This issue has been — and continues to be — a top priority for Utah's wildlife managers. Over the past six years, the DWR has invested tens of millions of dollars to implement a comprehensive deer-management plan and to help our struggling herds. This sheet provides a quick overview of the DWR’s ongoing, multi-pronged effort to help Utah’s mule deer.

The purpose of this report is to summarize the status of the Utah prairie dog, a federally threatened species. The Utah prairie dog was listed as an endangered species on June 4, 1973 (38 FR 14678), pursuant to the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969. At the time of listing, the species was threatened with extinction due to habitat destruction, modification or severe curtailment of habitat, over exploitation, disease, and predation. The species was reclassified as threatened on May 29, 1984 (49 FR 22330), with a special rule to allow take of prairie dogs on agricultural lands. On June 2, 2011, we proposed revisions to our 1991 special 4(d) rule. These proposed revisions included identifying maximum allowed take, locations where take is allowed (agricultural lands and properties near conservation lands), timing of allowed take, and methods of allowed take. Based on comments received, we are considering changes to the proposed rule. A rangewide public-private partnership called the Utah Prairie Dog Recovery Implementation Program (UPDRIP) was initiated in 2010 (http://www.suu.edu/ad/regional/updrip/). There is currently limited funding available to pursue landscape-level conservation efforts for recovery of the species. However, the Program has already become a valuable tool for increasing coordination efforts and is making initial strides to formulate annual and long-range work plans for Utah prairie dog conservation.

The Allee effect corresponds to a positive relationship between population size and individual fitness. This positive relationship can cause thresholds, that is, critical population sizes below which the population becomes extinct. For species submitted to the Allee effect, the formation and cohesion of groups is therefore crucial to survival. Animals can achieve this collective behaviour through local interactions. Each individual interacts locally with conspecifics and, at the scale of the group, a unity of behaviour emerges: the animals move together, rest in the same place, or choose the same habitat patch to settle on. We use a combination of mathematical modelling and experimental work to study certain mechanisms of collective behaviour. In particular we assess the extent to which different individual interactions can induce collective patterns and thereby influence the dynamics of dispersal and settlement of populations. First, we study the collective settlement induced by the arresting effect of a marker secreted by conspecifics. Then, two potential mechanisms for collective movement are examined: following the conspecifics and following a trail laid by conspecifics. Finally, we integrate explicit mechanisms of dispersal behaviour in a dynamic model involving a set of interconnected populations. This allows the study of the interplay between collective movements and Allee effects at the scale of the metapopulation.Our work is inspired by the lifestyle of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, a phytophagous pest of recognised agricultural importance. These subsocial mites live in aggregates on the leaf surface, protected by a collectively spun silk web. Experimental evidence suggests that its population dynamics are subject to the Allee effect. Moreover, these mites show a tendency to migrate collectively, which makes them an appropriate biological model., Doctorat en Sciences, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2002, Mark-recapture analysis of populations is becoming an important tool in population biology. Mark-recapture methods can be used to estimate transition probabilities among life-stages from capture histories of marked individuals for which stages can be determined at each sampling occasion. This method is called a multi-stage mark-recapture (MSMR) method. In this thesis, I describe advances I made in the MSMR method and present analyses that apply this method to actual data. The advances I made in the MSMR method are motivated by a need to provide a link between mark-recapture data and demographic models such as matrix population models and integrodifference models. I resolve some issues that are commonly encountered during sampling, such as the fact that the sex or life-stage of some individuals is unknown during some sampling occasions and that individuals become unobservable during some life-stages. I introduce a stage-structure that permits simple conversion of estimated transition probabilities into a matrix population model. I describe an algorithm to simplify programming for parameter estimation. I also introduce a method to estimate the distribution of dispersal displacements (a dispersal kernel) from mark-recapture data. I apply some of the methods described above to data of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) The right whales are considered one of the most endangered mammals. The current population size is about 300 in the northwestern Atlantic, and the number is declining. I applied the multi-stage mark-recapture statistics to the 17-year individual sighting history data. Using the estimated transition probabilities, I constructed a population projection matrix, which was used for further demographic analyses. I found that the population was slowly increasing in 1980, but it started to decline slowly around 1992. I show that (1) this change was caused by increased mortality of females that have just given birth, (2) protecting two females a, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Rinehart Coastal Research Center, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant Program (NOAA NA86RG0075) supported this work through grants to Hal Caswell. Graduate Research Fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution also supported the first year of my study.

The Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) was severely over-exploited in the 18th and 19th centuries and until relatively recently its population had remained steady at well below estimated presealing levels. However, the population is now increasing rapidly (6%–20% per annum) throughout its range and there is a need to understand its dynamics in order to assess the potential extent and impact of interactions with fisheries. Age distribution (n = 156) and pregnancy rate (n = 110) were determined for adult females collected at a breeding colony on Seal Rocks, southeast Australia, in 1971–1972. Mean ± SE and maximum observed ages were 9.37 ± 0.41 and 20 years (n = 1), respectively. A stochastic modelling approach was used to fit an age distribution to the observed age-structure data and calculate rates of recruitment and adult survival. Annual adult female survival and recruitment rates between 1954 and 1971 were 0.478 ± 0.029 (mean ± SE) and 0.121 ± 0.007, respectively, suggesting that the population was experiencing a decline during the 1960s. The pregnancy rate increased from 78% at 3 years of age to an average of 85% between 4–13 years of age before significantly decreasing in older females (the oldest was 19 years of age). There was no significant effect of body mass or condition on the probability of a female being pregnant (P > 0.5 in both cases) and the nutritional burden of lactation did not appear to affect pregnancy rates or gestational performance. These findings suggest that the low survivorship was due to density-independent effects such as mortality resulting from interactions with fishers, which are known to have been common at the time. The recent increase in the population is consistent with anecdotal evidence that such interactions have decreased as fishing practices have changed.

Full Text, Thesis (PhD Doctorate), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Australian School of Environmental Studies, This thesis investigated the autecology of the dacine species, Bactrocera cacuminata (Hering) (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae). I specifically focused on the adult phase of the life cycle and resources believed to be significant to this life stage. The prevailing paradigm in dacine ecology predicts that the larval host plant serves as the centre of dacine activity, a state mediated by mutualistic associations with fruit fly-type bacteria. Contrary to predictions, an explicit test of this hypothesis found that the host plant of B. cacuminata, Solanum mauritianum Scopoli, acted almost exclusively as a site for oviposition and larval development. Other key adult behaviours, most notably feeding and mating, were rare at the host plant. Even in disturbed habitats, the paucity of key adult behaviours such as mating was striking. Adult flies of this species were therefore hypothesized to be utilizing other components of their habitat, i.e. resources vital to their life history requirements. Some of the resources that B. cacuminata are known to respond to include sugar, protein, methyl eugenol and the host plant. The latter three resources are believed to be critical in the reproductive success of dacine flies in general. I assessed the physiological status of flies arriving at these resources to determine if flies of different status foraged for resources differently. In dacines, the internal reproductive structures of the male and female flies have been used as predictors of physiological status. I quantified expansion of the male ejaculatory apodeme in B. cacuminata with age of fly and found that there is a threshold apodeme size that is strongly correlated Abstract with sexual maturity. Maturity of female flies could be accurately predicted by ovarian development. Using these methods to assess the physiological and nutritional status of flies arriving at resources (larval host plant, protein and methyl eugenol) in the field, I discovered that only sexually mature and mat

This thesis investigated the autecology of the dacine species, Bactrocera cacuminata (Hering) (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae). I specifically focused on the adult phase of the life cycle and resources believed to be significant to this life stage. The prevailing paradigm in dacine ecology predicts that the larval host plant serves as the centre of dacine activity, a state mediated by mutualistic associations with fruit fly-type bacteria. Contrary to predictions, an explicit test of this hypothesis found that the host plant of B. cacuminata, Solanum mauritianum Scopoli, acted almost exclusively as a site for oviposition and larval development. Other key adult behaviours, most notably feeding and mating, were rare at the host plant. Even in disturbed habitats, the paucity of key adult behaviours such as mating was striking. Adult flies of this species were therefore hypothesized to be utilizing other components of their habitat, i.e. resources vital to their life history requirements. Some of the resources that B. cacuminata are known to respond to include sugar, protein, methyl eugenol and the host plant. The latter three resources are believed to be critical in the reproductive success of dacine flies in general. I assessed the physiological status of flies arriving at these resources to determine if flies of different status foraged for resources differently. In dacines, the internal reproductive structures of the male and female flies have been used as predictors of physiological status. I quantified expansion of the male ejaculatory apodeme in B. cacuminata with age of fly and found that there is a threshold apodeme size that is strongly correlated Abstract with sexual maturity. Maturity of female flies could be accurately predicted by ovarian development. Using these methods to assess the physiological and nutritional status of flies arriving at resources (larval host plant, protein and methyl eugenol) in the field, I discovered that only sexually mature and mat, Thesis (PhD Doctorate), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Australian School of Environmental Studies, Full Text

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

The total number of kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) harvested in Utah decreased dramatically from 1989 to 1993 as estimated from fur-harvester questionnaires. The estimated total number of kit fox harvested decreased nearly 50% in 1989, dropped another 50% in 1990, and remained less than one third the average of the previous 7 years until 1993, when the study was initiated (Fig. 1)(Thacker and Evans 1995). This severe drop in estimated harvest indicated a substantial decrease in kit fox populations in the Statehowever, annual harvest numbers alone may not give reliable indications of fox abundance because harvest effort varies with pelt price. Using a regression formula, Peck and Heidt (1985) found they could predict fox harvest levels in correlation with pelt prices. As pelt prices increased harvest increased and when pelt prices decreased harvest decreased.

A model is proposed for a mark-recapture experiment with ancillary observations obtained from marked animals any time between capture periods and throughout the geographic range of the animals. The model allows three types of emigration from the site where recaptures are made: (1) random emigration, where the probability an animal is at risk of capture at i does not depend on whether it was at risk of capture at i - 1, (2) permanent emigration where animals can leave the area where they are at risk of capture but not return, and (3) Markov emigration, where the probability an animal is at risk of capture at i depends on whether it was at risk of capture at i - 1. Under random emigration the likelihood function can be factored into a set of conditionally independent binomial terms used to estimate the parameters and a set of conditionally independent multihypergeometric terms that do not involve the parameters. Closed-form maximum likelihood estimators are derived under random emigration for models with age-dependence and a temporary marking effect. Contingency table based goodness-of-fit tests are derived from the multihypergeometric terms in the likelihood function. Contingency table tests of the age-dependence and temporary marking effect models are also derived. Explicit estimators do not appear to exist for permanent or Markov emigration. It is shown that the estimator suggested by Jolly (Biometrika 52:239, 1965), and as a consequence the estimator suggested by Buckland (Biometrics 36:419-435, 1980), is only valid if there is no emigration from the study area or if emigration is random. The estimator suggested by Mardekian and McDonald (Journal of Wildlife Management 45:484-488, 1981) for joint analysis of recapture and tag-recovery data is also only valid under no emigration or random emigration. By making appropriate constraints on parameters the models reduce to previously published models including the Jolly-Seber model (with age-dependence and a temporary m

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Nature's Call is an activity newsletter from Utah's Project WILD. Project WILD activities fare intended for use in both classroom and informal settings and are designed to support state and national academic standards appropriate for grades K-12. The activities can be easily adapted to meet the learning requirements for acadmic disciplines ranging from science and environmental education to social studies, math, and language arts.

Matrix difference equations have been used to model the discrete time dynamics of a variety of populations whose individual members have been categorized into a finite number of classes based on, for example, age, size, or stage. Examples of such models include Leslie's age-structured model and the Usher model, a size-classified model which has been applied to trees, corals, sea turtles, copepods, and fish. These matrix difference equations can incorporate virtually any type of nonlinearity arising from the density dependence of fertility and survival rates and transition probabilities between classes. Under a fairly general set of assumptions, it can be shown that the normalized class distribution vector equilibrates, and thus an asymptotic or limiting equation for total population size can be derived. In this research we assume the existence of a dynamically modeled resource in limited supply for which the members of the species compete, either exploitatively or through interference. The existence and stability of population size equlibria or cycles is then studied by means of bifurcation theory. Several biological considerations are addressed, including the Size-Efficiency Hypothesis of Brooks and Dodson, the effects of changes in individual physiological parameters on the size and competitive success of a species, and the effects of delays on the viability of a species.

Field studies were conducted at Fort Carson, CO, and compared to results obtained from similar studies conducted during the previous year. The results were used to determine annual variation in bird and small mammal populations and to assess this data's usefulness in indicating habitat disturbance caused by Army training activities. Data were collected on shortgrass prairie and pinyon-juniper woodland study sites. The prairie sites showed little change in bird populations or guilds between years. However, variation between years on the woodland site was significant for two bird species and one guild. The cause of this difference is not obvious, but is probably not related to habitat disturbance from training activities. There was no significant change between years in the numbers of most small nocturnal mammals collected on the prairie and pinyon-juniper sites. However, on both sites, there was a significant decrease in the number of harvest mice and a significant decrease in the number of brush mice collected. There was also a significant increase in the number of pinyon mice in the pinyon-juniper woodland site. It appears that annual population fluctuations of mammal species generally occur across habitats, at least locally. The cause of these differences is unknown, but is probably not related to training activities. (Author)

Population genetics, which analyses the genetic structure of natural populations, has an an objective a better understanding of the mechanisms of support of the polymorphism and of the relations between this one and physical, chemical and trophic conditions of the environment. In this double objective, population genetics meet the biology of populations whose demographic aspects can be disturbed by a decrease of polymorphism (inbreeding) or by changes in ecological conditions.

The initial Division of Wildlife Resources impact report on game resources affected by the first phase of the Lyman Project was prepared October 9, 1962 and discussed the now completed Meeks Cabin reservoir on Black's Fork, the proposed China Meadows reservoir on the East Fork of Smith's Fork and the proposed Gilbert Meadows reservoir on Gilbert Creek in Utah. Opposition to the China Meadows site resulted in selection and evaluation of twelve alternatives including nine reservoir sites all in the Smith's Fork drainage in Utah and Wyoming. The alternate sites include Stateline, Dead Horse Park, Perry Ranch, combination of Dead Horse Park and Perry Ranch, East Fork (Sec. 30), Bridger, China Lake, combination of Bridger and China Lake and Gilbert Meadows. Stateline or East Fork (Sec.30) sites are now being considered the most feasible alternates to the China Meadows site and are thus discussed in this environmental inventory report.

Item donated by the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee (UMRCC) to Murphy Library in 2018. Part of the UMRCC Collection housed at Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

A survey was undertaken in the Taramakau catchment to determine the status of red deer (Cervus elaphus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), opossum (Trichosurus vulpecula), and hares (Lepus europeaus) in Protection Forestry planning.

A survey of the condition of the forests, scrublands and alpine grasslands of the upper Taramakau catchment, from the headwaters to the Kelly Range, was carried out during January and February 1969. Fifty-nine permanent plots were established in the grassland, and 243 temporary plots and 20 permanent plots in the forests and scrublands. Two major and four minor alpine grasslands associations, one sub-alpine scrub, and seven forest associations were recognised. These are defined by the physiognomic dominant species. The condition and relative susceptibility of each to ground browsing mammals is described. The animal section is based on detailed reports by L.W. Best (report on the 1969 animal distribution within the Taramakau catchment), C.N. Challies (estimation of the condition of deer in the Taramakau Valley) and I.L. James (Opossum damage in the Taramakau catchment). In it, reference is made to the browsing and grazing mammals which exert significant pressure on the quality of the vegetation: red deer, chamois, opossums and hares.

Originally presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Association of Game. Fish, and Conservation Commissioners, September 9, 1946 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The following information is based on a questionnaire submitted to the game department Or commission of each of the forty-eight states, the U. S. Forest Service and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Returns were received from thirty-nine of the states. Practically all of the big game states responded so that the trends indicated herein may be considered as being representative of the thoughts and records of the various states regarding the status of big game. Summary tables presenting the information as submitted by each of the states have been compiled and are included in the report.

This monograph explains the double negative impact of wildlife resource exploitation by transnational criminal organizations and provides an example of an operational approach to address the problem. The first case study explains the evolution of poaching enforcement during the development of natural parks in the United States. The second case study uses the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to demonstrate how to turn the illicit trade of wildlife resources into a legitimate and profitable industry. The ultimate aim is to secure wildlife resources, deny transnational criminal organizations the opportunity to exploit wildlife resources, and enable legitimate governments to sustain wildlife populations and profit from their own natural environments.