Introduction: New Perspectives of Wildlife Management

Abstract

Faced with numerous environmental concerns, such as deforestation, desertification, and overfishing, human beings have begun to realize that there is no such thing as “unlimited resources” and that we must live sustainably if we intend to continue calling planet Earth our home. With this in mind, conservation of the natural environment and its biodiversity has become a globally shared goal over the last few decades, as shown in the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Sustainable Development Goals, etc. Wildlife have been hunted historically for food, fur, and other uses and are sometimes overhunted to extinction (such as the passenger pigeon [Ectopistes migratorius] and the dodo [Raphus cucullatus]). Large carnivores, like Japanese wolves (Canis lupus hodophilax), have been seen by man as a threat to human lives or livestock and have been hunted to extinction for this reason in many countries around the world. On the other hand, researchers in ecologically based academic disciplines have compiled data and provided evidence that each species on Earth plays a specific role in its ecosystem and constitutes a vital part of the biodiversity within. Many countries have set forth laws restricting the overhunting of species, creating policies not only to conserve threatened species but threatened ecosystems as well. Establishing national parks and/or preservation areas has been thought of as an effective approach to conserving natural environments, and many countries have taken this approach. As of 2016, Japan had established 34 national parks covering about 1% of the total land in the country.