Michael J. Lannoo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226358475
- eISBN:
- 9780226358505
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226358505.003.0005
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Nature
In this chapter I outline the development of the field of wildlife biology. By the late nineteenth century, a portion of the wildlife that Americans valued—they ate Passenger Pigeons, wore the ...
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In this chapter I outline the development of the field of wildlife biology. By the late nineteenth century, a portion of the wildlife that Americans valued—they ate Passenger Pigeons, wore the feathers of wading birds, and justified killing economically important bison through the narrowest definition of national interest—was disappearing. Could the extinctions of economically important species be justified in terms of short-term profits or political gain? Many Americans thought not—that it made more sense to preserve these animals, as well as the hundreds of fish, bird, and mammal species important either commercially or for sport. Out of this sentiment arose the wildlife biologists and their unique contributions, described here.Less
In this chapter I outline the development of the field of wildlife biology. By the late nineteenth century, a portion of the wildlife that Americans valued—they ate Passenger Pigeons, wore the feathers of wading birds, and justified killing economically important bison through the narrowest definition of national interest—was disappearing. Could the extinctions of economically important species be justified in terms of short-term profits or political gain? Many Americans thought not—that it made more sense to preserve these animals, as well as the hundreds of fish, bird, and mammal species important either commercially or for sport. Out of this sentiment arose the wildlife biologists and their unique contributions, described here.
