The Fundamentals of the Ranching-Wildlife Interface

Posted: January 4th, 2023

The Fundamentals of the Ranching-Wildlife Interface

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The Fundamentals of the Ranching-Wildlife Interface

Reconciling livestock production with wildlife conservation on rangelands requires a break from the traditional approach in which agriculture and conservation are depicted by competing, separate areas of governmental administration and society. Integrated techniques are applicable at the landscape level with local people empowered to gain from livestock and wildlife together, and with management groups focused on improving the resilience of all social-ecological systems (du Toit et al., 2017). Developing an integrated structure requires knowledge on the reasons why the old ways are still applicable in some grazing lands, together with awareness of how to alleviate the problems. Ranchers aspiring to achieve a satisfying outcome in interfacing ranching and wildlife should consider how the animals’ habitat influences their survival to eradicate features that could foster competition, hunger, or environmental degradation.

Successful integration of wildlife and domestic livestock requires an understanding of the primary habitat needs of both groups of animals. Shewmaker and Bohle (2010) write that domestic livestock and wildlife share the same four fundamental requirements; cover, space, food, and water. Although the relative importance of these requirements to the existence of the animals or population could vary, the survival of these animals would depend on whether these provisions meet specific needs. It is vital to know that whereas herbivorous may require grass and herbs as their staple food, carnivorous animals would need more fleshy foods (Shewmaker & Bohle, 2010). Ranchers seeking to put livestock together with wildlife, for instance, should know that most ruminant wildlife species are choosy consumers whose level of selectivity differs depending upon physiological and morphological adjustments. In this sense, ranchers should know livestock, like wildlife, fall under three categories; concentrate such as giraffe, deer and moose, intermediate such as goat, impala, and elk, and roughage such as cattle and bison (Barnes et al.). The ranchers must also be aware that the leading factors hindering diet selection in most wildlife species are quality in terms of nutritional value and quantity of food available (Barnes et al.). Integrating livestock and wildlife in the same rangeland without ensuring that both populations not only get the four basic requirements but also get them without much competition or hindrance may cause a clash or competition in an attempt to survive.  

Ranchers trying to understand what they can do to co-exist with wildlife should know that prosperous integration is only possible by eradicating the limiting factors. A limiting factor, according to Barnes et al., refers to the basic need that restrains the quality, size, and growth of an animal population. The ranchers should know that the limiting factors tend to differ over both space and time. For instance, food may be a limiting factor when water is available, and food is scarce. In contrast, water may be the limiting factor in scenarios where there is abundant food, but water is inadequate. In other words, any order of requirements is dynamic such that it differs as a function of the transforming features of the resident habitat relative to its capacity to achieve the changing wants of the animals prevent.

Integrating wildlife and livestock requires ranchers to know that the primary distinction between the hierarchy of needs of livestock and that of wildlife is connected to people’s ability to lower the frequency of occurrence and magnitude limiting factors. An excellent example is where in intensively managed livestock production structures, food needs are achieved by regulating livestock numbers and by offering supplemental feeds (Barnes et al.). Likewise, cover and water requirements are attained by building shelters and watering facilities, whereas space requirements are changed through redistribution of space, cover time, water, and food (Barnes et al.). Ranchers should remember that these obligations are much harder to implement in extensively wildlife settings, mainly due to the natural behavioral features of most species. Some species of animals are harder to control, for example, because of the innate feelings of many wildlife species to escape from predators or avoid detection following identification. The predator, in this case, could be some carnivorous animals or humans. Being conversant with the effects of limiting factors may help to avoid unnecessary competition and discomfort among both populations.

Ranchers are likely to achieve an effective interface of wildlife and livestock by considering the possible effects of their practice on their environment. Keeping excessive animals could cause severe water erosion and gullies on hillsides as a result of flash flooding on an overgrazed range (National Research Council, 1994). It is also necessary to consider the possible effects of treading on the grazing land. Treading of soil by grazing herds has the potential of being harmful to the soil by lowering infiltration, causing vertical displacements and erosions, and making the soil to be compact (National Research Council, 1994). A possible solution would be to keep a reasonable number of animals that the rancher can sustain without affecting the range or grazing land. Otherwise, overpopulation could have devastating effects on the ecosystem. 

Conclusion

Ranchers aspiring to integrate livestock and wildlife must know some of the critical aspects that would make the fusion successful. Achieving the best results in the ranching-wildlife interface requires the rancher to consider the impact of the animals’ habitat on their existence and survival by ensuring that the four basic requirements (space, cover, water, and food) are available. Ranchers should try to avoid any threat to the ecosystem because of overpopulation or overgrazing that is likely to occur during integration.

References

Barnes, T., et al. Wildlife. Chapter 8.

du Toit J.T., Cross P.C., & Valeix, M. (2017). Managing the livestock–wildlife interface on rangelands. In: Briske D. (eds) Rangeland systems. Springer series on environmental management. Springer, Champaign, IL. pages: 395 – 415.

National Research Council. (1994). Rangeland health: New methods to classify, inventory, and monitor rangelands. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.

Shewmaker, G., & Bohle, M. (2010). Pasture and grazing management in the Northwest. Moscow: University of Idaho Extension.