This document summarizes the impact of human activity on wildlife. It defines wildlife as non-domesticated animals and explains that carefully managed populations can be conserved indefinitely. It then outlines some threats to wildlife like habitat loss, pollution, hunting and introduction of exotic species. The document discusses India's efforts to conserve wildlife through national parks, sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, and legal protections. It provides examples of protected areas in India and conservation measures taken, highlighting the importance of breeding programs, prevention of hunting, and enforcement of wildlife laws.

1. HUMANIMPACT ON WILDLIFE
NIT Calicut
A Presentation By-
N. Priyanka
Sweta Jamgade
S. Naga Sailesh
Trideep Nayan Deka

2. What Is Wildlife?
"Wildlife" is a term that
refers to animals that are not
normally domesticated. They
are a living resource that will
die and be replaced by others
of their kind. Individual
animals cannot be kept
beyond their life span. But if
managed carefully,
populations of wildlife can be
conserved practically forever.

3.  Wildlife is a symbol of national pride and cultural heritage.
 Over 100 years ago, there were over 1 lakh tigers across Asia whereas today
this number is below 5000 worldwide.
 Wildlife is renewable source of a large variety of commercial products like
food, leathers, honey, herbal medicines, timber etc.
 Scientists and medical researchers use wildlife animals as research materials
on which trial experiments are performed before there actual application to
human beings ( Eg. Xenotransplantation).
 Project Tiger and Gir Lion Project have been launched by the government
of India to protect the tiger and lion population in country.

4. Benefits of Wildlife
• Wildlife is an essential component of various food chains, food webs,
biogeochemical cycles and energy flow through various trophic levels.
• Preserves vitality and health of environment and provides stability to
various ecosystems

5. Five Basic Values of Wildlife
• Aesthetic value
• the enjoying of wildlife’s beauty and pleasure
• Scientific value
• studying and research of wildlife for their use in medications,
integrated pest management, etc…
• Ecological Value
• the interaction of wildlife in nature

6. • Commercial
• using wildlife to earn money
• Game Value
• the enjoyment value gained through hunting and fishing

7. Threats to wildlife
Wildlife everywhere on the earth is under threat of
extinction and struggling hard for survival.
1. Habitat loss :
Population growth, fast industrialisation , urbanisation and modernisation
have all contributed to a large-scale destruction of natural habitat of plants
and animals.
2. Pollution:
 Air, water, soil and noise pollution of the magnitude and toxicity never seen
before is the major factor.
 Natural habitats have been destroyed or damaged by activities such as the
indiscriminate use of synthetic materials, release of radiations and oil spills
in the sea, generation of effluents and wastes of various kinds and toxicity,
and their unscientific disposal.

8. 3. Indiscriminate hunting:
 Indiscriminate killing and poaching of wild animals for food, horn, fur,
tusk etc. has resulted in reduction and even extinction of many wild
species.
4. Introduction of exotic species:
 Many native species have known to disappear and their existence is
under threat because of the introduction of exotic and alien species.

10. WILDLIFE
PRESERVING A VALUABLE RESOURCE

11. Wildlifeconservation
• Wildlife conservation is the practice of protecting wild plant and
animal species and their habitats.
• Among the goals of wildlife conservation are to ensure that nature will
be around for future generations to enjoy and to recognize the
importance of wildlife and wilderness lands to humans.
• Many nations have government agencies dedicated to wildlife
conservation, which help to implement policies designed to protect
wildlife. Numerous independent non-profit organizations also promote
various wildlife conservation causes.
• Wildlife conservation has become an increasingly important practice
due to the negative effects of human activity on wildlife.

12. Partsof WildlifeConservation
• Education
• learning how to conserve wildlife and its resources
• Research
• using science to better understand the needs and requirements of
wildlife and its habitat
• Law Enforcement
• ensures that all laws related to wildlife are followed
• Wildlife Management
• manipulation of wildlife to achieve a positive goal

13. National parks
A national park is protected area of land in which a typical
ecosystem with all its wild plants and animals are protected
and preserved in natural surroundings.
• As of April 2012, there were 102 national parks.
• Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, established in 1936, was the
first national park in India.
• All national park lands then encompassed a total 39,919 km2,
comprising 1.21% of India's total surface area

14. • A total of 166 national parks have been authorized.
• Over 17 national parks and sanctuaries have been selected for Project
Tiger to protect and increase tiger population in India.

15. IMPORTANTNATIONALPARKSOFINDIA

16. Wildlife Sanctuary
A sanctuary is a protected are of land, wetland or sea reserved for
the conservation of wild animals, birds and plants.
• India has over 492 wildlife sanctuaries.
• These cover over 3% of India’s total geographical area.
• Hunting of any kind is prohibited in sanctuaries.
• Private ownership rights over sanctuaries and limited human activities
may be granted provided they do not interfere with the normal
activities(feeding, nesting, breeding of wildlife

17. Important national sanctuaries of India

18. Biosphere reserves
• Biosphere reserves are a specific category of protected area of land and/or
coastal area wherein tribal people native to the area are an integral part of
the system.
• The concept of Biosphere Reserve was conceived by the UN and was
launched in 1975 as a part of UNESCO’s “Man and Biosphere”
Programme.
• In bioreserves various uses of land are permitted by dividing it into 3
distinct zones viz, Core Zone, Buffer Zone and Transition Zone.
• The government of India has established 18 biosphere reserves.

19. • There are approximately 610 biosphere reserves located in 117
countries of the world.
• There are 18 biosphere reserves zones in India.
• Nine of the Eighteen biosphere reserves are a part of the World
Network of Biosphere Reserves, based on the UNESCO Man and the
Biosphere (MAB) Programme list

20. Biosphere Reservesof India

21. Conservation measures
• The conservation strategies should include the following programmes
and policies:
Protection of threatened/useful plants and animals species living in
natural habitats, zoological and botanical gardens, seed gene, tissue
culture and DNA banks.
Preservation of critical habitats of animal and plant species plus the
management of life supporting systems in the surrounding habitats.

22. Hunting and international trade in wild animals and plants products
should be regulated and a strict vigil should be maintained upon these
actions.
Role of government and NGOs in spreading awareness programmes
among common people about values of wildlife and it’s conservation.

23. IUCN(International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources)
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an
international organisation dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to
our most pressing environment and development challenges".
• The organization publishes the IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species, which assesses the conservation status of species.

24. • It works for the enlistment and preservation of endangered species of
plants and animals.
• Now known as the World Conservation Union, it aims to impart
information about the distribution and status of threatened species,
develop awareness about the importance of threatened biodiversity and
guide their conservation programmes and actions.

25. The union has identified and documented endangered species of plants and
animals and has placed them into eight “Red List” categories. The red list
categories can be regrouped into four main categories as follows:
• EXTINCT SPECIES
• ENDANGERD SPECIES
• VULNERNABLE SPECIES
• RARE SPECIES

26. Other measures taken for Wildlife conservation
• Breeding programmes for endangered species
• Prevention of poaching, hunting and biopiracy

27. Enforcement of legal provisions
• Some important legal provisions related to wildlife protection and
conservation:
Forest conservation act, 1980
National forest policy, 1988
Wildlife protection act, 1972
( amended 1991, 2002 )

28. Forest conservation act, 1980
• India is one among a few countries in the world which has a Forest Act
since 1927.
• The act was reformulated in 1980 and later amended in 1988.
The Act empowered the government and the forest department
• To create and manage reserved forests, protected forests and village
forests.
• To protect non-governmental forests and forest land.
• To control movement of forest produce.
• To control and regulate cattle grazing.

29. National forest policy, 1988
• In the year 1952, India formulated her first forest policy which laid
more emphasis on revenue generation than on sustainability of forests
and their natural functions.
• The new forest policy emphasises conservation of forests as a natural
heritage and ensures environmental stability and maintenance of
ecological balance including atmospheric equilibrium which is so vital
for life and growth of all life forms including wildlife.

30. Wildlife protection act, 1972(Amended 1991, 2002)
 The act was passed by the Parliament of India to protect India’s wildlife.
 Before 1972,India only had five designated national parks. Among other
reforms, the Act established schedules of protected plant and animal
species; hunting or harvesting these species was largely outlawed.

31. The main objective of the Act are as follows:
Prohibition on hunting of specified plants and/or animals.
 Setting up and management of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
Control of trade and commerce in wildlife, and wildlife products.
Setting up of wildlife advisory board from state level to block and
panchayat levels and empowering zoo authorities with control and
management of zoos and for captive breeding.
The amendment to this Act in 2002 brought in the concept of Community
Reserves and made the provision of the Act more stringent by altering
several definitions in the previous Act.

32. International rules and laws
Many nations have reached bilateral/multilateral agreements and have
framed rules and regulations for protection and conservation of wildlife.
Some of these are:
AFRICANCONVENTIONONTHECONSERVATIONOFNATURALRESOURCES,1968.
CONVENTIONOFWETLANDSOFINTERNATIONALIMPORTANCE(RAMSAR
CONVENTION),1971
CONSERVATIONANDPROTECTIONOFTHEWORLDCULTUREANDNATIONAL
HERITAGEACT,1972

33. SURVEYS THROUGHOUT INDIA
Population of Asiatic Elephants in the
last decade:
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
2002 2005 2011
Elephants In
Kerala
Elephants in
India
One Horned Rhinos in KNP
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
1966
1972
1978
1984
1986
1989
1991
1993
1995
1999
2005
2013

34. Leopards- Poaching for skin
Sloth Bears- Circus Training
Asiatic Buffalo- Habitat Loss
Asiatic Lion- Hunting and Poaching
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Leopards(NT) Sloth Bears(VU) Asiatic Buffalo(EN) Asiatic Lion(EN)
1970s
2000
2010

35. A WAKE UP CALL?
BROWN- Decrease in
Tiger numbers.
BLUE- Population if no
action is taken.
ORANGE- Targeted
increase in population.

36. A Survey in the WWS

37. Survey of Birds in
Wayanad Wildlife
Sanctuary this year,
2014
Wayanad a renowned wildlife sanctuary of
Kerala is famous for its rich flora and
fauna.
Recent bird survey carried out in WWS
reveals the presence of 189 species of
birds.
13 of which are new bird species found in
the region this year.
five species are of eagles while eight were
wet land birds.

38. THE END