Preface

The emerging and increasing socioeconomic, political, ecological, environmental, and technological changes occurring globally present a critical challenge to scientists, wildlife managers, and policy makers. Wildlife habitats are being degraded and fragmented as human demands for space for food production, infrastructure development, and settlements grow. Species are being pushed to the verge of extinction as their habitats are being degraded and humans attempt to meet their growing household and commercial needs from wildlife products. Wildlife species are further subjected to pre-emptive and retaliatory killing when they inflict economic losses and human mortalities. Climate change, diseases, and proliferation of invasive alien species are reducing the quality of habitats and affecting the population of wildlife species. Political unrest, civil wars, and terrorist acts in some regions have always disrupted the management operations of protected areas and paved a way for wildlife crimes. Reversing the declining and extinction trends that the world is experiencing today because of these factors calls for effective planning, innovations, and adoption of approaches that are developed through scientific realities. This book, *Managing Wildlife in a Changing World*, is comprised of eight chapters presenting issues and possible options for effective management of wildlife in a world where the changes are no longer speculative but rather are real and inevitable.

The introductory chapter by Jafari R. Kideghesho is a review of current status, trends, and drivers of various threats facing wildlife in the world. The author depicts an alarming rate of species loss and examines how different factors contribute to this loss. He underscores a need for effective planning, innovations, and adoption of approaches that are developed through scientific realities. He also proposes that deliberate efforts be taken to address the underlying and proximate causes responsible for the declining trends and extinction of wildlife species.

Chapter 2, "Conserving Freshwater Biodiversity in an African Sub-tropical Wetland: South Africa's Lower Phongolo River and Floodplain" by Acosta, et al., sheds light on the conservation and management issues of freshwater biodiversity in a highly diverse subtropical ecosystem. Based on a decade of survey conducted from 2010 to 2020 in the Phongolo River and Floodplain, this chapter highlights the current diversity of aquatic organisms (invertebrates, fishes, frogs, and their parasitic fauna), followed by an overview of their biological and physical stressors. Also addressed in this chapter are the current challenges in managing the aquatic biodiversity of this region and a way forward to conservation strategies.

In Chapter 3, "The Predicament of Macaque Conservation in Malaysia" Choong et al. provide some highlights on conservation of macaques species in Malaysia, pointing out that the proximity of macaques with human dwellings raises public health concern through the transmission of zoonotic diseases. The vulnerability of macaque species is increasing due to habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation caused by forest clearing for plantation agriculture, selective logging, and increased network of roads because of urbanization. The existing false impression that all macaques are on equal ground and abundance in numbers has subjected these

species to retaliatory and pre-emptive killing. The authors recommend increased scientific studies to understand the needs of these animals for continued survival and co-existence with humans and other animals in the ecosystem. Urgent efforts are required to preserve the natural habitats of the species along with creating public awareness on predicament of these species.

manage invasive alien species. This chapter discusses the regulation and its monitoring, highlighting the lessons learned from the cooperation of the different states

This book is in no way exhaustive in terms of presenting all emerging issues and trends with implications on wildlife conservation. Only four issues, among others, are subjects of this book: habitat management, invasive species, human–wildlife conflicts, and diseases. Other issues including poaching and illegal wildlife trade, climate change, poverty, corruption, political unrest, urbanization, and emerging of economic opportunities and development projects have not been addressed. This is not because they are less damaging to wildlife, but because the scope of this book was limited to four issues only. However, the book alerts managers, policy makers, and the international community on the imminent danger facing wildlife resources and a need to pay more attention on these issues and trends. The book also inspires academicians and researchers to play their roles in providing adequate scientific data and recommendations in view of improving evidence-based decisions for practical solutions that can abate and reverse the current declining trends on wildlife

**Jafari R. Kideghesho**

Moshi, Tanzania

College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka,

in the EU.

and biodiversity resources.

Chapter 4, "Diseases as Impediments to Livestock Production and Wildlife Conservation Goals" by Atuman et al., recognizes diseases transmission and pathogen spill-over at the wildlife–livestock interface as a growing concern to public and the scientific community due to impacts they exert on wildlife, livestock, and human health. The chapter describes the epidemiology of some viral infections (foot and mouth disease and rabies), bacterial infections (tuberculosis and brucellosis), and parasites (hemo and endoparasites) at the wildlife–livestock interface and potential impacts to livestock production and conservation goals. The authors recommend adoption of preventive measures that are geared towards improved disease surveillance among domestic and wild animals at the edges of protected areas using improved diagnostic techniques, vector control, and implementation of restrictions on anthropogenic animal movement, concomitant with public enlightenment campaign and behavioral change.

Chapter 5, "Interlinks between Wildlife and Domestic Cycles of *Echinococcus* spp. in Kenya" by Kagendo et al., presents cystic echinococcosis, a zoonotic disease of humans and animals, as a serious public health and economic problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially for pastoralists and nomadic communities. The authors attribute failure to control the disease to lack of resources and limited knowledge about epidemiology. They advocate for more research on problems related to wildlife diseases, determining the presence of such diseases, their prevalence, and their influence on wildlife conservation to improve disease outbreak preparedness.

Chapter 6, "Wildlife Management Areas in Tanzania: Vulnerability and Survival Amidst COVID-19" by Shoo et al., uses the five Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) located in Northern Tanzania to show the negative impacts that WMAs have suffered following the outbreak of COVID-19 and, consequently, disruption of flow of revenues from tourism. WMAs, established as intervention to safeguard wildlife and their habitats outside the core protected areas, provide an opportunity for local communities to manage and benefit from these areas and therefore their poor performance has watered down conservation efforts and local livelihoods. To avoid similar impacts in the future, the authors recommend the creation of local mechanisms for revenue acquisition that are more resilient to global shocks, diversifying revenue-generating options within WMAs, and putting in place the right funding model that would warrant WMAs' sustainability.

In Chapter 7, "A Step Change in Wild Boar Management in Tuscany Region, Central Italy," Zaccaroni et al. describe the challenges associated with managing wild ungulates. Increased population of the species has intensified human-wildlife conflicts and economic burden to the extent that the traditional management approach can hardly cope with the challenge. The authors outline some strategies to complement the existing traditional management approach.

In Chapter 8, "Managing Invasive Alien Species by the European Union: Lessons Learnt," by Ludwig Kramer sheds light on the fight against invasive alien species within the European Union. In 2014, the EU adopted a regulation to identify and manage invasive alien species. This chapter discusses the regulation and its monitoring, highlighting the lessons learned from the cooperation of the different states in the EU.

This book is in no way exhaustive in terms of presenting all emerging issues and trends with implications on wildlife conservation. Only four issues, among others, are subjects of this book: habitat management, invasive species, human–wildlife conflicts, and diseases. Other issues including poaching and illegal wildlife trade, climate change, poverty, corruption, political unrest, urbanization, and emerging of economic opportunities and development projects have not been addressed. This is not because they are less damaging to wildlife, but because the scope of this book was limited to four issues only. However, the book alerts managers, policy makers, and the international community on the imminent danger facing wildlife resources and a need to pay more attention on these issues and trends. The book also inspires academicians and researchers to play their roles in providing adequate scientific data and recommendations in view of improving evidence-based decisions for practical solutions that can abate and reverse the current declining trends on wildlife and biodiversity resources.

> **Jafari R. Kideghesho** College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka, Moshi, Tanzania

### **Chapter 1**
