Animal-conservation problems vary widely depending on the type of animal (whether, for exa.... anim conserv

In many countries, game animals are widely hunted by sportsmen, over both private and public lands; thus an outstanding factor in wildlife conservation in such regions is the licensing and supervision of hunters. Although primitive people had a far more immediate stake in wildlife than modern people do, it is virtually certain that early humans had little concept of conserving game. Modern ecologists perceive that nature is a series of complex biotic communities of which the human species is an interdependent part; a spokesman for conservationists, Aldo Leopold, has argued that the Golden Rule applies to the land and to its animals as well as to people. The primary factor in the depletion of the world's fauna has been modern human society, operating either directly through excessive commercial hunting or, more disastrously, indirectly through invading or destroying natural habitats, placing firearms in the hands of peoples who previously were without them, or introducing to ! the native fauna of certain areas (Australia and various islands) more aggressive exotic (nonnative) mammals. Animal protection must begin with the conservation of the habitatthe area where animals feed, rest, and breed. This naturally involves the preservation of much besides the animal population itself, including conservation of vegetation cover and soil. An example of earlier attitudes is well illustrated by Great Britain, which passed through two centuries of so-called game protection, the original purpose of which was to create artifically high populations of grouse, partridge, pheasant, mallard, and other sporting species and, at the same time, to reduce the populations of such predators as the stoat, weasel, otter, wildcat, and badger, as well as birds of prey including owls. anim conserv