The Exploitation of Mammal Populations

Human exploitation of other mammals has passed through three histori­ cal phases, distinct in their ecological significance though overlapping in time. Initially, Homo sapiens was a predator, particularly of herbivores but also of fur-bearing predators. From about 11 000 years ago, goats and sheep were domesticated in the Middle East, rapidly replacing gazelles and other game as the principal source of meat. The principal crops, including wheat and barley, were taken into agriculture at about the same time, and the resulting Neolithic farming culture spread slowly from there over the subsequent 10 500 years. In a few places such as Mexico, Peru and China, this Middle Eastern culture met and merged with agricultural traditions that had made a similar but independent transition. These agricultural traditions provided the essential support for the industrial revolution, and for a third phase of industrial exploita­ tion of mammals. In this chapter, these themes are drawn out and their ecological signifi­ cance is investigated. Some of the impacts of humans on other mammals require consideration on a world-wide basis, but the chapter concen­ trates, parochially, on Great Britain. What have been the ecological consequences of our exploitation of other mammals? 2. 2 HISTORICAL PHASES OF EXPLOITATION 2. 2. 1 Predatory man Our nearest relatives - chimpanzees, orang utans and gorillas - are essentially forest species, deriving most of their diet from the fruits of forest trees and the shoots and leaves of plants.

Table of Contents:
One Exploitation of Mammal Populations: Past, Present and Future.- 1 The exploitation, sustainable use and welfare of wild mammals.- 2 Historical dichotomies in the exploitation of mammals.- 3 The wild fur trade: historical and ecological perspectives.- 4 Assessing the impacts of uses of mammals: the good, the bad and the neutral.- Two Harvesting Wild Mammal Populations.- 5 Game ranching.- 6 Status and exploitation of the saiga antelope in Kalmykia.- 7 Capybara use and conservation in South America.- 8 Sustainable use of whales: whaling or whale watching?.- Three Hunting and Its Impact on Wildlife.- 9 The impact of game meat hunting on target and non-target species in the Serengeti.- 10 Subsistence hunting and mammal conservation in a Kenyan coastal forest: resolving a conflict.- 11 The impact of sport hunting: a case study.- 12 Studies of English red deer populations subject to hunting-to-hounds.- Four Wildlife Trade and Conservation.- 13 Zimbabwe: a model for the sustainable use of wildlife and the development of innovative wildlife management practices.- 14 Sustainable utilization: the lessons of history.- 15 Wildlife trade — a conserver or exploiter?.- 16 The tiger — road to extinction.- 17 The exploitation of Asian elephants.- Five Ecotourism: Making Mammal Populations Pay.- 18 The impact of ecotourism development on rainforest mammals.- 19 Ecotourism and mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes.- 20 Use, misuse and abuse of the orang utan — exploitation as a threat or the only real salvation?.- 21 Elephant family values.- 22 Human disturbance of cetaceans.

Review :
...presents clear and well written papers on a variety of aspects of importance and certainly presents a number of issues that require current and future serious consideration...- Journal of Animal Ecology