Human-Wildlife Conflicts On The Rise in The United States!

Human-Wildlife Conflicts -Economic Impacts/Statistical Number of NWCO's/Federal, State & Local Agencies - White Paper

September, 2007

o1. Overall Problem

¤ Implementation of protective game laws and science-based wildlife management had their intended result: wildlife populations soared to levels not seen since colonial times. These increasing wildlife populations, in turn, had unexpected consequences as a movement of wildlife into urban areas began and wildlife damage intensified. (Brandt 1997)

o2. Economic Impact to Households

¤ 61% of the 100 largest metropolitan centers in the U.S. reported that they or their household had a problem with one or more wildlife species during the prior year and suffered a mean loss of $73 in damage.

Almost half (42%) of all urban households reported that they tried to solve a wildlife damage problem in the prior year and spent an average of $38 in the attempt. Unfortunately, 52% reported that their efforts to solve the problem were unsuccessful.

When these results are extrapolated to the 60 million metropolitan households in the U.S. (160 million residents), metropolitan households suffered $4.4 billion a year in wildlife damage despite spending $2.3 billion and 268 million hours trying to prevent these problems (Conover 1997b).

If we conservatively value people's time at the minimum wage ($6.15 in 2000), the total labor cost would be $1.6 billion. Hence the total cost of wildlife damage (actual damage plus money and time spent to prevent the problem) to metropolitan residents equals approximately $8.3 billion.

An additional 34 million households (92 million residents) live in smaller cities, towns and rural areas. (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1992). Because wildlife populations should be higher in rural areas, I assume that these households suffer at least as much from wildlife problems as do people living in large metropolitan areas. This could mean that the total annual cost of wildlife damage to rural households (damage plus time spent to prevent the problem) would conservatively amount to $4.2 billion.

Total Economic Losses Due to Wildlife Damage in the U.S.

¤ Damage to automobile, aircraft, agriculture, timber and households costs $22 billion annually. These figures do not include economic losses from human illnesses or injuries caused by wildlife.

Estimated Number of Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators (NWCO's)

¤ It has been estimated that there are 10,000 NWCO's in the U.S. But you should note that this number includes those involved only part time and occasionally. Conservative estimates would suggest that there are 5,000 full time operators. This would equate to 1 NWCO for each 60,400 in population. (Based upon Census Bureau 2007 population)

State Government Agencies - Fish & Game Dept., Animal Control, State Police, Sherriff & Local Police

¤ Government agencies normally do not engage in Human-Wildlife conflict resolution. These agencies are understaffed, untrained and uninsured for wildlife control activities. Animal Control Agencies do not have legal authority to handle wildlife problems.

Federal Government Agencies - Animal Plant Health Inspection Service

¤ This agencies primary duty include education. Wildlife control activities are principally related to the agricultural industry.

Summary

¤ Wildlife conflicts continue to rise across the U.S. while Federal, State and Local agencies budgets continue to shrink. With the current number of NWCO's, there remains a shortage of operators to meet current wildlife control needs. Private sector assistance for rural residents is especially lacking. Private NWCO's will be more in demand as wildlife and human populations continue to rise. It is not uncommon for a client to experience a 2-3 week wait time for service during peak wildlife control times further indicating the lack of NWCO's.