Culling for Conservation

Culling is reduction of the population of (a wild or a stray animal) by selective slaughter.
It happens all the while in Nature, where it is the process of weeding out of the weak — through starvation, disease and predation. It is nature’s way of controlling population and selecting the fittest. A population boom of certain species makes individuals compete for food and safety, and the weaker ones lose out, leaving a smaller population of more able individuals. So Nature ensures that no ecosystem supports more herbivores than can possibly forage adequately, and more carnivores than those herbivores can provide for.

But all that Nature's 'fair' play is changing with human intervention. Loss of forestland to men-choosen mines, industry, agriculture, roads, railways, canals etc. is a big trigger for man-animal conflict. We are destroying forests with the result that the eco-systems that support them are facing tremendous pressures. Restricting them to small pockets of wilderness more like large-scale zoos will have severe counteract consequences.  Predators are trying to visit human settlements to get food. Herbivours (animals who eat plant products) too are coming to our dwellings to compete with us for food.

Introducing wildlife to new places -  either intentionally introduced or unintentional ones like  rides on an airplane or ship - can have severe outcomes too. Newly arrived species can become superabundant in the absence of natural predators. The problem is that they can become victims of their own success and become so abundant that they then become a threat to the survival of other species and to their own populations.

In urban areas of India, populations of stray dogs and cats are booming because we are 'supplying them food' by irresponsibly throwing left-over items of kitchen and dining hall on roads. These animals are not only attacking children (as they don't know how to deal with a pack of stray dogs and arouse and assault them in various ways), but also killing new-born babies ( because people who live on streets lack protection from these strays) and spreading diseases like rabies.

These situations are demanding management of wildlife populations and urban animals through sterilization and controlled and selective hunting and killing, which is now referred to as culling.

This is a last resort, and people themselves do not ask for such extreme steps until it seems their own survival is at stake. 

When certain pockets of farmlands see a population boom in herbivores, farmers cannot wait for predators to reoccupy such areas and carry out population control for them. The absence of lawful intervention often triggers retaliation by illegal means. In anger, farmers may indiscriminately target wildlife, including those that may not be causing any problem.

But is culling ethical?

Conservationists are concerned about the integrity of the ecosystem and the future of entire species. If some animal species become more abundant, they can impact, destroy and kill  other species which are not so  successful in evolutionary terms. This might cause more imbalance and sometimes could  lead to entire ecosystem collapse. If wildlife managers don't cull, then nature culls, and we will see animals starving and habitat types that used to be vibrant and beautiful consisting of highly reduced numbers of species. That's the scene that frightens wildlife conservationists.

Evidence-based rationale is the main reason behind culling. A small crime is better than a greater one!   Maintaining the general health of the most biodiverse habitats is vital for conservation when seen in broader terms. 

Animal welfare activists don't understand this scientifically. They believe that every individual animal has a right to live, even at the cost of putting entire species or whole systems at risk. 

I am against killing animals too. But as a person of science, when something becomes a necessary evil, I just shrug and move on! 

No doubt a sound plan where risks are anticipated and avoided, and the intended goal of disease reduction or achieving a sustainable population level highly likely and constantly monitored is the better option. But when we are faced with speedy human population explosion and the consequent uncontrollable Natural resource exploitation,  where is the time for long term planning? We are running out of time, out of resources, out of plans, out of success.  

All because of population explosion! Medical science has given us a boon of long life and the resultant sequel of vivacious human drama. It has also given us population control methods to counteract the bad ramifications. But if we use only one, i.e., the former and the refuse to use the latter, we have to face these consequences and quick-fix disasters!

Think about that!