WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATE 

This is a foundation entry level course to develop skills that would be valued for working in wildlife parks, zoos, refuges or wilderness management. This course incorporates some key studies which are in demand for employees in such establishments.

Duration 600 Hours.

To obtain the certificate you must successfully complete all assignments and pass an examination in the following 6 modules.

Introduction To Ecology

Wildlife Management

Ornithology

Marine Studies I

Environmental Assessment

There are seven lessons in this course as follows:

1. Ecosystems & Populations
   Components of an ecosystem, Biomes, Detrital & grazing webs, trophic levels, energy flows etc
2. The Development of Life
   Lifespans, Natural selection, Genetics, Understanding arguments for and against theory of evolution, etc.
3. Animals, Parasites & Endangered Species
   Comparative anatomy, how animals fit in ecosystems, animals in the human community, parasites, etc
4. Fungi, Tundra, Rainforests & Marshlands
   Physiology, anatomy, classification and ecology of fungi; Location, the climate, the plant and animal life related to different systems including tundra, marshes and rainforests.
5. Mountains, Rivers & Deserts
   Formation ecology and importance of mountains (including erosion, volcanoes etc), formation & types of rivers, catchments, dams, deserts and their ecology, etc.
6. Shallow Waters
   Shore lines, coral reefs, intermediate reefs, estuaries, sandy shores, etc.
7. Ecological Problems
   The Greenhouse Effect, The Ozone Layer, Poisons & Waste Materials

Module 2 - VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY

The course is divided into ten lessons as follows:

1. Vertebrate Taxonomy and Diversity
2. Fishes
3. Ectotherms: Amphibians and Reptiles
4. Birds
5. Overview of Mammals
6. Marsupials
7. Mammalian Glires and Insectivora
8. Carnivores
9. Hooved Mammals: Ungulata
10. Primates and other Archonta

Module 3 - WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

The course is divided into nine lessons as follows:

1. Introduction To Wildlife Management
2. Wildlife Ecology
3. Wildlife Habitats
4. Population Dynamics
5. Carrying Capacity
6. Wildlife Censuses
7. Wildlife Management Techniques
8. Wildlife Management Law And Administration
9. Wildlife Management Case Study Research Project

Module 4 - ORNITHOLOGY

The course consists of nine lessons.

1. Classification and Introduction to Birdwatching.
2. The Biology of Birds: Anatomy, external & internal structure, breeding, eggs etc.
3. Common and Widespread Land Birds: Pests, introduced birds, pigeons, crows and their relatives, etc.
4. Giant Birds & Long Legged Birds: Emu, Ostrich, Herons, Storks & Relatives etc
5. Seabirds & Waterbirds
6. Hunters -Birds of Prey, Owls, Kingfishers
7. Passeriformes
8. Other Birds Parrots, Honeyeaters, Swifts and others
9. Attracting, Feeding & Keeping Birds

Module 5 - MARINE STUDIES I

This course has 9 lessons as follows:

1. Marine Ecology Systems
2. Shallow Waters & Reefs
3. Shellfish & Crustaceans
4. Squid, Octopus, and Other Primitive Animals
5. Fish Part A
6. Fish Part B
7. Marine Mammals
8. Turtles, Sea Snakes and Seabirds
9. Human Impact on Marine Environments & Fishing

Module 6 - ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

There are 8 lessons in this course as follows:

1. Types of Employment for Environmental Scientists.
2. Introduction to Environmental Assessment.
3. International Environmental Law.
4. Domestic Environmental Law
5. Types of Environmental Assessments
6. The Design and Process of Environmental Assessment.
7. Writing Environmental Reports Research Project

Goals of Wildlife Management

The goals of wildlife management vary considerably with the situation. Goals of wildlife management plans can include:

• maintain a desirable population at a healthy level.
• reduce the population of an undesirable species.
• allow for sustainable removal of animals from a population – for example, harvesting wildlife for meat.
• increase numbers of an endangered species.

Approaches to Wildlife Management

Preservation

Wildlife preservation is where wildlife managers try to leave a population or habitat in its natural state. Active management may be required to maintain or recreate naturally occurring populations of animals and plants. Basically, areas are protected from destruction and are left so that nature takes its course. When nature takes its course, it may not always be favourable for the wildlife involved as change is inevitable in natural systems. The survival of the American Whooping Crane is an example of Preservation. The population size of this species has grown from a critical level of 15 individuals to just under 300 species due to the preservation of key breeding sites such as Wood Buffalo National Park.

Conservation

Conservation can have various meanings to different groups. In this course, conservation means that wildlife managers are actively managing a natural system to maintain and use natural resources in such as way as to preserve its biodiversity for future generations of humans and animals. For example, in Uganda, East Africa, statutes are in place to allow for the protection of wildlife whilst allowing managers to sustainably harvest resources such as timber.

Management

Management is the focus of this course. It involves the manipulation of populations to achieve specific objectives for wildlife and humans. This manipulation may be in order to increase the size of the population, to “harvest” animals in a sustainable way or to reduce or stabilise a population. Management can be applied to both pest and desirable species. For example, across most of Australia, the red fox is a major pest species due to its success as a predator of native wildlife and livestock. Wildlife managers are attempting to control this population through a baiting program in conjunction with trapping and shooting.

Work with Wildlife

This course provides with knowledge and practical skills to people working or wishing to work in wildlife care and management.

"Learn more in this certificate than you will in some diploma courses elsewhere. ACS certificates comprehensive 600-hour programs, designed to set our graduates up for long term career success" Principal John Mason FIOH, FPLA

Wildlife management is the manipulation of wild animal populations and their habitats for the benefit of both humans and wildlife. Wildlife management includes running parks and reserves, altering and rehabilitating wildlife habitats, pest control, protecting human life and property and managing harvests of wildlife.

Controlling populations of wildlife may take one of the following forms:

1. Managing wildlife habitats
2. Managing people
3. Managing individuals in populations so that the population will either change or remain constant.

With regards to Wildlife Management as a career, you are probably aware that it is a highly competitive field, with many more applicants for jobs than the job market can absorb. Therefore, many nature parks, zoos and other employers can and do set quite demanding requirements for interested persons. In most situations, they require you to demonstrate your commitment to working with animals and your psychological suitability for such work through volunteering. This often applies to those with qualifications as well as those without, as not everyone who wants to work with animals has the personality or personal qualities for such work.

Jobs in wildlife management may only be offered to volunteers and not advertised, and it is often the case that only those volunteers willing to work on a casual basis or on call will gain the jobs anyway, which can make it very difficult for volunteers who cannot afford to give up stable positions. 

A qualification will certainly make you more attractive as a recruit, but it is usually not enough to gain you a job in this field, unless you are qualified for, and seeking a job that requires particular skills and knowledge, such as veterinary science. Our courses written by writers with experience and qualifications in this field, who have a good understanding of what is needed.

The reality of the situation is that even a university degree in this field does not guarantee work in the field, either in the U.K. or in Australia. In fact, one of our Australian tutors who has a university degree in Wildlife Management has not yet been able to find work in that field and is doing volunteer work to help open doors.

Having said this, if you are able to gain a degree in this field, it may be best to do so.

As for job opportunities in this field, we do have students who have entered this field on the basis of our courses, but they were particularly motivated and willing to work for long periods on their own or on voluntary basis.

Others have ended up working in parks where they find themselves using more practical skills such as horticulture, constructing paths and working with machinery.

This does not present a clear picture of your prospects, but this is not a field that offers clear career paths, and that requires great personal initiative. Or you might just be fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and bypass the usual difficulties.