NATF330 Wildlife Management

The course covers important contemporary topics within Norwegian wildlife management. Leading experts from universities and management agencies in Norway lectures on their field of expertise. This could be a senior advisor from the Norwegian Environment Agency who sits with the decision of whether or not to take out a wolf after predatory events on livestock, a researcher active in the discussion of ban of lead ammunition, or a researcher in the Norwegian scientific committee for food and environment evaluating the strategies for preventing a further spread of chronic Wasting disease. Ahead of each lecture the students and the course responsible discuss two scientific papers, central for the upcoming lecture (often co-authored by the lecturer). The students also write a popular science essay of a topic they decide themselves.

Knowledge

After completion of the course students should have acquired indepth knowledge on a selected range of topics of high contemporary importance within Norwegian wildlife management. The subjects may vary among years depending on accessibility of lecturers and changing news picture, but include topics such as

• Laws and regulations in Norwegian wildlife management
• Large carnivore management - balancing politics and nature management
• Conservation biology in practice - the case of the Scandinavian Arctic fox and wild reindeer
• Managing populations through hunting - to which extent are different harvesting strategies at the root of the decadal increase in red deer and decrease in willow grouse?
• Using seabirds as ecological indicators to monitoring the health status of marine ecosystems

Skills

Upon completion, the student should understand and be able to discuss scientific literature and to write a scientific essay on the subjects wildlife ecology and management.

Generel competence

Upon completion, the student should be able to synthesize information within important conflict areas in Norwegian wildlife management, such a large carnivore conflicts, conservation of threatened wildlife species and assessing the threat of invasive species. The student should be able to use this knowledge to advice solutions to problems within wildlife management.