The goal to save our wildlife population is not identical to saving all individual animals. History has taught us that relocation of animals, domestic or wild, can be hazardous to the environment. Often the problems of relocation are not recognized for several months or years. What starts out as a good deed for some animals turns into a nightmare for many other animals. Releasing horses/burros in the Mojave desert seemed like a harmless thing to do. Time proved otherwise. The United States Bureau of Land Management had to remove the horses and burros from the Mojave desert as they were destroying the desert ecology. It costs over six million dollars yearly to run the horse and burro program in the Western United States. Placing goats on San Clemente Island in Los Angeles County sounded like a good idea because there was plenty of vegetation. Several years later we realized the goats were eating the island bare, devouring the food supply of native animals. This was a financially and politically costly error because all the goats had to be removed from the island in 1985.

Relocation of animals into an environment may not make sense for the animals already present in the area. Unless relocation is managed, it can destroy more wildlife than it saves. Animals may appear normal but harbor various diseases. Once disease has been introduced into a wildlife population, it can spread, causing death in a susceptible population. Relocating diseased animals from one population to another is hazardous.

Urban Wildlife

Some people believe that urban wildlife has wandered in from the wilderness and that the solution is to return the lost wildlife to their homes. However, urban wildlife are born and raised in the city. Having cities dump their wildlife problems on their neighbors is not a responsible solution. Relocation of urban wildlife can spread disease and disrupt the local ecology. The number of animals an area can support is limited by the food and water supply. Watching released urban wildlife run off into the wilderness is an "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" mentality and may not be as humane as it appears. Some wildlife can adapt to the urban environment where a food supply is present. Opossums easily adapt to urban areas and soon learn to find food in garbage cans, dumpsters, cat/dog food containers, and citrus fruit trees. Snails are a popular dietary item for urban opossums. Opossums are common urban wildlife. Because of their nocturnal nature, people are often not aware of their presence. Most people sleep through the active "day" of an opossum.

Pets and Wildlife Share Diseases

Intervention can reduce the impact of disease (vaccinations, treatment, etc.) on the medical problems of people and domestic animals. This is not an option with wildlife, requiring us to focus on what is best for the group.

People owning a cat or dog often have their pet vaccinated for highly contagious, often fatal, viral diseases. Cats are often vaccinated for panleukopenia (cat fever, cat distemper). Dogs are vaccinated for canine distemper, hepatitis, and parvovirus. By law dogs are required to be vaccinated against rabies and many cat owners also have their cats vaccinated. Shelters usually vaccinate against these diseases. In spite of this, cats and dogs still die from these diseases.

Canine parvovirus, unknown before 1978, affects coyotes. Canine hepatitis produces disease in local wildlife (coyote, skunks, and bears). Panleukopenia of cats also affects local wildlife (mountain lions, bobcats, and raccoons). Canine distemper causes a similar disease in local wildlife (coyote, fox, skunk, and raccoons). During 1992, the first epidemic of canine distemper in cats occurred in a wild animal compound killing several lions and tigers in Los Angeles County. This disease may have been introduced to the area by relocated raccoons.

Disease Control

There is no cure for the contagious diseases mentioned above. Vaccination is the only real solution for the population. It is natural to want to treat all sick animals. However, we must decide how our actions will affect the entire population when we work with highly contagious diseases. Unless we have a strict isolation facility, a contagious disease can rapidly spread from one animal to others, multiplying our problem.

Treatment of animals with highly contagious, often fatal, diseases can present a dilemma. For example, you are caring for ten healthy dogs and someone gives you two dogs sick with a disease known to kill half its victims. On the surface, the most humane thing appears to be to treat the animals. Despite your best efforts, one of the dogs dies but at least you feel you tried. A week later, you notice your ten healthy dogs become sick. Six days after that, half of them die from the disease. Your kindness has just killed five dogs. This may be only the beginning of your problem.