Careers in Wildlife Conservation.
If you’re wild about wildlife, you may have considered making it your career. You could become a veterinarian, veterinary technician or park ranger. But in the big picture, conservation efforts require a variety of skills and talents. There’s more than one path to a career in helping wildlife.
Here are just a few of the careers you might pursue:
A wildlife biologist studies animals and their environments. They can work in lots of different settings: in a lab, an office, or maybe out in nature for a close look at their subject. They might be employed by a state wildlife agency, a national park, a university or a nonprofit agency. A wildlife biologist might specialize in a particular species, or a particular geographical area. Whatever their job looks like from day to day, they will have learned a lot to get there: at a minimum, they’ll need a bachelor’s degree in a related field. To lead a scientific research project, they’ll need a
Reptiles Magazine
New Restrictions Proposed On Box Turtles, Native Herps In Virginia
The department is trying to close a loophole that enables individuals to keep up to five herps of a single species in their possession.
May 10, 2021
An eastern box turtle. Photo by J.D. Kleopfer/Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has proposed new restrictions on the keeping of native reptiles and amphibians, and would ban the keeping of box turtles completely, according to a report on Virginiamercury.com.
While the proposal is targeted at poachers, if it becomes law, it would be illegal for anyone , child or adult to acquire a wild box turtle and take it home to keep as a pet. Larry Mendoza, former president of the Virginia Herpetological Society told Virginiamercury.com that the proposal is controversial, and he believes that a box turtle ban would push children further away from nature.
Box turtle ban: New proposed regulations would restrict keeping of native reptiles and amphibians Virginia s wildlife agency is proposing a ban on keeping box turtles as pets. The move is aimed primarily at poachers, but it also affects everyday children and adults. This turtle was photographed crawling through Charles City County Nov. 1, 2012. (Source: J.D. Kleopfer/ Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources) By Rex Springston | May 8, 2021 at 1:04 PM EDT - Updated May 8 at 1:04 PM
Virginiaâs wildlife agency is proposing major restrictions on keeping native reptiles and amphibians as pets. The proposals would ban the keeping of box turtles altogether.
Box turtles are colorful, softball-sized reptiles that have been popular pets for generations of Virginians. But wildlife officials say the animals have become imperiled by people who pluck them from the wild.
Augusta County students participate in annual Special Needs Kids Fishing Day Chant and Shivnarine hold fish they caught. (Source: WHSV) By Chelsea Church | May 7, 2021 at 5:57 PM EDT - Updated May 7 at 5:57 PM
AUGUSTA COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) - Around 20 students from Wilson and Stuarts Draft Middle Schools headed out to Churchville Friday for the 15th annual Special Needs Kids Fishing Day.
It’s been held at the Izaak Walton Park each year. The event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We put 100 trout in our pond here, and the students will go catch them and we provide lunch with them, and the Department of Wildlife Resources will take them down to the lower end, and electroshock the stream and show them how they check fish,” Frank Wade, treasurer for the Staunton-Augusta chapter of the Izaak Walton League, said.
Every so often, an outbreak of human disease dominates the headlines. Before COVID-19, smaller outbreaks of ebola, West Nile virus and swine flu all spent plenty of time in the news.
Many of these have clear connections to wildlife: 75 percent of newly emerging diseases in human beings are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted between humans and animals.
It’s a vivid illustration of the “One Health” concept that humans, animals, plants and the overall environment are deeply connected to one another, and have a heavy influence on each other’s wellness.
Wildlife diseases have a number of causes. There are the ubiquitous viruses and bacteria, of course, but that’s not all.