Why is research being done on wild animals and o f w hat im portance is it to man or the econom y? These are b u t a few questions asked by the laym an who frequently and som etim es unknow ingly utilizes and benefits from the results o b tained.
There are several diverse reasons for studying wild anim als; how ever, the goal, th a t m an can ben efit, rem ains the same. All organism s, m icroscopic or m acroscopic - m an, m onkey, m ushroom or micro-organism - are com posed o f the same elem ental m aterials, grow in the same w ay, live and die b y the same biochem ical m echanism s and react to their environm ent in ways th a t are simi lar.
Some o f the reasons for studying wild anim als are:
R hesus ape in a m edical research laboratory.
Callie L yn ch , M useum M ammalogist, a u th o r o f this article.
Yellow m ongoose (an albino specim en fo u n d in th e O.F.S.
In the veterinary field one need only re fer to the yellow m ongoose, one o f seve ral carriers o f the fatal viral disease, rabies, to illustrate a reason for studying wild animals.
In the psychological field, studies m ade on wild animals have greatly c o n trib u ted to solving social problem s such as stress (a m ajor cause o f heart failure), aggression and m any m ore. In the U ni ted States alone, some 20 m illion rats and wild animals are used annually in medical and psychological studies. E conom ic: In agriculture certain an i
mals account for large crop losses. It is estim ated th a t rats alone destroy approxim ately a fifth, o f all food crops in the w orld. In India their d ep redation has deprived the inhabitants o f enough grain to fill a freight train stretching m ore than 4 000 km .
The rat, a p e st in m ore than o n e sense.
On the positive side, wild animals can, as a source o f p ro tein , bring in large revenues. In 1967 it was estim ated that 2,5 I o f the national income o f B otsw a na was provided for by wild anim als and th a t 60 I o f all protein consum ed was derived from wild animals.
Yet in laboratories wild animals have co n trib u ted vastly to th e cure o f hum an illness. Few people have n o t benefited in some way - even been kept alive - by studies m ade on wild animals.
In South Africa at least 14 species o f wild rodents are used in medical research on bacterial, rickettsial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections and in diabetes and cancer research.
N on-hum an prim ates are also extensive ly used in m edical research. Were it not for these animals, heart and kidney transplants, to m ention only a few, would not have been possible.
Southern A frica, w ith p o te n tia l Plague areas in black. N o te that a large part o f the Orange Free State is also a p o te n tia l plague area.
B I O L O G I C A L R E S E A R C H —
A W A S T E OF T I ME A N D M O N E Y ?
Medical: In the medical field wild animals play a very im p o rtan t role. His to r y ’s m ost calam itous plague, the Black D eath (a disease transm itted by fleas harbored by rats), killed an estim a ted 25 m illion people.
Recreation and Education: It is essential
in to d a y ’s world to have some form o f education and recreation, and in these fields to o wild animals play an im p o r ta n t role. Here one need think only o f zoos and game reserves. During the period 1965 - 1967, 380 000 people visited the Kruger N ational Park. In 1967 the N ational Parks Board alone (w hich excludes provincial, municipal and private game reserves) had a tu rn over o f R9,5 million.
Aesthetic and cultural reasons: South
Africa has a rich wildlife heritage which m ust be conserved and preserved for fu ture generations.
Ecological reasons: One aspect o f ecolo
gy is po llu tio n and its co n tro l. P ollution can be caused either by th e indiscrim i nate release o f chem icals in to the soil, air, or w ater, or by th e dum ping o f refu se, o f the disposal o f radio-active m a te rial. P ollution can result in the ex tin c tion o f species, b u t m ore often it causes a general deterio ratio n o f the q uality o f life as such.
Im agine this scene w ith o u t any p la n t or anim al life! - T hat is the end result o f pollution.
o f the process was an incidental result, n o t the object, o f P asteur’s research. F o r w hatever reason animals are stu died, it is necessary to first obtain the follow ing basic inform ation ab o u t the animal.
* Identify the animal w ith w hich we are dealing, i.e. its nam e and rela tionship to o th e r animals. These fields o f study are term ed T ax o n o m y and System atics.
* Where does the animal occur and how does it react to its su rro u n
dings, i.e. its .d is trib u tio n and the in teractio n betw een the anim al and its evironm ent. These studies are called Z oogeography and Ecology. * How does the anim al live, i.e. how does it behave. This study is refer red to as E thology.
These are then some o f the fields o f stu dy undertak en at in stitu tio n s such as m useum s in order to dissem inate in fo r m ation to the m u ltitu d e o f bodies c o n cerned in the econom ic, social, and cul tural fields.
J ! e t t
G iraffes in th e K ruger N ational Park.
Science for science: A last reason for doing research on wild animals, and by no m eans the least, is for purely scienti fic purposes i.e. for the sake o f Science. This may be regarded by m any as irrele vant and a waste o f tim e and m oney. However, the contrary is true. What seems u n im p o rta n t for insignificant today m ay be o f vital im portance tom orrow .
To give b u t one exam ple: A hundred years ago th e w orld-fam ous m icrobio logist, Louis P asteur, discovered the p ro cess by m eans o f w hich micro-organisms can be elim inated. Even today we pasteurize o u r m ilk. But the discovery
Danksy die hartlike sam ewerking van die firma E.E. Bolt en Seuns (Edm s) Bpk is onlangs daarin geslaag om b eto n letters m et ’n sandsteenvoorkom s te giet en die naam van die M useum duidelik in beide landstale op die westelike fasade (die hoof- ingang) van die gebou aan te bring.
