Wildlife management in Iwate Prefecture

Abstract

Iwate prefecture is the largest area in Honshu Island, and much wildlife inhabits, this area. Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) inhabit almost all regions of Iwate prefecture; they make up a large part of Japan's black bear population. In the past, Sika deer (Cervus nippon) extensively inhabited the Tohoku region. Due to overexploitation and heavy snow from the Meiji Era to the beginning of the Showa era, their population suffered from a crash, and the distribution of the Sika deer population settled exclusively around the Mt. Goyo area. Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) also decreased in number from over-hunting, and was declared a National Japanese Treasure as a protected species. However, because of agricultural and forestry damages caused by wildlife has become a social problem since the 1980's, owing to the increase of population size (of at least sika and serow) and/or the enlargement of distribution, the prefecture made the Specified Wildlife Conservation and Management Plans(SWCMP). The several monitoring projects which supply important information for carrying out the SWCMP are continuously conducted every year with the cooperation of many hunters. While continuing these monitoring projects, the prefecture has carried out appropriate wildlife management, but recently several problems have started to occur. First, it is difficult to estimate population size accurately. Secondly, there has been an enlargement of distribution, leading to more "wandering" into human communities. Furthermore, the number of hunters is decreasing remarkably. In order to solve these problems, the development of new monitoring methods, the control of distribution enlargement, and an approach that collaborates with local society to control wildlife damage, is needed.