Course Description
Wildlife health is intricately connected to wildlife biology, veterinary medicine, and infectious diseases, necessitating a specialized educational track to equip students with the unique knowledge and skills required to address these issues. This course will examine the key concepts involved in an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to wildlife health.
Athena Title
Wildlife Health
Prerequisite
[(BIOL 1103 or BIOL 1103E or BIOL 2103H or PBIO 1210) and BIOL 1103L] or [(BIOL 1107 or BIOL 1107E or BIOL 2107H) and BIOL 1107L]
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will have learned to work together as a member of a problem-solving team to research and evaluate assigned Wildlife Health topics and consider the roles of wildlife biologists, veterinarians, and environmental health professionals in approaching solutions to these issues.
- By the end of this course, students will have learned to examine the relationship between human activity and the impact on habitat quality and wildlife health.
- By the end of this course, students will have learned to understand the ecological and financial costs of disease on wildlife populations.
- By the end of this course, students will be familiar with various strategies across fields in response to wildlife health issues.
- By the end of this course, students will have developed management and research plans in response to emerging wildlife health challenges.
Topical Outline
- What is disease? What is health?
- What causes disease? How can disease be detected, described, and measured?
- Damage, Pathogenicity, and Virulence
- Defense, Resistance, and Repair
- Environmental Interactions
- Transmission and Perpetuation of Infectious Disease
- Noninfectious Disease: Nutrients and Toxicants
- Effects of Disease on the Individual Animal and on Populations of Wild Animals
- Diseases Shared with Humans and Domestic Animals
- Disease Management
- Climate and Wildlife Health
- Wildlife Rehabilitation
- Wildlife Health Policy
