Activity Books Wildlife | Page 37

Science / Environment CONFLICT People and wildlife share this planet. There are times when disagreements arise when people and wildlife share the same environment. This causes conflict. Human and wildlife conflicts can take many forms. Some people are unhappy when wildlife kill livestock or pets for food. A squirrel might chew on the wiring from a new vehicle. A skunk might decide to move into a garage. New roads, shopping malls, or housing developments can interfere or destroy wildlife habitats. Too many people visiting a scenic area can change the wildlife that remain in that area. Conflicts between humans and wildlife occur all over the state. Conflicts arise from what people think and know about wildlife. Read the article below and answer the questions. 1. Who is the conflict between? ___________________________________ 2. What human activities are resulting in problems? ___________________ 3. What wildlife activities are resulting in problems? ___________________ 4. Suggest a solution to end the conflict: ____________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Life in the foothills Dolores heard the noise just before dawn. It sounded like the construc- tion workers when they tore down the small, metal shed in the back- yard. But the shed was gone and no construction crew was scheduled to work, especially at this hour. She got up, wrapped herself in a blanket, grabbed a flashlight and padded in her slippers to the door leading to the back porch. No lights were on even though she had installed motion-sensing porch lights. She paused at the door and listened. It was a few minutes before she heard anything unusual. What she heard was some quiet grunts and then what sounded like a trash can being thumped. Dolores knew a bear was out there. She took an involuntary step back- ward. It sounded like the bear was getting into the trash can in which she kept feed for the birds. The can was under a tree about 12 feet from the porch. She reached over to turn on the porch light. She thought the light would scare the animals away. Light flooded the back porch and about 20 feet beyond. There were two bears. One was sitting on its Adapted from Colorado's Backyard Wildlife Educator Activity Guide haunches holding a broken bird feeder; the other was swatting at the trash can. They didn’t move away when the lights went on. In fact, one of the bears started ambling towards the porch… 35