Wildlife Population Health

This textbook introduces the core competencies, tools and perspectives to manage free-ranging animal population health and demonstrates their need and relevance to help wildlife cope with the ever-increasing pressures of the Anthropocene, manifested by global megatrends such as climate change, urbanization and pollution. It adapts and adopts key concepts of population health from public health and herd health to a wildlife health context. In a highly-accessible and unique form, this book presents a modern way of approaching wildlife and fish epidemiology, health promotion and disease control, with a focus on the social dimensions of wildlife health management.

Aimed at graduate students in veterinary medicine, wildlife researchers and health managers this textbook provides a valuable source of information to foster the knowledge and skills needed to protect and promote the health of free-ranging wildlife.

Craig Stephen DVM PhD is a veterinarian and epidemiologist who has worked at the interface of human, animal, and environmental health for 30 years. As former executive director of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, he both managed a national wildlife disease surveillance program and worked with government partners to forge a new vision of wildlife health as an asset that needs protection. Dr. Stephen has over 200 peer-reviewed and technical reports. His work evolved from finding and describing emerging environmental threats around the globe, including infectious diseases, to helping build the circumstances that allow for interspecies and intergenerational health equity. He edited and co-wrote the book “Animals, Health, and Society: Health Promotion, Harm Reduction, and Health Equity in a One Health World” and co-edited “One Health: The Theory and Practice of Integrated Health Approaches.” He currently operates a One Health and EcoHealth practice while retaining Clinical Professorships at the School of Population and Public Health (University of British Columbia) and School of Veterinary Medicine (Ross University). Craig was honoured in 2020 with an award for Canada’s provincial, territorial, and federal directors of wildlife for his work to advance the notion of wildlife health.