science

Wildlife farming

Wildlife farming is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wildlife farming rather than just read about it. In short: Wildlife farming refers to the raising of traditionally undomesticated animals in an agricultural setting to produce: living animals for canned hunting and to be kept as pets; commodities such as food and traditional medicine; and materials like leather, fur and fiber. Purported benefits Some conservationists argue, wildlife farming can protect endangered species from extinction by reducing the pressure on populatio…

Key takeaways

Wildlife farming belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wildlife farming to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wildlife farming from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wildlife farming refers to the raising of traditionally undomesticated animals in an agricultural setting to produce: living animals for canned hunting and to be kept as pets; commodities such as food and traditional medicine; and materials like leather, fur and fiber.

Purported benefits Some conservationists argue, wildlife farming can protect endangered species from extinction by reducing the pressure on populations of wild animals which are often poached for food. Others claim that it may be harmful for the majority of conservation efforts, except for a select few species. Certain African communities rely on bushmeat to obtain their daily amount of animal protein necessary to be healthy and survive. Oftentimes, bushmeat is not handled with care causing the spread of diseases. Wildlife farming can reduce the spread of diseases by providing African communities with bushmeat that is properly processed. In his documentary film The End of Eden, South African filmmaker Rick Lomba, presented examples of the environmentally sustainable and indeed rejuvenating effect of certain types of wildlife farming.

Associated risks Wildlife farming has been linked to the emergence of zoonotic diseases, such as the SARs outbreak which has since been connected with the farming of civets.

Current state of the industry In recent years, South Africa has seen a massive growth in wildlife ranching (also known as game farming), which has led to a range of issues due to a lack of regulation. This has led to the reclassification of 33 wild species as farm animals. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 20,000 wildlife farms have been shut down in China. In the preceding years, the Chinese government had been promoting and incentivizing the development of the wildlife farming industry, which was valued at 520bn yuan, or £57bn, in 2017.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wildlife farming

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wildlife farming claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wildlife farming before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wildlife farming ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wildlife farming

In research: Wildlife farming appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wildlife farming in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wildlife farming is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Animal husbandry, Animal rights, Animal welfare, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wildlife farming outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wildlife farming in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wildlife farming means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wildlife farming out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wildlife farming in simple terms?

Why does Wildlife farming matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wildlife farming?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wildlife farming.