As human and wildlife populations increase, so do human-wildlife conflicts and demands on state fish and wildlife agencies for relief. However, state budgets remain constrained, placing additional strain on all state agency functions. At the same time, states face continual calls to limit hunting and trapping from some corners of society. However, wildlife, native habitat, farmers, homeowners, families, communities, hunters, infrastructure, public health, and safety, plus insurance premiums can be affected when hunting and trapping as management tools are lost, eventually resulting in greater human-wildlife conflicts. For the benefit of current and future generations, there is a critical need to increase public awareness of the important role that scientifically managed and regulated hunting and trapping plays in maintaining a publicly acceptable balance between wildlife and humans.
Financial Impacts Associated with Human-Wildlife Conflicts
How wildlife issues cost state agencies and society
Wildlife has a vast array of interactions with humans, making the management of these conflicts extraordinarily messy. This research project attempts to categorize these conflicts and their economic impact into six broad categories: Transportation, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Human Health and Safety, Wildlife Disease, and Ecological.
Examples of How Wildlife Conflicts Impact and Cost Society
Highlights of the physical, economic, and human costs of human-wildlife conflicts associated with species frequently managed through professionally regular hunting and trapping include:
- 174,000 people are injured, and 700 die each year from vehicle collisions, physical encounters, and zoonotic diseases (Conover 2019).
- There are roughly 1.8 million deer-vehicle collisions each year, and the economic impact of these collisions is around $8.3 billion (U.S. DOT 2008, State Farm 2023)
- Feral swine annually cause $1.5 billion in damages (Pimentel 2007, Hamrick et al. 2011)
- Deer are responsible for 58% of the total field crop damage and 33% of fruit, vegetable, and nut damage (NASS 2002)
- Management to prevent the spread of rabies costs $300 million annually (APHIS 2024).
- Between 2000 and 2021, the federal government spent $284 million on CWD management and plans to spend $70 million a year between 2022 and 2028. Individual states are also spending large sums of money on their disease response programs.
These examples highlight the types and levels of costs associated with many wildlife species currently managed in part by public hunting and trapping. Without the active presence of hunters and trappers on the landscape, these costs would likely be much higher.
This Project was funded by a Multistate Conservation Grant (F24AP00311), from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and jointly administered with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
