Review of Human Injuries, Illnesses, and Economic Losses Caused by Wildlife in the United States

Wildlife cause a myriad of problems in the U.S. (e.g., deer-automobile collisions, disease, reduced agricultural productivity, and nuisances). Unfortunately, no national summaries are available on the extent of losses in human lives, property, and economic and agricultural productivity caused by wildlife. Hence, neither the total magnitude of the problems in the U.S. nor the magnitude of different types of wildlife problems is known. Thus, effective allocation of resources to solve wildlife-caused problems is hampered (Conover and Decker 1991). One reason for this lack of a national perspective is that most estimates of losses caused by wildlife have been limited to 1 species (e.g., Conover and Chasko 1985, Heinrich and Craven 1987, Wigley and Garner 1987), 1 crop (e.g., Dolbeer et al. 1978, Conover 1988), or 1 state or region (e.g., Woodward et al. 1985, Witmer and deCalesta 1992, Conover and Kessler 1994). However, wildlife damage problems are so diverse that single studies cannot assess the total problem. For instance, a survey of state agricultural and wildlife professionals found that 27 wildlife species were listed by at least 1 respondent as causing the greatest economic losses in the respondent's state (Conover and Decker 1991). However, some recent studies have examined wildlife damage on a national level (Conover and Decker 1991; U.S. Dep. of Agric. 1991, 1992; Conover 1994; Wywialowski 1994). We compiled published and unpublished data to examine the quality of our current data, to identify deficiencies in our knowledge, and to assess potential cost of wildlife problems in the U.S. in terms of economic losses and human illnesses, injuries, and fatalities.