USDA - APHIS -Wildlife Damage Management

Wildlife Services (WS)

graphic for RNA_201
WS 2011 Research Needs Assessment

Methods

The Wildlife Services (WS) deputy administrator solicited participation in the survey from the directors of the WS National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC), the WS Eastern and Western Regions, and the WS Operational Support Staff; the coordinators of the WS Rabies, Wildlife Disease, Aviation Safety, and Airport Wildlife Hazards National Programs; WS state directors; and NWRC research scientists. The WS deputy administrator also requested participation of representatives from the following APHIS programs and offices: Veterinary Services, the Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Animal Care, International Services, Legislative and Public Affairs, Biotechnology and Regulatory Services Programs. The survey was also sent to the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies to distribute to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service branch chiefs for all 50 states; to the U.S. Geological Survey; and to non-federal stakeholders representing livestock and agricultural commodity groups, universities, and non-government organizations. All respondents were asked to complete an online SurveyMonkey form.

The survey included multiple-choice questions about the respondents (age, employer, principal job, and region of the country); the perceived importance of different areas of human-wildlife conflict (highly, moderately, or minimally important); the respondents’ likely involvement with different areas of human-wildlife conflict during the next five years (major, moderate, or minimal involvement); methods, tools, or information needed to manage human-wildlife conflicts (high, moderate, or minimal need); and importance of various NWRC services (highly, moderately, or not important). The respondents were also asked to provide a written description of their projected top three research needs/priorities for the next five years. These written responses were categorized with regard to general conflict area, species, and research need. Due to slightly different formatting of the survey, the surveys for federal and non-federal respondents were analyzed separately.

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