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Researched by Brooke S.
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Wildlife biologists study how animals live. When they are out in the field wildlife biologists have to take notes and pictures. They really need to make sure that they are keeping up to date with their notes. If they discover something interesting or new, wildlife biologists need to write it down immediately. They study animal’s habitats, diet, heritage, how they survive, and how and where they find their food. Many work for the government and the government tells the world what they found out.
A wildlife biologist’s schedule is determined by where they work. A lot of wildlife biologists spend over 40 hours a week at work. Some are required to work long and/or unusual hours.
Most biologists only spend 2-8 weeks out in the field. They usually spend the whole rest of the year in the laboratory talking on the phone or on their computers. A lot of them work with the government. Wildlife biologists do a lot of travel.
There are a lot of different types of biologists. First of all there are wildlife biologists who study animals, they are also called naturalists. Entomologists study insects and ichthyologists study fish. Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians. Mammalogy is the study of mammals and ornithology is the study of birds. There are others too, like marine biologists who study underwater life and botanists who study plant life. Ecology studies environmental relationships and physiology studies living organisms.
These are some of the tools that they use. Sometimes wildlife biologists use cameras and video cameras. Every single biologist uses a computer and a pencil with paper. For the animals they use radio beacons and cages.
There are a lot of good things about the job. One is being outside in the fresh air (not being cooped up in an office all day). It’s challenging and complex so you have to think pretty hard. It’s interesting and you get to try a lot of new things.
Some of the dangers of being a wildlife biologist are that you have to do a lot of flying in small airplanes and helicopters. Sometimes the wild animals can be dangerous because they don’t know that you are trying to help them. They might think that you are there to hurt or kill them.
High school subjects to take are English, biology, physics, chemistry, Latin, geography, and algebra. There is also mathematics and foreign language. College classes are microbiology, bacteriology, botany, ecology, entomology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, modern languages, English, biometrics, computers and collecting work.
These are the education levels to become a wildlife biologist. The minimum education is a bachelor’s degree. If you have a master’s degree you would be an advanced wildlife biologist. If you have a doctorate degree you would be really high on the job.
There are no licenses or certificates available.
Some of the personal skills required to become a wildlife biologist are being intelligent, observant, and having good writing and good problem solving skills. Also they need to be very technical and mechanical.
Intermediate school subjects for kids interested in this job are science, mathematics, and writing. They mainly need to excel in the basic classes including science, reading and so on.
In the U.S. there are about 69,000 biologists. Not all of them are wildlife biologists. Some of them are other kinds of biologists, like entomologists, ichthyologists, herpetologists, mammalogists, ornithologists, marine biologists, botanists, ecologists, and physiologists. In Washington there were 3,800 in 2000.
Some of the most important people in the history of wildlife biology
are Aristotle who was the 1st zoologist and Thomas Henry Huxley who was
an English zoologist. Aristotle divided animals into two sections,
blooded and bloodless. Thomas Henry Huxley gave speeches and advanced
scientific thought about evolution in many species, including horses and
invertebrates, like jellyfish. Charles Darwin became famous for his
theories. Like many he believed that for millions of years plants
and animals have all evolved.
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