Coexistence Overview

Overview

Too many species were completely eradicated or pushed to the brink of extinction for numerous reasons, including intolerance, habitat destruction, overhunting, and a lack of understanding of our impact on ecosystems. Luckily, we realized that so goes nature, so goes us, and we passed landmark conservation laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. We began captive breeding programs, expanded research initiatives, and started reintroducing animals to their native habitats — wolves, California condors, black-footed ferrets, and whooping cranes are now on the path to recovery. But just as importantly, we have also started to change our attitudes and approaches toward living with wildlife.

Simply put — coexistence is helping people share the landscape with wildlife and using innovative tools to reduce the conflicts that often occur with wildlife in their natural habitats. Defenders has been at the forefront of these efforts for decades, and we have pioneered transformational approaches and tools that successfully build social acceptance for wildlife in communities from Alaska to Florida to the desert southwest to northern Rockies and numerous places in between.