Beyond the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation

The North American Wildlife Conservation Model (NAM) is the driver of a strong anthropocentric stance, which has legalized an ongoing, annual exploitation of hundreds of millions of wild animals, who are killed in the United States through trapping, hunting and other lethal practices. Increasingly, the American public opposes the killing of wild animals for recreation, trophies and profit but has little—if any—knowledge of the Model. The purpose of this book is to empower the public with knowledge about the NAM’s insufficiencies and to help expedite the shift from lethal to compassionate conservation, an endeavour urgently needed particularly under the threats of climate change, human population growth and accelerating plant and animal species extinctions.With a focus on trapping, this book exposes the NAM's belief in human supremacy and its consequences for wild animals and their ecosystems, the same value that is driving the ongoing global destruction of nature and accelerating species extinction. Motivated by a deep concern for wild animals who suffer and whose lives are extinguished each year by 'sportsmen and women', this book exposes the violent treatment of wild animals inherent in governmental-promoted hunting and trapping programs, while emphasizing the importance of empathy and compassion for other animals in conservation and in our lives.

“In her new book about the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, Anja Heister offers a historical view of wildlife management … . Heister’s work should be added to any curricula for students of wildlife management as well as history, as her work adds richness and depth to our shared knowledge and will teach critical thinking rather than train the next generation of NAM-based thinkers. … this book is certainly helping.” (Julie Marshall, The Denver Post, denverpost.com, December 30, 2022)

Anja Heister, PhD, is an independent researcher, writer and life-long animal rights activist. A co-founder of Footloose Montana, an organisation working toward an end of trapping on public land in Montana, Anja is committed to social change for animals and publishes frequently on topics related to wild animal conservation, animal liberation, ethics and policy.