 In the past, wildlife health was a term used to encompass just one wildlife species, a disease, nutritional issues or a general lack of well being without defining the environmental factors that allowed the interaction of multiple, seemingly unrelated, factors. This lack of understanding had a negative affect on other species that share these habitats and allow the disease to negatively impact the system. IWHI defines health as a condition of the environment that allows species to prosper within a complicated ecosystem (habitat) where sustainable biodiversity is the monitor of success. Therefore, disease is not the only monitor of health of a ecosystem and may indeed be an integral part of a “healthy” ecosystem.
IWHI has integrated this broader definition of wildlife health in reviewing all proposals. Human medicine, veterinary medicine and biologists have been trained to become professional specialists. Examples of the lack of crossover in specialties include: seeking advice from a gynecologist for a heart condition; taking your cat to an equine veterinarian; or, seek answers to deer mortalities from a marine mammal biologist. The IWHI believes in a multidisciplinary approach to health and well being of all species within an ecosystem. A new term has evolved over the past several years, conservation medicine. In comparison to human and veterinary medicine, conservation medicine is the examination of ecological health concerns beyond the species-specific approach.
 The current environmental health problems are in a large part due to effects of humans. Humans have an extraordinary capacity to modify the physical world. This power allows humans to be the most instrumental force in setting the stage for evolution or extinction. For that reason, IWHI realizes that people must live and thrive in the ecosystems they share with their natural heritage and environments. Albert Einstein stated, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." When biodiversity is lost, species compositions are disturbed, and ecological processes are disrupted, serious health implications arise. IWHI understands the interconnections of species and the complexity of ecological health problems. We hope that Albert Einstein would appreciate using the conservation medicine approach as a guide, allowing IWHI to provide a bridge for healthy ecosystems worldwide as we move into the new century.
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