The Interactions between Some Free-Ranging Animals and Agriculture—A Review

Abstract

When humans began interfering with the environment to produce food, some free-ranging animal species adapted to live on typical farmland, sometimes choosing it as their main habitat. They use it on the basis of symbiosis or as a pest. The animals affect farms in different ways, and the same concerns farms affecting animals. There are negative, from a human perspective, as well as positive aspects of this interaction. The aim of this study was to review and propose the solutions to reconcile these two factors, agriculture and wildlife, using Poland as an example. Two major problems were observed: the negative impact of agriculture on the occurrence or abundance of certain species, and wildlife damage caused mainly by wild boars (Sus scrofa) and Cervidae. The most important issue for agricultural economy is the strict control and limitation of the wild boar population, while the farmer’s approach to cultivation and the environment are important for the wildlife. For years, man has been undertaking various activities using and subordinating elements of the environment, and each even small interference in the system that creates a harmony will have far-reaching consequences.