Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
obtain, although perhaps accurate and detailed, will be contingent: it cannot be expected
to apply generally unless we are very lucky.
Lacking both the experimental chemist's ability to isolate a causative mechanism and
the meteorologist's sophisticated monitoring system, wildlife scientists must fall back on
statistics (increasingly complex and multivariate) and on synthesizing their own studies
in light of others. Every study adds a small pebble to what must ultimately become a
mountain-sized accumulation of information. Each study has its contribution to make,
but also its limitations that prevent it from telling us everything we would like to know.
We gain knowledge slowly, in fits and starts, and can only claim wisdom by reference to
the sum total of research and field experience.
Wildlife biologists are thus on intimate terms with uncertainty, aware that what they
study is wild, and therefore to some extent, inherently unpredictable. The challenge and
enjoyment of conducting wildlife science arises from the constant juggling of the infor-
mation available from any given study with the complications and limitations implied by
its context. It is not that we lack basic principles or safely made assumptions altogether.
But we are constantly on guard against complacency that what we have observed is even
remotely close to the whole story; we are engaged in a continual struggle to interpret
what little we know in the context of what we do not.
There is clearly no gainsaying the majestic achievements of ancient Chinese civilization,
anymore than one can deny the astoundingly rapid growth and modernization of China
during the last two decades: neither would have been possible in the absence of advanced
knowledge and technology.
1
It is similarly clear that individual Chinese scientists have
always found ways to be in the forefront of their fields. Such excellence no doubt contin-
ues or has even increased in recent decades among many scientific disciplines. However,
Chinese efforts to understand and monitor its wildlife have lagged well behind China's
impressive scientific achievements in other fields. The contributions of Chinese wildlife
biologists toward understanding the dynamics, management, and conservation of their
native fauna have been disappointing, and precious little of the technical Chinese wildlife
literature can be assessed as meeting international standards. The reasons for this, I believe,
stem partly from cultural characteristics,
2
and partly from the lack of social institutions
conducting or supporting applied wildlife conservation or management. Here, I explore
both causes and provide illustrative examples.
CULTURAL CHALLENGES FACING CHINESE
WILDLIFE SCIENCE
Discomfort with Uncertainty
In wildlife work, one is almost always faced with a very small bit of a much larger picture.
It is like exploring a cavernous storage shed during a power outage equipped with only a
pen light: you can illuminate a bit of what's in front of you at any given time, hoping to
avoid bumping into things or tripping over dangerous objects, but it is difficult to know
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