Management schemes for wildlife are often unsuccessful in maintaining healthy, sustainable populations, especially approaches based on Maximum Sustainable Yield, which fail to account for variation in reproductive output. North American Indigenous hunters had considerable knowledge about the dynamics of local populations and were aware that they were subject to major fluctuations. These peoples developed the concept of -œKeepers of the Game,- which suggested that if fish or game animals were not treated with proper respect, these -œkeepers- could remove their population, making it unavailable for human exploitation. The -œkeepers- concept may have represented recognition of exceptional individuals that had unusual influence on local population dynamics. Existence of such individuals has been established empirically through long-term studies that show that less than 10% of a cohort may contribute 75-“90% of recruits to succeeding generations. Incorporation of this concept into management schemes might lead to increased sustainability of wildlife populations.
