The Department of Wildlife Ecology and Management was established for the first time at the undergraduate level in the world, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States in 1933. Today, it exists not only in developed countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, China, and India but also in many countries including South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

The Department of Wildlife Ecology and Management was established for the first time in Türkiye at the undergraduate level through the efforts of Prof. Dr. Şağdan BAŞKAYA, with significant support from Prof. Dr. Zafer Cemal ÖZKAN, the Dean of the Faculty of Forestry at KTU, and Prof. Dr. İbrahim ÖZEN, the Rector of KTU. As a result of the important support by Prof. Dr. İbrahim ÖZEN, the proposal of the Rectorate of Karadeniz Technical University dated 11/12/2007 was examined at the Higher Education Executive Board meeting dated 22/04/2009. Taking into account the opinion of the Presidency of the Interuniversity Board, it was established in accordance with Article 7/d-2 of the Higher Education Law No. 2547 amended by Law No. 2880.

Subsequently, the same department has been established at some universities in our country. The KTU Department of Wildlife Ecology and Management is still the only department that accepts students and graduates students. Since 2016, the department has also had a master's program. The department is also striving to open a doctoral program as soon as possible. Departments with the same name have been established at various universities in our country, but as of 2023, they have not yet admitted students, listed below according to their year of establishment:

- Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Forestry

- Kastamonu University, Faculty of Forestry

- Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Faculty of Agriculture

- Düzce University, Faculty of Forestry

Our department, which is the first of its kind in Türkiye, started its educational activities in the 2012-2013 academic year.

Additionally, in Türkiye, there are also 13 universities offering a two-year associate degree program in "Hunting and Wildlife," known as Vocational Higher Schools.