Initial results from the state’s Nest Predator Bounty Program appear less than promising. The state spent nearly $1 million to distribute 16,000 live traps and an additional $500,000 on bounties to incentivize the killing of 54,000 pheasant predators — foxes, skunks, raccoons and others. Mostly raccoons. The state rewarded $10 for each of the first 50,000 tails submitted. The outcome for pheasants? You decide.
California just became the first state in the country to ban fur trapping, solidifying its position as a trailblazer on wildlife issues. The Wildlife Protection Act of 2019, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law yesterday, bans commercial and recreational trapping animals for their fur on both public and private lands.
As native carnivores, bobcats (Lynx rufus) are an indicator species of ecosystem health. Yet they face growing challenges as their habitat disappears and human impacts increasingly affect their ability to survive. Fortunately, lawmakers and a coalition of organizations are advancing bills through this session of the California State Legislature that, if passed, would protect bobcats from cruel and senseless killing.
Three environmental groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court seeking to halt part of a controversial government program that kills predators, including coyotes, bears and mountain lions, in ways that the groups allege are cruel, outdated and ineffective. The lawsuit challenges a U.S. Department of Agriculture program called Wildlife Services that uses leg-hold traps, strangulation snares, poisons and guns to kill animals at taxpayer expense, mostly to benefit livestock operations.
Livestock losses are an unfortunate reality of ranching and the use of traps and snares is a common way to attempt to reduce predator-livestock conflict. However, one USDA study (Shivik et al. 2003) noted that for many types of predators, there is a paradoxical relationship between the number of predators removed and the number of livestock killed. Surprisingly, these researchers found that as more predators were removed, more livestock were killed.
The recent killing of more grizzly bears by the Wyoming Game and Fish, a listed endangered species, to protect ranchers in the Upper Green River Allotment on the Bridger Teton National Forest is another shameful example of the mixed-up priorities and mismanagement of our public lands.