Compassionate Conservation: Rethinking Large Carnivore Policy in Massachusetts (by registration only)

Increasingly, questions have been raised about the acceptability, desirability and ethics of lethal removal of large carnivores such as wolves, cougars, bears, bobcats, and coyotes. A growing body of evidence points to the negative ecological and behavioral consequences of hunting carnivores, which, in turn, can exacerbate human-wildlife conflicts. Human dimensions of wildlife research documents the erosion of public support for lethal management. At the same time, large predators have been gaining in popularity. Public opposition to the hunting of particular species and specific hunting practices, such as baiting and trapping, has been manifested further in state ballot initiatives.

Voters in Massachusetts, in 1996, approved a ballot measure, the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), which banned body-gripping traps on fur-bearing mammals and prohibited the use of dogs in hunting black bears and bobcats. Despite public opposition to lethal wildlife management, the state wildlife board over the past decade has expanded the hunting of coyote, bobcat, and bear and legislation has been proposed to remove WPA restrictions on use of traps and hounds. Moreover, practices like coyote killing contests and shooting coyotes over bait continue unchecked in Massachusetts.

The time is ripe for changing wildlife management policies and practices to incorporate the ethics, values and views of a significant proportion of the public and to recognize the ecological and aesthetic importance of large carnivores. The guiding principles of the compassionate conservation framework are to “first do no harm” and to consider the intrinsic worth of individual animals in wildlife management. On April 23, the Human Dimensions of Wildlife Unit of the Bates Center for Public and Global Affairs at Salem State University and Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine will hold a forum on “Compassionate Conservation: Rethinking Policies Toward Large Carnivores in Massachusetts” to explore how to reshape the public debate and public policy around large carnivores (i.e. coyotes, bears, and bobcats) in Massachusetts. Please direct questions about the forum to Professor Jennifer Jackman at jjackman@salemstate.edu.

 

Monday, April 23, 2018
Petrowski Room, Marsh Hall

12noon – 3:30pm

12pm   Keynote Speaker:

Camilla Fox, Founder and Director, Project Coyote

1pm     Panel: Ecological and Human Dimensions of Large Carnivores
Allen Rutberg, Ph.D., Director, Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (Moderator)
Jonathan Way, Ph.D., Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research and Author of Suburban Howls: Tracking the Eastern Coyote in Urban Massachusetts
Carly Sponarski, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Human Dimensions of Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation, University of Maine
Jennifer Jackman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, Salem State University

2pm Policy Roundtable: What would compassionate conservation policy for large carnivores look like in Massachusetts?
Jennifer Jackman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, Salem State University (Moderator)
Louise Kane, Attorney and co-author of Carnivore Conservation Act
Laura Hagen, Deputy Director of Advocacy, MSPCA
Stephanie Harris, Massachusetts Director, HSUS
Camilla Fox, Founder and Director, Project Coyote