April 15, 2024
Media Contacts: info@projectcoyote.org, 415.326.4110
2023 Wildlife Services Report:
Taxpayer Dollars Used to Kill Over 70,000 Wild Carnivores
LARKSPUR, CA — Wildlife Services, often known as the killing arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), just published their 2023 program data detailing the number of animals killed and the methods used. The numbers were as staggering as always with 1.4 million animals killed nationwide.
The USDA’s Wildlife Services program has been using indiscriminate and inhumane tools to kill wildlife across the country for over a century, including traps, snares, poisons, and aerial gunning. Wildlife Services claims that its goal is to allow people and wildlife to coexist, but nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, they use public taxpayer dollars to kill millions of wild animals held in the public trust, damaging ecosystems and putting public safety and health at risk. Wildlife Services wasn’t created to serve wildlife—it was created to kill wildlife largely at the behest of commercial agriculture.
“The USDA Wildlife Services program has failed to integrate the best available science and shifting public attitudes toward wildlife; instead they continue to emphasize lethal, cruel and often indiscriminate killing methods for addressing livestock-wildlife conflicts,” says Camilla Fox, founder and executive director of Project Coyote. “This federal agency has an opportunity — and a public duty — to bring its program into the 21st century by shifting its focus to humane, ecologically sound, science-based nonlethal conflict mitigation policies and practices.”
In 2023, wild carnivores were, as usual, among the most heavily targeted species, with the program intentionally killing 68,649 coyotes, 305 wolves, 2 Mexican gray wolves, 237 mountain lions, 437 black bears, 2,246 foxes (including red, gray, and kit species), 482 bobcats, and 6 federally protected grizzly bears. Wildlife Services also gassed over 400 coyote and fox dens killing an unknown number of pups in dens.
Wildlife Services uses M-44 cyanide bombs, neck snares, foothold traps, and aerial gunning in their “lethal arsenal”—methods as cruel as they are indiscriminate. These reckless practices resulted in the unintentional killing of federally protected species including the golden eagle and Mexican gray wolf, as well as many other species including 658 river otters, 443 raccoons, 379 snapping turtles, and 91 gray foxes. Even our companion animals are at risk, with numerous cats and dogs meeting their untimely end from Wildlife Services.
“Year after year Wildlife Services, a federal taxpayer funded program, kills millions of wild animals, using archaic lethal methods such as aerial gunning, snares, and poisons, that endanger the public and cause immense animal suffering,” said Renee Seacor, carnivore conservation director for Project Coyote. “It’s past time for Wildlife Services to abandon their outdated practices and replace this killing with ethical, science-based conflict resolution methods”
Our annual Wildlife Services Report details the numbers of wild carnivores lost in 2023 and the dangerous and unethical killing methods used to accomplish this killing.
Project Coyote has been working for nearly 16 years to reform and raise awareness about the USDA’s Wildlife Services program. Recently, alongside the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, the Animal Welfare Institute, and WildEarth Guardians, we petitioned the USDA to adopt a comprehensive regulatory framework to govern Wildlife Services. We are still awaiting a response to this petition.
In California, Project Coyote and allies have been successfully challenging Wildlife Services activities county by county, persuading Marin, Mendocino, Sonoma, Shasta, and Siskiyou counties to end their contracts with Wildlife Services. Most recently, Plumas and Sierra Counties also suspended their Wildlife Services contract after Project Coyote and allies sued in 2022.
We also continue to advocate for the removal of some of the most inhumane and dangerous killing methods used by the program, including M-44 cyanide bombs. Late last year, due to years of consistent pressure from wildlife advocacy organizations, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced a ban on the use of M-44s by Wildlife Services on 245 million acres of BLM managed lands. In June of last year, U.S. Representatives Huffman (D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) reintroduced “Canyon’s Law” (H.R. 4068/S. 1940)—named after a 14-year-old boy who tragically lost his dog and was injured due to an M-44 device. The legislation would completely ban the use of M-44 devices on all federal and state public lands. The bill has been referred to the relevant House and Senate committees with no hearing date scheduled. Project Coyote will continue advocating for this critical legislation until it becomes law.
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Project Coyote, a fiscally-sponsored project of Earth Island Institute, protects North America’s wild carnivores and promotes compassionate coexistence through education, science, advocacy, and coalition building.