|
|
|
Freeing an animal from a steel jaw leghold
trap |
Conibear
Traps
Wildlife Services
Page Index
| What You Can Do
What is Wildlife Services?
Government workers routinely kill wolves and other predators by the tens of thousands, and some believe that Wildlife Services who are responsible for these slaughters should be renamed the "Wildlife Execution Squad." As Jean Williams notes, "The mission of the Wildlife Service as stated on their web site is "To provide federal leadership and expertise to resolve wildlife conflicts and create a balance that allows humans and wildlife to coexist peacefully. … Unfortunately, the alarming statistics of millions of birds and animals that have literally been exterminated by the service clearly indicates little in the way of managing wildlife to 'peacefully coexist' with people. Rather, it indicates the free-falling and indiscriminate slaughter of any segment of wildlife that draws a complaint to the Service."
Wildlife Services should be renamed "Wildlife Execution Squad" by Jean Williams. Click title to read full article in the online Seattle Environmental Policy Examiner. This is one of the most comprehensive articles to be found on Wildlife Services. Williams cites figures from Wildlife Services, as reported by conservation group Wild Earth Guardians, who are spearheading the movement to rein in Wildlife Services, to demonstrate the extend of the killing. Thousands upon thousands of eagles, hawks, owls, vultures, badgers, house cats, foxes, mountain lions, river otters, raccoons, ringtails, skunks, gray wolves, coyotes were dispatched in 2007-2008. In addition, in 2008, 1.6 million cowbirds, 1.5 million starlings, and 880,752 blackbirds were deemed nuisances who must be destroyed. "Wildlife Services, as an arm of the USDA, has done such irresponsible things as using helicopters to spray poison over wetlands in an insane effort to scuttle black bird habitat to appease the Sunflower Industry, due to the bird’s appetite for sunflower seeds." The figures are grisly, but the article is well worth your attention for the history and overview of this public agency. Taxpayers are paying the bill for these activities.
Legacy of a lost wolf
"...In Western states, ranchers run cattle on hundreds of millions of acres of federal lands, supported by subsidies that as of 2005, according to a Government Accountability Office report, cost American taxpayers $123 million annually. Most disturbing to me is the Agriculture Department's euphemistically titled "Wildlife Services" program, also operated largely for the benefit of ranchers. In 2008, this program exterminated 124,414 carnivores such as bears, wolves, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons and cougars via cruel methods including leghold traps, aerial shooting and poisoning. ..."
|
Animals In the
News: A brief summary of the fascinating lives of animals
and people's attitudes toward them
