Center for
Biological Diversity
March 2017
Ignoring Calls for Reform, Wildlife Services Continues Killing Coyotes, Bears, Wolves, Other Animals...primarily to benefit the agriculture industry.
According to the latest kill report, the program last
year destroyed 415 gray wolves; 76,963 adult coyotes, plus an unknown number
of coyote pups in 430 destroyed dens; 407 black bears; 334 mountain lions;
997 bobcats; 535 river otters, including 415 killed “unintentionally”; 3,791
foxes, plus an unknown number of fox pups in 128 dens; and 21,184 beavers.
The program also killed 14,654 prairie dogs outright, as well as an unknown
number killed in more than 68,000 burrows that were destroyed or fumigated.
These figures almost certainly underestimate the actual number of animals
killed, as program insiders have revealed that Wildlife Services kills many
more animals than it reports.
The highly secretive arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture known as
Wildlife Services killed more than 2.7 million animals during 2016,
according to new data from the agency.
The multimillion-dollar federal program targets wolves, cougars, birds and
other wild animals for destruction — primarily to benefit the agriculture
industry. Of the 2.7 million animals killed last year, nearly 1.6 million
were native wildlife species.
According to the latest kill report, the program last year destroyed 415
gray wolves; 76,963 adult coyotes, plus an unknown number of coyote pups in
430 destroyed dens; 407 black bears; 334 mountain lions; 997 bobcats; 535
river otters, including 415 killed “unintentionally”; 3,791 foxes, plus an
unknown number of fox pups in 128 dens; and 21,184 beavers.
The program also killed 14,654 prairie dogs outright, as well as an unknown
number killed in more than 68,000 burrows that were destroyed or fumigated.
These figures almost certainly underestimate the actual number of animals
killed, as program insiders have revealed that Wildlife Services kills many
more animals than it reports.
“Despite mounting public outcry to reform these barbaric, outdated tactics,
Wildlife Services continues its taxpayer-funded slaughter of America’s
wildlife,” said Collette Adkins, a biologist and attorney at the Center for
Biological Diversity. “There’s simply no scientific basis for continuing to
shoot, poison and strangle millions of animals every year. These cruel
practices not only fail to effectively manage targeted wildlife but also
pose ongoing threats to other animals, including endangered species and
pets.”
According to the new data, the wildlife-killing program unintentionally
killed 2,790 animals last year, including badgers, bears, bobcats, foxes,
muskrats, otters, porcupines, raccoons, skunks, turtles and more. Such data
reveals the indiscriminate nature of painful leg-hold traps, strangulation
snares, poisons and other methods used by federal agents.
Earlier this month a young, endangered male wolf known as OR-48, died an
agonizing death in northeast Oregon after taking the scented bait from a
cyanide trap put out by the federal wildlife killers. The program’s
brutality has fueled growing public outcry and calls for reform by
scientists, elected officials and nongovernmental organizations.
“The Department of Agriculture needs to get out of the wildlife-slaughter
business,” said Adkins. “Wolves, bears and other carnivores help keep the
natural balance of their ecosystems. Our government kills off the predators,
such as coyotes, and then kills off their prey — like prairie dogs — in an
absurd, pointless cycle of violence.”
The wildlife-killing program contributed to the decline of gray wolves,
Mexican wolves, black-footed ferrets, black-tailed prairie dogs and other
imperiled species during the first half of the 1900s and continues to impede
their recovery today.
Number of animals killed in the world by the fishing, meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage.
0 marine animals
0 chickens
0 ducks
0 pigs
0 rabbits
0 turkeys
0 geese
0 sheep
0 goats
0 cows / calves
0 rodents
0 pigeons/other birds
0 buffaloes
0 dogs
0 cats
0 horses
0 donkeys and mules
0 camels / camelids