Death Toll: 3.2 Million Animals Killed by Wildlife Services in 2015
The newest tallies from America's secretive wildlife-killing program are in, and they're grim. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services says it killed more than 3.2 million animals during fiscal year 2015. That's about a half-million more animals than the program killed the previous year.Despite increasing calls for reform, Wildlife Services' reckless slaughter continues, last year wiping out 385 gray wolves, 68,905 coyotes, 480 black bears, 284 mountain lions, 731 bobcats, 492 river otters, 3,437 foxes and 21,559 beavers.
The Center has been leading the charge to reform this rogue program, which often does its killing at the behest of the agricultural industry and other powerful interests.
"There's simply no scientific basis for continuing to shoot, poison and strangle millions of animals every year -- a cruel practice that not only fails to effectively manage targeted wildlife but poses an ongoing threat to other animals, including pets," said the Center's Michael Robinson. Read more in our press release and consider donating to our Stop Wildlife Services Fund.
It's a cruel and heartless act that can't go unpunished. The Center for Biological Diversity is jumping into the fray to catch the killers, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
We need your help to offer this reward and to fight for a future for wolves. With a donation to the Center's Wolf Defense Fund, you may help bring a wolf killer to justice.
This time of year, wolf pups are only beginning to bond with their new families -- it's repulsive to know these young wolves were snatched from their dens and killed. Sadly this kind of poaching reflects a growing body of research showing that in places like Idaho, which allows legal hunting and trapping of wolves, social tolerance for wolves decreases and illegal poaching often rises.
A poisonous, anti-wolf culture has taken root in Idaho, driven by seasonal wolf hunts and fueled by social media sites dedicated to wolf-killing braggadocio. This latest pup-killing incident was almost inevitable. To end this kind of violence, we must oppose wolf hunting and restore respect for the place of wolves in the wild.
With your donation to the Wolf Defense Fund, we'll continue our lifesaving work to ensure wolves have a real future in Idaho and beyond.
Wolves are intelligent, highly social animals that deserve better than to have their youngest pulled from their dens and wiped out. The war on wolves has gone too far this time and we need your help.
No matter who was behind the cowardly killings, they must not be allowed to get away with poaching helpless pups right out of their dens. Your contribution to the Center's Wolf Defense Fund will help us fight to end these types of killing. Please contribute today.
The SHARE Act would:
- Allow the corpses of polar bears that are hunted in Canada to be imported into the U.S as "trophies". Now more than ever, the polar bear population is in grave danger. When the polar bear was being considered as a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act, 41 hunters raced to Canada in search of one final trophy, each slaughtering one polar bear. As they were unable to get their import approved before the polar bear was listed on the ESA, they were not allow to import their trophies into the US. Allowing these "sportsmen" to import their trophy bears would only demonstrate Congress' leniency and lead hunters to believe that they can get away with killing an endangered animal if they just wait long enough. This can also have a huge impact on other species that are candidates for ESA protection, as hunters will want to go after one final trophy, knowing they might just get away with it.
- Allow for the use of lead ammunition, which can cause lead intoxication. Lead primarily affects the developing brain and nervous system. Upon impact, a lead bullet shatters into millions of tiny fragments.This way, lead can be ingested by an animal (ex. the California Condor) or reach water ways (as runoff or seepage) and contaminate water supplies, which can have terrible results. An example of this is the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. People in Flint, Michigan have to use bottled water for everything from cooking to bathing because of the presence of lead in their water.
- Prevent the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service from restricting illegal ivory trade. Elephants are facing a crisis thanks to the demand for the ivory tusks. With the SHARE Act, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service would be blocked from completing their efforts to shut down any loopholes that allows ivory to enter the commercial market, meaning the elephants are in serious trouble.
- Open protected lands to hunters, with no restriction on how animals can be captured. The SHARE Act would allow hunters to trap animals in land that is "open unless closed" without taking into consideration the people who go to these public lands to enjoy, rather than kill, the wildlife. It does not restrict the methods of trapping that hunters can use, which means that cruel traps such as wire snares and leg holds, that are highly non-selective (meaning they do not target a specific animal, allowing unintended creatures to fall victims to the traps) can be used.
- Leave other animals vulnerable and unprotected. Elephants are not the only ones who could be in trouble if the SHARE Act is passed. The SHARE Act would strip gray wolves in the Great Lakes and Wyoming Region from their protection under the Endangered Species Act, leaving them available to hunters to trapping and killing.
The SHARE Act is a cruel accommodation for a small amount of people at the expense of wildlife, the environment, and the rest of the people who want to enjoy the great outdoors. It represents significant regression from the efforts already made to protect nature and its wildlife, such as elephants and wolves.
The SHARE Act was passed in the House on February 26th, 2016 and is currently awaiting floor consideration in the Senate. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2406
PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW SUCH A CRUEL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY DEGRADING ACT TO BE PASSED!
ALTHOUGH THIS PETITION IS SPECIFICALLY DIRECTED TO ILLINOIS SENATORS DICK DURBIN AND MARK KIRK, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SIGN THIS PETITION ANYWAYS, EVERY SIGNATURE COUNTS!
Also, please contact your senators in your state and ask them to OPPOSE the SHARE Act and any of its companion bills! State senators and contact info can be found at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=IL
This petition will be delivered to:
- Senator
Mark Kirk - Senator
Dick Durbin
It’s an all too common and heartbreaking scenario. Wolves, or even entire packs, are killed when they prey on livestock or look for food too close to people.
As human populations expand and wolf habitat shrinks, some wolf-cattle interactions are inevitable.
But that doesn't mean it has to end with dead wolves.
Defenders of Wildlife has pioneered numerous, effective non-lethal methods for keeping wolves and cattle apart.
Whether you're helping to pay for range riders to minimize conflicts between Yellowstone wolves and livestock, or helping to purchase livestock guardian dogs to keep the Pioneer wolves of south-central Idaho out of trouble, your symbolic tax-deductible contribution will help support our efforts that save the lives of wolves.
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$15 provides two hay bales as alternative food for livestock to keep them away from known wolf dens;
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$45 buys 25 feet of turbofladry, a simple red flag system that discourages wolves from crossing into livestock pastures; and
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$110 contributes to the seasonal salary of a range rider. Wolf packs steer clear of these modern day cowboys who keep cattle herds safe.
Tragically, the response to conflict is too often to kill wolves – an approach that can threaten the survival of entire packs and does nothing to keep other wolves from moving in and repeating the behavior.
