Predator Bloodbath: ‘Secretive’ Federal Agency Wildlife Services Kills 1.6 Million Native Animals in 2016 - EnviroNews | The Environmental News Specialists

Predator Bloodbath: ‘Secretive’ Federal Agency Wildlife Services Kills 1.6 Million Native Animals in 2016

(EnviroNews Nature) — Wildlife Services (WS), a little-known wildlife-killing program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), killed 2,744,010 animals in 2016, 1,594,595 of which were native to the U.S. The agency shared this death toll in its annual program data report released March 15, 2017. Millions of taxpayer dollars fund this deadly program each year, which focuses primarily on eliminating apex predators and other animals that threaten livestock and agriculture.

Carnivores are the primary targets for WS, along with many keystone species considered by biologists to be linchpins in their ecosystems. Coyotes were the hardest hit in 2016 with 76,963 deaths, which is an increase from 69,905 in 2015. Bobcats (997), cougars (332), gray wolves (415), black bears (407), gray foxes (1,788) and red foxes (1,882) also experienced devastating casualties. Other keystone species killed include beavers (21,286) and black-tailed prairie dogs (14,591). Over 58,000 prairie dog burrows were also destroyed.

Many canines, both domestic and free-roaming, were also killed last year. WS accidentally killed 39 domestic dogs and intentionally killed 181 free-roaming and feral dogs along with 15 other domestic animals, which were unspecified. As reported by EnviroNews, WS killed 3.2 million wild animals in 2015, 1,681,283 of which were native to U.S.

Neighbor’s Dog “Zoey” Trapped by Wildlife Services Employee

The under-reporting of agency killings is also “widely accepted,” according to WildEarth Guardians. In its report on WS titled, “War on Wildlife,” the environmental non-profit org describes WS as “a program that executes our essential native animals in our own backyards for the purported benefit of a vocal minority of anti-carnivore and agribusiness interests.”

Carter Niemeyer, a former WS district manager who worked with the agency for over two decades, told The Sacramento Bee that accurate reporting, while required by agency policy, is often not carried out. “The public has every right to scrutinize what’s going on,” he added.

“Outside the ranching community, few have heard of Wildlife Services,” explained National Geographic in 2016. Both expert reporters and members of the government, including Congressman Peter Defazio, have been denied information on the agency’s killing practices while being shut out from witnessing the events.

Wildlife Services Trapping Predators

Even the infamously gruesome photo atop this article featuring 11 severed mountain lion heads was obtained only after an “outraged employee” of the Arizona Game and Fish Department became fed up with WS and exposed the episode for all to see.

WS uses “cruel,” “outdated” and “unscientific” means of killing animals, including snaring, poisoning, trapping and aerial gunning. WildEarth Guardians explains these methods only exacerbate conflicts between native species and farms. Multiple biologists and conservation organizations have also asserted WS’s methods can also lead to an increase in breeding when packs are destabilized.

Wolf Killed by Wildlife Services

“Scientifically proven nonlethal methods abound, including effective, affordable, humane options such as flagging, solar-powered fences, range riders and guard animals,” Michelle Lute, Wildlife Coexistence Campaigner for WildEarth Guardians, told EnviroNews. “Wildlife Services gives lip service to nonlethal tools but until the program adopts a nonlethal mandate it is abundantly clear that it will continue killing obscene numbers of animals.”

Lute also explained in 2016, three native animals were killed every minute, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. She described this as “an all-out war on wildlife.” Bethany Cotton, Wildlife Program Director for WildEarth Guardians, characterizes this killing of native wildlife as “scientifically baseless, ethically bankrupt and fiscally foolish.”

The Humane Society, which calls the program “Wildlife Disservices,” shares that between 2004 and 2013, 34 million animals were killed to the tune of of over $1 billion.

“Wildlife Disservices” Graph — Humane Society

In October 2016, WildEarth Guardians won a landmark settlement to increase the regulation of Wildlife Services’ killings. The program was ordered by federal judges to submit new environmental assessments (EAs) for review in order to continue its wildlife eradications in specific areas. How this settlement will affect the agency’s 2017 death toll is yet to be seen.

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