Spring 2007 Newsletter
Taxpayer funded Wildlife Services program results in the killing of local wildlife, including shooting coyotes from aircraft
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Most people have no idea that their taxpayer dollars are paying for the trapping, poisoning, snaring, and shooting of great numbers of wild animals across America, including in our local region.
From mountain lions and coyotes to herons and hawks, wildlife is killed to please ranchers, farmers, or other interests. In the past, this local, state, and federally funded program was called “Animal Damage Control.” A few years ago, top officials of the predator control - pest removal program changed the name to the nicer sounding “Wildlife Services” as part of a strategic campaign to reduce public opposition.
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| It has taken considerable work for CSERC to obtain requested information from the agency to find out which animals, and how many animals, have been killed by program trappers in Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties. In our attempt last year to get Wildlife Services’ most recent report, the agency refused to release any information at all until we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. We did so, but despite that Act’s legal requirements for a speedy release to the public of sought-after information, it took CSERC months to get any of the requested data. Even then, the papers we received failed to answer our clear, basic questions. When we asked for timely, recent data, Government officials claimed that they couldn’t comply because the recent information we sought was not yet available in a form suitable for public release. This year, Mike sent off another FOIA request to Wildlife Services, asking again for specific data about how many animals were killed in Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties in 2004 and 2005, and which methods were used to kill those animals. In the response letter we received a month later, some of our request was actually answered, but four pages of “responsive records” were “withheld in their entirety…” because “…release would cause a foreseeable harm to the Agency’s decision-making process.” It is hard to imagine how harm would occur if the government released accurate information about what agency trappers did to wildlife on behalf of ranchers, farmers, and others who request wildlife control. |
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In Calaveras County, in both 2004 and 2005 reports, the records show that agency trappers killed mountain lions, black bears, coyotes, gray foxes, opossums, raccoons, skunks, and ground squirrels – killing 625 animals overall. During the two-year period, more than 100 coyotes were shot from aircraft when they failed to escape the aerial hunters.
Coyotes, gray foxes, and raccoons were also killed with neck snares – one of the more controversial kill methods. Attracted to bait, the animal sticks its head into the snare, and the wire or loop tightens around the animal’s throat. The more the animal struggles, the more it chokes, slowing choking to death. |
In Tuolumne County, black bears, coyotes, gray foxes, mountain lions, opossums, raccoons, and skunks were killed both years, similar to the results in Calaveras County. In Tuolumne County, trappers also killed bobcats, feral hogs, and gray squirrels. Unlike the trappers working in Calaveras County who killed coyotes by shooting from aircraft, the trappers working in Tuolumne County killed nearly 200 coyotes in the two years, but none were shot from planes or helicopters. |
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CSERC | PO Box 396 | Twain Harte, CA 95383 | (209) 586-7440 | info@cserc.org
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