Wildlife Services killed more than 3.2 million wild animals in their attempt to reduce wildlife population last year. But a new under-the-radar court settlement could restrain this mass killing.
Wildlife Services kills an estimate of 4,000 animals every day. The department has justified the mass killing of animals as part of their mission to create an environment which allows people and wild animals to coexist. But a recent settlement that was reached in Nevada might lower the number of kills, and save the lives of wild animals.
The strategy of killing predators in Nevada is based on scientific research from 1994. However, the WildEarth Guardians, a small animal rights group based in New Mexico, argued in a lawsuit that the science used by the department is substandard and out of date.
In fact, modern research does not support killing predators as an effective way to moderate their population. For instance, an analysis of livestock predation and wolf populations in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho revealed that more livestock was killed by wolves after a cull. Removing 78 percent of coyotes from a region also did not increase the survival chance of the white-tailed deer species.
The lawsuit has paved the way for the killings to stop in the state as an agreement was made that the Wildlife Services will not be allowed to operate within 6 million acres of Nevada until a new strategy is drafted. The department was given time to ensure that they come up with more non-lethal alternatives.
WildEarth wildlife program director Bethany Cotton told the Washington Post that given the new settlement, "my hope is that officials will embrace the science and the modern ethics around the treatment of wildlife."