Montana Wolves In Danger of Ramped Up Hunting

Wolves in Montana face serious threats if SB 397 is passed.

Wolves in Montana are facing threats of eradication despite recently being restored to the Northern Rockies. Several bills pertaining to wolves are before the House committee of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, including SB 397, while HB 73 was signed last month. Under HB 73, hunters are now able to purchase up to three licenses for wolf hunting, are allowed to use electronic devices and calls, are not required to wear hunter orange, and may hunt and trap wolves adjacent to national parks. Furthermore, the cost of a nonresident wolf license has been reduced from $350 to a mere $50, making a wolf license attainable for practically anyone.

According to Montana wildlife officials, there were approximately 600 wolves statewide at the beginning of wolf hunting season. Since then, 225 wolves have been killed, 36 percent more than last year. Unfortunately, due to livestock attacks and a fear of decline in elk herds, they were hoping to reduce the wolf population to 450 by the end of the season, which ended February 28. However, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports that elk herds are “at or above management objectives” throughout most regions, and overall have healthy, growing populations. If signed into law, this bill would not only contribute to a steep decline in wolf population due to trapping during breeding and denning seasons, but also would prevent wolves from migrating to areas that could easily benefit from and support them.

SB 397 would legalize a variety of deplorable acts regarding how one actually hunts for wolves, including the use of snares, trapping for ten months out of the year (including breeding and denning seasons), using dead wolves to lure others in, and allowing an unlimited number of wolves to be killed in a given season.

Montana residents, please contact your legislators and urge them to vote no on SB 397.

When you think about it…killing contests send the wrong message to children.

Positive interaction between children and all animals promotes compassion, respect, and a sense of well-being.

Whether 5 or 15, children should be taught to respect others and to have compassion for the sick, poor, and helpless. They should be taught right from wrong and the golden rule. But some communities seem to believe teaching children to kill animals for money and other prizes is perfectly acceptable. Given that many of our mass murderers once killed animals when they were children, do we really want to teach our children that a wild animal deserves to die just so they can win a prize?

Humane educators cringe each time they see a newspaper headline, “Squirrel killing contest open to 10-year-olds” or “Children awarded prizes for killing feral pigs.” So much for raising compassionate, caring, humane children. What children learn from “lessons” like these is you can win big bucks for killing nature’s creatures.

Some will argue that these contests are no different from what hunters do. No, they are very different. Hunters often kill animals to feed and clothe their families. Those who do hunt in order to live do not turn killing into a contest. In fact, many hunters abhor killing contests because they destroy compassion for the natural world, especially in our children. When you think about…killing contests send the wrong message to children.

Protect Alaska Wildlife

The National Park Service, Alaska Region, is taking action to protect wolves and their pups.

The state of Alaska is open to using any measure to kill bears, wolves, and coyotes to reduce the predator population so the moose and caribou populations can increase. Such measures benefit hunters only and destroy the natural balance in the Alaskan wilderness.

The National Park Service, Alaska Region, seeks to prohibit one or more of these hunting measures, which include bear baiting, killing wolves and coyotes with pups, killing bears with cubs, and shooting bears in their dens. These forms of hunting are nothing short of cruel and inhumane and should never be allowed in national preserves.

Contact the National Park Service, Alaska Region, and express your support of the agency’s actions to protect all wildlife in the state.

Joel Hard, Deputy Director
National Park Service, Alaska Region
240 W. 5th Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
Tele. No.: 907-644-3512

Grizzly Bears May Be Hunted Once Again

Help protect grizzly bears, say no to hunting.

According to a news story, grizzly bears in the Yellowstone and Glacier National Park areas may be hunted once again. “With bear-human conflicts on the rise, wildlife managers in the Northern Rockies are laying the groundwork for trophy hunts for grizzlies in anticipation of the government lifting their threatened species status.”

Killing wildlife for sport is inherently cruel and uncivilized. Hunting disrupts migration and hibernation patterns. It decimates animal family units and degrades habitat. The oft-stated reason for hunting is to control animals who have wandered into human spaces. In reality, it is we who have created what is perceived to be an overpopulation of some species by taking away their natural habitat to build roads, homes, shopping centers.

Send a polite note to the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting his agency reconsider allowing hunting of grizzly bears when their threatened status is lifted.

Daniel M. Ashe, Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240

African Lions in Danger

Only with strict protection will future generations of lions roam freely in the wild.

African lions need protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). With fewer than 35,000 in the wild and with their numbers dwindling, without protection now, they may become extinct. While loss of habitat is one reason for their declining numbers, one of the bigger challenges to the species’ survival comes from the United States—the world’s largest importer of lion trophies and lion parts.

Urge the acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the African lion under the ESA now.

Daniel M. Ashe, Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240

When you think about it…killing contests are no contest.

Coyotes suffer from hunting contests.

Every now and again we read of organizations sponsoring contests to kill animals with rewards in the hundreds to thousands of dollars for the most animals killed. A coyote killing contest in New Mexico recently sparked a lot of reaction on both sides of the issue. Those who want to kill the coyotes believe it is their right since the coyotes killed their livestock. Yet, many livestock deaths cannot be attributed to attacks by wild animals. Some people want the animals killed because they killed their companion animal. There are ways to protect our companion animals that will keep them out of reach of coyotes—securely fenced areas for dogs and outdoor enclosures for cats or keeping cats indoors. Others want to save the coyotes from terrible deaths due to starvation and rabies. Saving a wild animal from death due to his or her life in the wild is absurd reasoning. These are wild animals and as such live as best as they can in their natural surroundings. To kill them just to save them makes no sense. Hunting, especially for sport, is not a tradition or way of life that is to be glorified or honored and certainly, when you think about it…should never be made into a contest.

Deer Deserve Better

Paws Up!
To local activists for protecting deer in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C.

The National Park Service was preparing to use sharpshooters to bait and kill deer in Rock Creek Park. When activists brought suit in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, they were rewarded with a stay until the court rules sometime in March 2013.

With some effort, we can coexist with wildlife rather than destroy wildlife.

According to a news story, “Over the years, animal-rights activists have suggested a range of solutions for thinning the herd, ranging from trapping and relocating to reintroducing more predators into the park.”

As with any urban park where there are no predators to balance nature, certain prey populations flourish. This has been the case in Rock Creek Park, which cuts through Washington, D.C., and has over 2,000 acres of green land, recreational facilities, and paths.

Living with wildlife, especially in heavily congested areas, does create some issues between human and nonhuman animals. However, the solution should not be to destroy life but to determine better ways to manage life.

Take Action: According to Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” If there is an animal-related issue in your community, why not gather your group of thoughtful, committed citizens and change your world?

Washington, D.C. residents, please send a polite note to the Chief Judge of the Federal District Court expressing your concern that killing nature is not the best way to manage nature.

Honorable Royce C. Lamberth
Chief Judge
Federal District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Tele. No.: 202-354-3000

Costa Rica Cares for Wildlife

Paws Up!
To Costa Rica for being on the verge of becoming the first Latin American country to ban hunting as a sport.

According to a news story, “Lawmakers voting on the ban voted 41 in favor and five against, and a second vote…is widely seen ratifying changes to the law, which aims to protect animals in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.”

Animals like the jaguar will no longer be hunted for trophies in Costa Rica.

Hunting for other than survival by indigenous groups, destroys lives and upends ecosystems. In Costa Rica, jaguars, pumas, and sea turtles are often hunted as trophies. Hunting for sport is no sport for the animals who lose their lives.

Take Action: Write a note to the president of Costa Rica and the US ambassador thanking them for their country’s stance on hunting for sport.

The Honorable Laura Chinchilla Miranda, President
The Honorable Muni Figueres, Ambassador
c/o Embassy of Costa Rica
2114 S Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

California Protects Animals

Paws Up!

To the California legislature for enacting and Governor Jerry Brown for signing into law several important statutes to protect animals.

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1221, which will outlaw the use of dogs in bear and bobcat hunting in California.

A second law, SB 1229, prohibits landlords from requiring tenants to declaw or debark their animals as a condition of renting from them.

Additional bills were enacted and signed into law that will protect the animals of California.

Take Action: California residents, please thank your legislators and your governor for being active in protecting the animals of your state. Residents of other states, please contact your legislators and make sure they are backing animal-friendly legislation.

Will Canada end seal hunting?

Seal clubbing is anathema to a humane and civilized people.

Canada has the opportunity to end commercial seal slaughter today. Canadian senator Mac Harb has introduced S 210, an Act to Amend the Fisheries Act (commercial seal fishing). This bill would disallow the issuance of commercial licenses for seal fishing except for those issued to aboriginal organizations or to persons who have a claims agreement.

With markets declining in both Europe and Russia, the price of seal pelts has decreased and the commercial industry is worth only a fraction of what it once was. While those are economic reasons for ending the commercial slaughter of Canadian seals, the humane reasons should not be overlooked. Thousands of baby seals are clubbed to death annually. Such slaughter should never be condoned. Hunting, for other than subsistence reasons , is anathema to a humane and civilized people.

Canadian citizens, please contact you legislators and let them know you support Senator Harb’s bill, S 210. Readers not in Canada should also contact legislators to make them aware that anti-seal hunting sentiments are worldwide.