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16234 |
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Date: June 25, 2019 at 12:07:41
From: sheila, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Dept of AG/APHIS killed over 2 million wild creatures 2018 |
URL: https://psmag.com/environment/the-government-agency-in-charge-of-killing-wild-animals-is-finally-facing-backlash |
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been following this grizzly business for years, 2018 is yet another year when this Dept of Agriculture "APHIS" killed many species of animals, birds, etc. The total on their list shows that they killed 2,652,405 creatures, mostly for the benefit of ranchers in all states as well as farmers.
I can understand the need to exterminate coyotes, cougars, rats and other critters who pose threats to people as well but Barn Owls, Meadowlarks, Swans, doves, Ducks, Canada Geese, Badgers, Beavers, Black bears many of which are threatened by extinction but the list includes many of our most cherished wildlife.
From the article at the link:
The Government Agency in Charge of Killing Wild Animals Is Facing Backlash
Oregon has banned Wildlife Services' use of cyanide bombs, and some California counties have severed their contracts with the agency.
Jimmy Tobias· Jun 24, 2019
According to the agency, which is housed under the United States Department of Agriculture, its trappers and field operatives killed more than 1.5 million native animals last year (and 1.6 million non native animals). The list of the dead includes roughly 515,000 red-winged black birds, 68,000 coyotes, 22,500 beavers, 19,900 mourning doves, 17,000 black-tailed prairie dogs, 10,000 double-crested cormorants, 2,000 mallard ducks, 1,784 gray foxes, 1,300 red-tailed hawks, 1,000 bobcats, hundreds of owls, 357 wolves, 350 black bears, one grizzly bear, and many, many more.
This sort of killing is quite normal for Wildlife Services, an opaque bureaucracy that has proven remarkably immune to reform over the decades. In his fierce forthcoming book This Land, Christopher Ketcham, a public lands journalist who has covered Wildlife Services for Harper's, describes the long-tenured agency like this: "True to its mandate, Wildlife Services kills anything under the sun perceived as a threat to stockmen, deploying an arsenal of poisons, traps and aerial gunships at a cost of tens of millions of dollars a year annually. Between 2000 and 2014, two million native mammals fell to this machine, including 20 species of carnivores and 12 taxa of mammals listed as endangered, threatened or as candidates for protection under the Endangered Species Act."
"During the 20th century," he adds, "the agency was probably responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of animals," including huge numbers of wolves, cougars, prairie dogs, and other species deemed detrimental to private agricultural interests.
Wildlife Services regularly deploys what are known as M-44s, or so-called "cyanide bombs," spring-loaded contraptions that, when triggered by the snout or paw or claw of a curious animal, will release a spray of sodium cyanide that violently kills the victim. The agency deploys such devices in more than a dozen states, including on public lands, often placing them alongside bait to lure unsuspecting predators like coyotes.
Wildlife Services is also facing a relentless barrage of federal lawsuits. Conservationists, for instance, have taken to using the Endangered Species Act to fight the agency's activities. In late May of this year, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit to stop the agency's killing of beavers in California, arguing that such killing harms the state's populations of endangered salmon, which use the habitat provided by beaver dams for sustenance and shelter. The group has also sued Wildlife Services in Arizona, contending that the agency failed to consider the impact of its activities on endangered ocelots that reside in the state. The Center for Biological Diversity settled the Arizona case out of court with Wildlife Services, obtaining new restrictions on the agency's activities in ocelot habitat.
Article continues at the link with details about pets killed by these cyanide bombs.
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16236 |
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Date: June 25, 2019 at 18:44:38
From: Teresa N Cal, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Dept of AG/APHIS killed over 2 million wild creatures 2018 |
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Very sad. I wonder what there reasons for all those
birds. We had to take out a coyote that killed 14
ducks and was going after lambs. I felt horrible
about it. We have more livestock guardian dogs coming
to help prevent our losses and the wildlife loss.
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[16237] [16238] [16240] [16245] [16243] [16241] [16239] |
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16237 |
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Date: June 25, 2019 at 19:54:34
From: sheila, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Dept of AG/APHIS killed over 2 million wild creatures 2018 |
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yes, I feel that coyotes apparently breed way too fast for any predators to keep up. So I'm not against that but the birds? Robins do eat berries of all kinds so might have been feasting on somebody's berry field. Better ways to keep the birds away though, one you pick berry farm we've been to has a recording of hawks that play throughout the fields. Kind of irritating but it does the job. But Meadowlarks, Doves, Kildeers (nearly 3000 of them killed!) what do these poor birds do? Also, Swallows do their duty killing thousands of mosquitoes per bird so why kill them?
It's unconscionable!
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16238 |
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Date: June 26, 2019 at 18:48:49
From: Mitra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Koyaanitsqatsi |
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Did you see the PBS Yellowstone special on the impact of
the ecosystem of wolves? They brought balance and even
changed the landscape, also controlled the coyotes.
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16240 |
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Date: June 27, 2019 at 15:45:28
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Koyaanitsqatsi |
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatsi_trilogy |
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Yes, I saw that...amazing... So many crucial elements
of balance disappearing... ;(
Seeing your subject line, wondering if you knew about
the other two movies in the trilogy, Powaqqatsi and
Naqoyqatsi? Tiny Wiki info at link... I haven't seen
the third one, will make a point of it... Thanks for
mentioning...
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16245 |
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Date: June 27, 2019 at 20:37:39
From: sheila, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Koyaanitsqatsi |
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I didn't know about the trilogy, thanks shadow for the link, will follow up and try to watch the other 2.
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16243 |
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Date: June 27, 2019 at 19:51:49
From: Mitra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Koyaanitsqatsi |
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Yes, though I don't have them in my collection. Thanks,
I'll take Debbie's suggestion and add them.
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16241 |
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Date: June 27, 2019 at 15:56:13
From: DebbyS-AbqNM, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Koyaanitsqatsi |
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All three videos are available on DVD, and maybe even Blu-ray. hey would look even better (so to speak) in high definition. Definitely scarier...
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16239 |
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Date: June 27, 2019 at 14:43:14
From: sheila, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Koyaanitsqatsi |
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yes I did see it, quite amazing how the balance works. So sad that so many wolves are killed annually and mostly at the behest of ranchers. I understand if they are losing livestock but that is not the case in many instances. I remember seeing that Koyaanitsquatsi movie years ago, it was gobsmacking!
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16235 |
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Date: June 25, 2019 at 12:12:01
From: sheila, [DNS_Address]
Subject: here's APHIS long list of creatures killed across the country |
URL: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/pdr/?file=PDR-G_Report&p=2018:INDEX: |
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why the hell would they kill American Robins, Meadowlarks, Barn Owls, Cardinals, etc.??? Being an avid birder, it's a heartbreaking list to get through. I am heartened to see that Oregon banned those "cyanide bombs" which are so dangerous to humans as well. Also, wildlife groups are fighting back!
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16244 |
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Date: June 27, 2019 at 19:54:20
From: Mitra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: here's APHIS long list of creatures killed across the country |
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Just my guess, but I expect if you look at the cause you
will find a corporaste quarterly report.
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