Category Archives: hunting

Trapping Cruelty Addressed In New House Bills Seeking Bans

Posted on by
1

GR: The economic justification for trapping and hunting is fading away along with the animals. Even indigenous cultures with strong animal hunting and eating traditions need to change because their human populations are growing too large to survive on meat. We need our leaders to make family planning and vegetarian diets more acceptable and accessible. Read more about this “barbaric sport.”

Let’s end cruelty to wild animals in the United States. “Continue reading” the article below for information and links for giving your opinion to your elected representatives.

Oregon coyote caught in a Wildlife Services trap: Brooks Fahy/Predator Defense

“Brooks Fahy has been working for decades to save wild animals from painful traps — and while he has seen hundreds of sad cases, there’s one coyote he’ll never forget.

“Fahy, who is the executive director of the nonprofit Predator Defense, received a call from a concerned citizen about an animal caught in a trap. After scouring the Oregon woods, he found the young coyote — his leg was badly pinched in a leghold trap.

“When I walked up on that coyote, he looked at me and then he looked down, like he was ready to accept his fate,” Fahy told The Dodo.

“Animals caught in traps can wait days before they’re found and killed — sometimes for their meat or fur, other times just for recreation. Some animals caught in traps try to gnaw off their own limbs out of desperation. “Traps are notoriously nonselective, whether it’s an M44, a neck snare, a leghold trap, any animal that comes along could get caught,” Fahy said. Endangered species and even people’s beloved dogs can be injured or even killed because of indiscriminate traps.

The trap was set out by Wildlife Services, a branch of the USDA that kills tens of thousands of coyotes each year by trapping, shooting, snaring and poisoning them.

Warning: Graphic image below

“The coyote Fahy found seemed to be determined to stay alive. There were some puddles of melted snow near him, which he appeared to have been drinking from, Fahy said: “He had been in the trap a long time, a week minimum.”

Fahy also noticed a branch sticking up out of the ground beside him that was all chewed up.

“He’d been gnawing on it to relieve the pain,” Fahy said.

“As Fahy got closer, he noticed paw prints in the ground and the vestiges of smaller animals. “There were these small bones around him — we realized that a mate was bringing him food,” Fahy remembers. “It’s gut-wrenching. It haunts me to this day.” –Sarah V. Schweig (Continue reading:  Trapping Cruelty Addressed In New House Bills Seeking Bans.)

Carnivores in the Crosshairs (H.J. Res. 69)

Posted on by
1

GR:  This type of management (eliminate predators to please human hunters) is more than just a crime against nature; it’s a foolish plan that has failed many times before. Predator and prey populations go through natural cycles. When people interfere, we can’t predict what will happen. It would be better to hand all the hunters a camera and challenge them to get some unique photos.

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Rule is under siege, and the consequences could be dire for bears and wolves in the state.

“You may have heard about H.J. Res. 69, a dangerous bill that jeopardizes bears, wolves and other carnivores by tossing out the Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Rule. This legislation is set to hit the Senate floor any day now, and its enactment could have drastic implications for wildlife in Alaska and public lands management nationwide.

The Low-Down on H.J. Res 69

“H.J. Res. 69 would overturn the Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Rule, which the Obama administration issued last year to conserve native carnivores, including bears, wolves and their young, on as many as 76 million acres of national wildlife refuges in Alaska. The timing of when this rule was finalized matters significantly, as its fate is now subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA)—you can read more about that here.

“Legislators and their special interest allies already jammed H.J. Res. 69 through the House of Representatives, despite strong bipartisan opposition that labeled it as “The Killing Baby Animals in Alaska Act.” The Senate is currently considering whether to bring this harmful bill up for a vote.

Threatening Wildlife in Their Home

“Without the Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Rule in place, the state of Alaska could pursue its scientifically indefensible predator control program on these federal lands. This controversial program allows the killing of mother bears and their cubs, killing wolves and their pups in their dens, and trapping, baiting and using airplanes to scout and shoot bears. The state’s goal is to drive down carnivore numbers to artificially inflate populations of game species.” –Defenders of Wildlife (Continue reading:  Carnivores in the Crosshairs – Defenders of Wildlife Blog.)

The extinction crisis is far worse than you think

Posted on by
3

GR:  This CNN Photo/Video/Data essay has high-quality images and interviews.  Recommended.

“Frogs, coral, elephants — all are on the brink. Three quarters of species could disappear. Why is this happening? CNN explores an unprecedented global crisis.” –CNN (Continue:  The extinction crisis is far worse than you think)

Bushmeat Demand Overwhelming “Supply” of 301 Mammal Species

Posted on by
Reply

GR:  We praise indigenous people for their reverence for nature. The study discussed here shows how population growth and evolving social values have erased the reverence.

“You might rejoice at having some habitat remaining, say a pristine forest, but if is hunted out to become an empty larder, it is a pyrrhic victory.”

“A team of authors recently published a new study in The Royal Society Open Science journal with the title, “Bushmeat hunting and extinction risk to the world’s mammals.” The work shows how bushmeat hunting (mostly for food and medicinal products) is driving a global crisis whereby 301 terrestrial mammal species are threatened with human-induced extinction.

“The abstract notes that nearly all of these threatened species occur in developing countries where major coexisting threats include deforestation, agricultural expansion, human encroachment and competition with livestock. You can click here to read the full study.

“At the beginning of their solution section, the authors write: “Growing human populations, increasing middle-class wealth, access to hunting technologies in developing nations and the modern ease of transporting goods around the planet are facilitating a global demand for wild animals as food and other products that simply cannot be met by current global wildlife populations.”—Joe Bish, Population Media Center.

The study: Bushmeat Demand Overwhelming “Supply” of 301 Mammal Species

Use a Camera

Posted on by
2

Wildlife presents a similar challenge for hunters and photographers, but because of range limitations, photography compares best with archery. Why not teach gun safety and use the gun on cans, bottles, and targets, but use the camera on wild animals.

Exposing the Big Game

View original post

Tell your Senators to OPPOSE S.659 – ‘Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2016’

Posted on by
1

hunting--deer

Sportsmen

There are people who kill animals for enjoyment or to demonstrate their skill. Such “sportsmen” are not interested in the future of wildlife; they’re interested in the momentary thrill and praise from fellows. Thus, regulatory protections are required. Sportsmen should be trying to reduce the human population and its expansion into wildlife habitat if they truly wish to support wildlife.

Exposing the Big Game

http://www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20160419.html
Action Alert from All-Creatures.org

FROM

WolfWatcher / Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic – Vote Our Wildlife
April 2016

ACTION

This bill, under the guise of “Sportsmen”, is loaded with many anti-environmental provisions and is a mirror image of the SHARE Act which has already passed in the House of Representatives. Polls indicate the majority of Americans oppose this.

Tell your Senators to OPPOSE this atrocious act that is pro-hunting, guts environmental protections, decreases endangered species listings.

See Tell U.S. Senators to OPPOSE NRA-Backed ‘Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act (SHARE)’:

We call this the ‘Sportsmen Destruction of the Wilderness Act of 1964.’

It has passed in the House. THIS HAS TO BE STOPPED IN THE SENATE!!

PLEASE find and contact your U.S. Senators here.

INFORMATION

This bill, under the guise of “Sportsmen”, is loaded with many anti-environmental provisions and is a mirror image of the SHARE Act which has…

View original post 390 more words

AZGFD.gov Sunday is last day to hunt Arizona’s quail

Posted on by
Reply

PHOENIX — “With nothing but sunshine and spring-like temperatures in the weather forecast for this weekend, there’s really no excuse for hunters not to get out in the field and chase quail one last time.
“The season for the state’s three main species – Gambel’s, scaled and Mearns’ – ends Sunday, Feb. 7. The general bag limit is 15 quail per day in the aggregate, of which no more than eight may be Mearns’ quail. The general possession limit is 45 quail in the aggregate, of which no more than 15 Gambel’s, scaled or California quail in the aggregate may be taken in any one day. The 45-quail possession limit may include 24 Mearns’ quail, of which no more than eight may be taken in any one day.”  azgfd.net

GR:  Many of these beautiful birds will die over the next 72 hours.  Shouldn’t killers be given psychiatric treatment rather than living targets?

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and Wildlife Conservation

Posted on by
2

GR:  Most nature conservationists work to benefit humans by preventing destructive overuse of wildlife, vegetation, and soil.  In the midst of the sixth mass extinction and reading about the losses of our great forests and soils, I believe it is clear that homocentric conservation has been ineffective. Placing nature beneath humans is the wrong approach. It’s time to recognize the equal importance of other species, both plants and animals, on the Earth. In fact, it’s time to begin reducing human numbers and returning the land to the animals.

This article by Marc Bedner discusses the history of the relationship between hunting and wildlife conservation.

No Refuge for Wildlife

Posted on January 18, 2016 by

“The armed hunter-rancher occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge shows the need for the Federal Government to enforce wildlife protection laws. Unfortunately, wildlife refuges were designed from the outset to benefit hunters, not wildlife, in accordance with principles the Boone and Crockett Club developed a century ago.

Teddy Roosevelt with dead elephant

Teddy Roosevelt with dead elephant

“Theodore Roosevelt, a notorious big game hunter, co-founded Boone and Crockett with George Bird Grinnell (who founded one of the first Audubon societies). Membership in the Boone and Crockett Club was originally restricted to men who had killed at least three different large species of American wildlife, including bear, bison, caribou, cougar, and moose. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which traces its origins to President Theodore Roosevelt, is one of 336 wildlife refuges (out of a total of 560) which allow hunting.

“Among the early members of the Club were Aldo Leopold and Gifford Pinchot. In 1905 Roosevelt appointed Pinchot as the first Chief Forester of the U.S. Forest Service. After working for the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico, Leopold developed Pinchot’s principles of scientific forest management into a new science of game management. In conjunction with the Boone & Crockett Club, the Wildlife Society certifies game managers as trademarked wildlife biologists in accordance with principles now called the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.” –Marc Bedner (read more).

Decision to declare lions endangered comes just months after the death of ‘Cecil the Lion’

Posted on by
Reply

GR:  American trophy hunters just aren’t rich enough to stop this move. In other instances, it is clear that protecting economic interests is more important to the Fish and Wildlife Service than protecting wildlife (e.g., the Greater Sage Grouse: http://www.fws.gov/greatersagegrouse/status.php). That’s the way it is in America. Government agencies that actively harm the wildlife or ecosystems in their care are just one more consequence of a government controlled by money.

Exposing the Big Game

Theo-Bronkhorst-Cecil-lion-Zimbabwe2

“If hunting is part of a conservation strategy, then it’s part of a failing strategy,” said Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on a conference call for journalists. The rule is “not reacting to Cecil specifically or any other incident specific, but rather an overwhelming body of science that says that lions are threatened.”

Hefty fees paid in the by hunters of big game like lions ostensibly help fund conservation efforts. But some wildlife experts question whether the policies have been effective as implemented. Lion populations have declined by 43% during the last 20 years, according to the FWS.

The endangered listing comes along with a number of new policies, including new permit requirements for hunters hoping to import trophies from lion hunts. The agency said it will only issue permits in accordance with science on how best to conserve lion species. The rules…

View original post 95 more words

November 17 Hearing at Capital on Eliminating Back Tags and Eliminating Age Requirements for Kids Being Mentored into Killing & More

Posted on by
Reply

Originally posted on Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife:

Citizens can find their Senate and Assembly members’ contact information in the upper right-hand corner of the Wisconsin Legislature home page here to comment on this legislation.  From: exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com

GR:  We can’t survive without Earth’s natural ecosystems.  We must teach our children respect for nature and not teach them to kill.  (I haven’t heard the results of the hearing yet.)