Archive: Terrestrial Wildlife

Earlier this month, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), and Project Coyote obtained a default ruling in our lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for waiving state permit requirements for controversial penning facilities like WCI Foxhound Training Preserve (WCI). The judge signed, without changes, our proposed judgment, which included a declaration that WCI’s possession of coyotes without a permit is unlawful. While the verdict is an important victory over WCI, the DNR has not yet indicated whether it will enforce permitting laws against the illegal penning operation. If the DNR refuses to do so, AWI and the other plaintiff organizations will seek a court order requiring enforcement of the law.

In November 2012, the Animal Welfare Institute and several other organizations sued and obtained a preliminary injunction against spotlight hunting of coyotes at night in the five-county area of eastern North Carolina inhabited by the world’s only wild population of red wolves (Canis rufus), which are frequently mistaken for coyotes due to similarity in appearance.

Data obtained from US Fish and Wildlife Service records indicates that ten red wolves (out of total population of around 100) were killed by suspected gunshot in 2012. This is higher than the average rate of red wolf gunshot mortality documented between 2004 and 2011 (seven per year). Nine of the 10 deaths in 2012 occurred after the temporary rule went into effect in August, and at least three of these deaths were reported by hunters who thought they were shooting at a coyote when in fact it was a red wolf.

These reports indicate that mistaken identity between coyotes and red wolves is common and restrictions must be placed on coyote hunting. Unfortunately, an identical permanent rule that would allow spotlight hunting of coyotes at night in North Carolina could still go into effect if it is not blocked by the state legislature this month. AWI and others notified the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission that it is in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing spotlight hunting of coyotes, and the groups will file a federal enforcement action unless the Commission takes steps to protect the wolves.

A coalition of more than 20 wildlife conservation organizations, representing more than a million Californians, are calling on the California Department of Wildlife and California Fish and Game Commission to stop a planned coyote-hunting contest scheduled for early February in Modoc County.

The groups, which include Project Coyote, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity, believe the “Coyote Drive 2013” hunt poses a serious threat to wolf OR-7 (also called “Journey”), as well as any other uncollared gray wolves who, like OR-7, may have dispersed into California and be roaming the area.

“Wolves are official candidates for protection under the California Endangered Species Act, and are also protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, so state wildlife officials have a duty to do everything in their power to protect gray wolves in California,” said Amaroq Weiss, a West Coast wolf organizer with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The groups also maintain that the contest hunt violates new state legislation that requires the Fish and Game Commission to use “ecosystem-based management” and the best available science in the stewardship of California’s wildlife.

“Killing coyotes—or any wild animal—as part of a contest or tournament is ethically indefensible, ecologically reckless, and counter to sound science,” said Camilla Fox, Project Coyote executive director and a wildlife consultant to the Animal Welfare Institute.

The conservation coalition sent letters to all state and federal wildlife-management agencies requesting that those agencies enforce permitting requirements and restrictions on predator hunting. The Bureau of Land Management confirmed that the hunt sponsors the Pit River Rod and Gun Club and Adin Supply Company—have not obtained a special recreational-use permit and therefore participants cannot legally hunt on BLM lands. The coalition also sent a letter to the hunt sponsors requesting that they cancel the coyote hunt because it could violate state and federal laws, possibly hurting or killing endangered wolves.

“There can be no biological or legal justification for setting coyote hunters loose in an area where gray wolves are mounting a return after an absence of nearly 90 years from the state,” said D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute.

State wildlife officials in California declined to call off a coyote-hunting contest in Modoc County this weekend but, in response to public outcry, agreed to take steps to clarify the scope of the hunt and protect OR-7, the first wild wolf in California in nearly nine decades. The precautionary steps were recommended by a coalition of conservation groups representing more than a million Californians, including the Animal Welfare Institute, Project Coyote and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The California Fish and Wildlife Department received more than 20,000 comments and petition signatures from members of the public who oppose the coyote hunt. On Wednesday, following a hearing that included testimony from more than a dozen hunt-contest opponents, wildlife officials agreed to educate the hunt’s sponsors and participants on the physical differences between coyotes and wolves and to make clear that shooting wolves violates both state and federal law. The agency said it will also provide wardens to monitor the hunt and ensure it complies with the law.

“We’d rather the hunt was called off altogether, but we’re pleased state officials will take extra measures that could reduce the risk of hurting or killing wolves,” said Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The coalition notified federal land-management agencies about the contest—known as “Coyote Drive 2013”—and informed the event sponsors, the Pit River Rod and Gun Club and Adin Supply Company, that because special-use permits have not been obtained, contestants cannot kill coyotes on Bureau of Land Management or US Forest Service lands. Also, nearby national wildlife refuges, National Park Service lands and state wildlife management areas are not open to predator hunting. “While the sponsors advise participants to obtain permission to hunt on private land, they fail to specify that the permission must be in writing to comply with state law,” said D.J. Schubert, wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute.

“The concept of making a contest out of killing wildlife is ethically indefensible and suggests that wildlife have no value other than as live targets in an outdoor shooting gallery,” said Camilla Fox, Project Coyote executive director and a wildlife consultant to the Animal Welfare Institute. “We intend to work with state officials to put an end to such gratuitous slaughter of wildlife as part of a contest to win prizes.”

The Animal Welfare Institute, Project Coyote and the Center for Biological Diversity are seeking an immediate investigation of Modoc County Sheriff Mike Poindexter for his decision to defy federal laws and advocate the violation of those laws during this weekend’s Coyote Drive 13, a coyote-killing contest in and near Modoc County.

A letter to the editor of the Modoc County Recorder on Feb. 7 by Sheriff Poindexter said he won’t “tolerate any restriction of legal hunting on our public lands” despite federal laws prohibiting or regulating coyote hunting on federal lands in and near Modoc County.  He also recommended that any hunt participant who is questioned or detained by federal enforcement officials for illegally hunting on federal lands to “cooperate but stand their ground and call the Sheriff’s Office” and that sheriff deputies “absolutely will not tolerate any infringement upon your liberties pertaining to accessing or legally hunting on your public lands.”

“Despite claiming to uphold the US Constitution, Sheriff Poindexter has decided he will not enforce and is encouraging others to flout those federal laws which he opposes,” said D.J. Schubert, wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute. “This is a blatant breach of his duty as a law enforcement officer and a violation of the Law Enforcement Code of ethics.”

The groups have contacted the district attorney for Modoc County, the California Attorney General’s office, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of California and a number of state and federal agencies advising them of Sheriff Poindexter’s comments and asking for urgent intervention.

“These laws are on the books to protect our public lands and the wildlife that live there. Not only does this coyote hunt put OR-7 and other wolves at risk, but now it’s also shaping up to be some kind of Wild West misadventure where the sheriff is thumbing his nose at federal laws,” said Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Poindexter’s statement comes in the wake of public outcry that generated more than 20,000 letters, emails, and petition signatures into the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Fish and Game Commission calling for an end to Coyote Drive 2013 and a top-to-bottom evaluation of the state’s approach to managing predators in California.

“Given the serious potential for violations of state and federal laws barring predator hunting on public lands, the threat this hunt poses to OR-7 and any un-collared wolves in the area, and the public’s clear opposition to this killing contest, the state should take immediate action to call off Coyote Drive 2013 now,” said Camilla Fox, Project Coyote executive director and a wildlife consultant to the Animal Welfare Institute.

Rock Creek Park, situated in the center of an urban forest, provides a much needed respite from the hectic pace of living and working in the nation’s capital and surrounding communities. Millions of Americans each year enjoy watching the park’s deer and other wildlife, hiking the park’s miles of trails, and using its many recreational facilities.

But the park is now a killing ground for white-tailed deer. The National Park Service (NPS) has ordered their slaughter, which started on the evening of Wednesday, March 27, and will continue through Saturday, March 30. Bait is being used to lure the deer—most of whom have grown up within the protective boundaries of the park and some of whom are heavily pregnant—to specific sites within the park, where they are being gunned down by sharpshooters or netted and then the terrified animals are killed by penetrating captive bolt gun, chemical injection, or by bleeding. The NPS kept its plan secret in an attempt to avoid a backlash from the humane community.

The NPS is arguably unauthorized to slaughter these deer this late in March. The agency indicated to the public that if they were to kill deer in the park, it would occur in the “fall or winter months.” Based on the agency’s own decision documents, the public believed that there would be no killing until fall of 2013 at the earliest, which would give animal advocates time to hone and present alternatives to meet the government’s objectives.

The NPS claims the slaughter is necessary to protect native vegetation, birds, and other wildlife yet it has offered very little credible evidence that these alleged impacts are occurring in Rock Creek Park, that deer are solely responsible, or that such drastic actions are required to alleviate said impacts.

The NPS has also not tried non-lethal deer management strategies such as deer fertility control methods first before culling with bullets or capture and euthanasia. And according to the Park Service’s own scientists, if they start killing the deer before using non-lethal alternatives, this will make it very difficult to switch to these methods, as the deer will become wary of humans.

Tonight and the next two nights starting at 5 p.m., there will be a rally held on behalf of the deer (the killing is scheduled to take place between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.). Concerned animal advocates can meet at the “Rock Creek Park” sign located at the corner of Military Road NW where it intersects with Oregon Avenue and Glover Road NW. Advocates are advised to bring signs indicating their opposition to the killing.

Protestors should be mindful of the fact that the following road closures will be in effect from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. from March 27 through 30, when sharpshooting is underway:

• Beach Drive north of Broad Branch Road
• Ross Drive
• Wise Road
• Grant Road
• Sherrill Drive
• Joyce Road
• Morrow Drive
• Bingham Road NW

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) today announced a proposed rule to classify both wild and captive chimpanzees as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Currently, only wild chimpanzees are listed as endangered, while captive chimpanzees are listed as threatened. This allows for chimps to be commercially exploited, used in laboratories, sold and traded as pets, and used in entertainment.

Listing all chimps as endangered will better provide for their conservation under the ESA, and it will facilitate greater public awareness of the growing threats to the species, including habitat loss, poaching, and disease. The rule would also correct the legal inconsistency of having captive animals of the same species assigned a separate protected status compared to their wild counterparts.

“We are delighted that USFWS has chosen to recognize that captive chimpanzees are entitled to the same protections afforded their wild kin,” said Cathy Liss, president of AWI. “Hopefully, this move will bring an end to some of the more egregious forms of exploitation these animals face in captivity.”

In 2011, USFWS initiated a status review of the split-listing of chimpanzees to determine if there is sufficient scientific and legal evidence to reclassify captive chimpanzees as endangered. At that time, AWI submitted comments to USFWS in favor of the reclassification.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has awarded journalist Tom Knudson of the Sacramento Bee with the Schweitzer Medal for his outstanding investigative journalism and commitment to both thorough research and candor in writing and publishing a series of articles examining the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program.

For over 60 years, the Schweitzer Medal has been a symbol of outstanding achievement in the advancement of animal welfare. In 1951, Dr. Albert Schweitzer gave his permission to AWI to strike a medal in his honor to be presented to others who have made substantial contributions to the protection of animals and to raising public awareness about relevant issues. In granting his permission, Dr. Schweitzer wrote, “I would never have believed that my philosophy, which incorporates in our ethics a compassionate attitude toward all creatures, would be noticed and recognized in my lifetime.” In December 1953, a gold replica of the medal was presented to Dr. Albert Schweitzer by Dr. Charles Joy in Oslo, Norway, where Dr. Schweitzer had gone to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2012, Mr. Knudson wrote a series of articles examining Wildlife Services, the federal program responsible for trapping and killing countless animals. Through interviews, as well as materials obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, he found that the program’s practices and culture are profoundly out of line with both sound environmental policy and fiscal responsibility. The articles shed light on issues of great significance to animal welfare, in particular the indiscriminate and inhumane methods—including dangerous poisons, cruel leghold traps, strangling snares and aerial gunning—employed by agents of the program.

The investigation revealed that since 2000, Wildlife Services has mistakenly killed more than 50,000 non-target animals not considered threats to agriculture. Among these animals are federally protected species such as golden and bald eagles, as well as over 1,100 dogs. Moreover, according to Wildlife Services’ own records, the agency has accidentallykilled more than 150 species since 2000—and insiders interviewed in the course of the review indicated that agency records dramatically underestimate the impact that the “killing agency” and its practices have had on non-target species. Follow-up articles published in late 2012 and 2013 uncovered similarly alarming data about Wildlife Services’ killing activities, and have raised substantial concerns about the program’s lack of transparency and public accountability. The critical information revealed during the course of Mr. Knudson’s research underscores the need for reform within Wildlife Services and highlights the significance of his investigative work. By exposing Wildlife Services’ irresponsible wildlife management methods, Mr. Knudson has demonstrated a commitment not only to exceptional investigative journalism, but also to raising public awareness about the federal government’s ongoing, taxpayer-funded wildlife killing practices. His dedication to exhaustive research and objective writing has provided an essential avenue for the American public to become engaged in an issue of critical importance to the advancement of animal welfare.

Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Project Coyote, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) released the results of an investigation of an Indiana “penning” facility, uncovering extreme animal suffering and providing strong evidence that wild coyotes are being illegally confined and killed by hunting dogs. The findings of the investigation, which took place in 2012 at WCI Foxhound Training Preserve, near the town of Linton in southwestern Indiana, further suggest that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has turned a blind eye to this illegal conduct and instead encouraged penning in the state. Results are detailed in the new report, Indiana Coyote Penning—An Inside Look at Animal Abuse and Cruelty.

Penning, which is legal in at least 19 states, is the practice of using wild coyotes and foxes as “bait” to train hunting dogs. The wild canids are trapped (generally with leghold traps or snares) and often shipped and traded across state lines and sold to penning facilities. The animals are then released into pens and chased by hunting dogs—who often catch them and tear them apart. Despite advance notice given to WCI that an inspection would be occurring, the investigation being released today uncovered:

• Foul odors leading to decomposing dog carcasses, one of which had a fractured femur.
• A dog carcass that had been covered with a wooden pallet to conceal its presence.
• The decomposing remains of a coyote who had sustained the traumatic loss of multiple digits to two of her four paws.
• Decomposing remains and bones of coyotes and various other animals.

In May 2011, AWI, Project Coyote, and the ALDF filed suit against IDNR after the department waived state permit requirements for WCI for possession of wild animals, arguing that WCI didn’t really “possess” the animals because they could escape through alleged holes in the ill-kept fence. However, the WCI fence line was comprehensively inspected in the 2012 investigation and, despite IDNR’s repeated claims to the contrary, there were no holes or weaknesses that would provide exit routes for coyotes to escape the confines of the enclosure. Furthermore, investigations found that metal pipes described as safe havens for fleeing coyotes were sufficiently large for pursuing hounds to fit in the tubes from both ends. In December 2012, the animal advocates obtained a default ruling declaring that the possession of coyotes by WCI is indeed unlawful under Indiana law.

“Our investigation revealed a gruesome window into the world of penning and the fear and suffering it inflicts on foxes and coyotes,” says Tara Zuardo, wildlife attorney with AWI. “The animal graveyard that investigators uncovered shows penning for what it really is—a violent bloodsport that victimizes wildlife.”

“WCI’s history of illegal activities, uncovered by the investigation released today, is clear evidence that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources should be conducting regular investigations to ensure that wildlife is not being subjected to ongoing and criminal abuse,” says Stephen Wells, executive director of ALDF.

“We urge legislators in states that still allow penning to read this report in order to get an unvarnished picture of a typical penning operation, and to use the information uncovered in this investigation to protect wildlife and help put an end to this cruel ‘sport’ once and for all,” says Camilla Fox, executive director of Project Coyote and wildlife consultant with AWI.

Conservation organizations today challenged North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission’s authorization of coyote hunting—including by spotlight at night—in the five county area of eastern North Carolina inhabited by the world’s only wild population of about 100 red wolves. The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the complaint in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on behalf of the Animal Welfare Institute, Red Wolf Coalition, and Defenders of Wildlife.

By authorizing the shooting of coyotes within the Red Wolf Recovery Area, the commission is causing unlawful take (i.e., harass, harm, hunt, or kill) of the red wolf. In July, the law center notified the commission that it was in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing hunting of coyotes within the Red Wolf Recovery Area, and that the groups would file a federal enforcement action unless the commission took steps to protect the wolves.

“Following the mandate of the Endangered Species Act, the federal government has gone to great lengths to reintroduce the red wolf into the wild and provide for its recovery,” said Tara Zuardo, wildlife attorney with the Animal Welfare Institute. “For a state agency to encourage hunting—in the middle of the recovery area—of an animal that cannot readily be distinguished from the red wolf, and to further sanction such hunting at night, defies logic and certainly sabotages red wolf recovery.”

Red wolves and coyotes are similar in appearance so red wolves are frequently mistaken for coyotes, even in daylight. Since 2008, 20 red wolves have died from confirmed gunshot. Gunshot is the suspected cause of death for an additional 18 wolves. Five tracking collars cut from red wolves were also found during this period, indicating to US Fish and Wildlife Service personnel that wolves may have been shot and disposed of unlawfully. Since 2012, five shooters who killed red wolves have reported to authorities that they mistook the wolves for coyotes.

“Mistaken identity is a lethal, but preventable, threat to the world’s only wild population of endangered red wolves,” said Sierra Weaver, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center who represents the groups. “Gunshot is the leading cause of death for these rare animals, and allowing the hunting of coyotes in core red wolf habitat substantially increases the risk to red wolves.”

As of July 26, 2013, the commission authorizes coyote hunting both during the day and at night with artificial spotlights within the Red Wolf Recovery Area. Prior to this permanent regulation going into effect in July, a temporary rule that legalized spotlight hunting of coyotes at night in North Carolina was in effect from August 2012 until November 2012, when it was suspended by Wake County Superior Court in a lawsuit brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Animal Welfare Institute, Red Wolf Coalition, and Defenders of Wildlife.

“Coyote hunting has a catastrophic effect on the red wolf population,” said Kim Wheeler, executive director of the Red Wolf Coalition. “Continuing this practice will threaten the survival of red wolves on the landscape.”

To prevent wolves interbreeding with coyotes—another threat to the wolf population—the US Fish and Wildlife Service sterilizes coyotes that have territories within red wolf habitat. Shooting sterilized coyotes also harms the native red wolf population by undermining effective coyote population control efforts.

“There are many good reasons to prohibit coyote hunting in red wolf habitat, and not a single one to allow it that stands up to scrutiny,” said Jason Rylander, attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. “Killing coyotes should never take precedence over protecting red wolves.”

North Carolina is home to the world’s only wild population of red wolves. Red wolves bred in captivity were reintroduced on a North Carolina peninsula within their native range in the late 1980’s after red wolves were declared extinct in the wild. Once common throughout the Southeast, intensive predator control programs and loss of habitat eliminated wild red wolf populations.