(no subject)
Tom Knudson with the Sacramento Bee did an excellent job investigating the secretive wildlife killing branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. This is part one of a three part series. The second installment will run tomorrow and the final part on May 6th.
The killing agency: Wildlife Services' brutal methods leave a trail of animal death
With steel traps, wire snares and poison, agency employees have accidentally killed more than 50,000 animals since 2000 that were not problems, including federally protected golden and bald eagles; more than 1,100 dogs, including family pets; and several species considered rare or imperiled by wildlife biologists.
Long struggles in leg-hold device make for gruesome deaths
"They suggest traps be checked once a week, but that's all it is, a suggestion," said Gary Strader, a former Wildlife Services trapper in Nevada from 2006 to 2009. "There are traps that are not checked for literally months at a time."
Federal agency kills 7,800 animals by mistake in steel body-grip traps
On occasion, otters are killed on purpose when they threaten aquaculture facilities. But 84 percent of otters caught in Wildlife Services body-grip traps since 2006 - 2,350 of the 2,800 animals - were killed by mistake, records show.
Data Center: See California kills by Wildlife Services
This map shows where Wildlife Services made the most kills of three commonly-killed animals -- beavers, coyotes and bears. The charts below show the type of method used to kill those animals. And which counties they were killed in.
One year in California (another county map)
The killing agency: Wildlife Services' brutal methods leave a trail of animal death
With steel traps, wire snares and poison, agency employees have accidentally killed more than 50,000 animals since 2000 that were not problems, including federally protected golden and bald eagles; more than 1,100 dogs, including family pets; and several species considered rare or imperiled by wildlife biologists.
Long struggles in leg-hold device make for gruesome deaths
"They suggest traps be checked once a week, but that's all it is, a suggestion," said Gary Strader, a former Wildlife Services trapper in Nevada from 2006 to 2009. "There are traps that are not checked for literally months at a time."
Federal agency kills 7,800 animals by mistake in steel body-grip traps
On occasion, otters are killed on purpose when they threaten aquaculture facilities. But 84 percent of otters caught in Wildlife Services body-grip traps since 2006 - 2,350 of the 2,800 animals - were killed by mistake, records show.
Data Center: See California kills by Wildlife Services
This map shows where Wildlife Services made the most kills of three commonly-killed animals -- beavers, coyotes and bears. The charts below show the type of method used to kill those animals. And which counties they were killed in.
One year in California (another county map)