“It’s past time for this archaic program to move into the 21st century”

January 29, 2019

Guardians and allies sued federal wildlife-killing program Wildlife Services on January 29 over its outdated wildlife-killing plan for Wyoming. Suing the agency will force it to take a closer look at nonlethal alternatives to its mass extermination program.

The lawsuit seeks an updated environmental analysis of Wildlife Services, which kills thousands of native animals in the state every year. The National Environmental Policy Act requires Wildlife Services to rigorously examine the effects of killing wildlife and to consider alternatives, such as nonlethal methods, but the environmental analysis for Wyoming is more than 20 years old. The lawsuit argues Wildlife Services must use more recent information to analyze the impacts of its wildlife-killing program on Wyoming’s environment and wild places.

In 2017 Wildlife Services reported killing more than 1.3 million native animals nationwide, including 5,645 coyotes, 52 wolves, 237 foxes, 1,023 ravens, 305 rabbits and thousands of other creatures in Wyoming. Nontarget animals also face incredible risk from Wildlife Services’ indiscriminate killing methods; pets and protected wildlife like wolves, grizzlies, and eagles, number among its many victims. It’s certainly “past time for this archaic program to move into the 21st century and start using current science,” said Guardians’ Taylor Jones.

Read the press release.

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