Few Americans realize that as taxpayers we help fund a program called “Wildlife Services,” a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. This ironically named program doesn’t serve wildlife. It wages a clandestine war on America’s wildlife. Every year, the Wildlife Services killing machine poisons, traps, and guns down millions of our nation’s most majestic animals—from imperiled swift foxes to bald eagles—at the request of a minority of ranching and agricultural interests.

Wildlife Services’ policies are not driven by modern scientific evidence that recognizes the crucial role carnivores play in ensuring healthy ecosystems. Instead, they are motivated by archaic prejudices against iconic species like cougars, coyotes, bears, and wolves.

At WildEarth Guardians, we recognize and advocate for native species’ inherent right to exist and thrive. Why? Because it’s their birthright—this is their home and their last refuge. We are working to end Wildlife Services’ trapping, poisoning, and aerial gunning of native species on our public lands and shift the paradigm to coexistence between humans and wildlife.