by Stephanie Ernst
Published February 16, 2009 @ 07:56AM PST
Yes, we again enter the bizarre land of hunting and "wildlife management" logic, otherwise known as WTF? 101. Some of you may recall that I posted on the "management" of deer in late November, featuring excerpts from and linking to some excellent commentary and evidence supplied by Doris Lin of About.com. Here's the introduction from that post: "Think that hunting is all about reducing deer populations? What if you learned that state wildlife agencies actually work to keep deer populations high--for the benefit of hunters who want to kill the deer and for the financial incentives involved for the state?"
And from one side of the country to the other these days, the so-called management of deer and other animal populations is a hot topic.
But Nevada--oh, Nevada takes the cake, at least for the moment. I learned via AP and the San Jose Mercury News this morning that "state wildlife officials have announced a plan to kill more mountain lions to help increase the deer population." And when asked to defend this decision, whom did Nevada's director of its Department of Wildlife cite as his expert advisers recommending this action? Hunters. Shocking. "Some hunters think the solution to the deer problem is to kill a lot of lions and the deer will come back." The hunters--that's what this is all about. This isn't about "saving" any deer; it's about preserving the chance to kill them for a species that doesn't need to kill them by killing off another species that does need to hunt them for survival.
It's about humans needlessly killing one set of animals so that humans can have the perverse pleasure of needlessly killing another set of animals.
From the Mercury News:Nevada's deer population fell from 240,000 in 1988 to 108,000 in 2008, while its current lion population ranges from 1,500 to 2,400, according to the wildlife department.
"Basically, what they're doing is applying the Sarah Palin method of wildlife management, which is to remove animals with big teeth in order to promote the animals hunters like to shoot,"
said D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute based in Washington D.C."It's an archaic form of wildlife management. Unfortunately, they're making the mountain lion a scapegoat, despite the importance of the mountain lion as a top-line predator in any ecosystem," he said.
And of course, who gets to kill all these mountain lions? Sport hunters! "The state Board of Wildlife Commissioners, meeting in Reno last week, directed agency staff to pursue the policy with the help of sport hunters and contract employees from the U.S. Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services." It's a win-win for the hunters. They want to keep killing deer, and now the state government is telling them that they can kill bunches of mountain lions too, to make their deer hunting even easier.
Tell you what, Nevada. You implement a program to thin the herd of human hunters who are out there killing Nevada's deer every year, and maybe I'll take your concern for deer populations seriously. Until then, I'm reminded of the following pre-election Friends of Animals ad, which I shared with you in early October. Unfortunately, it's not true that you must be in Alaska. It happens all over.
If you shoot wolves to save moose, and then you shoot the moose; you're either out of your mind, or in Alaska!
(And omnivores who may be tempted to join the bashing of Nevada's plan, please keep in mind that this is just another version of the "Kill the coyotes-or-other-natural-predators to save the cows--to kill the cows" practice that goes along with ranching and, yes, "free-range" farming.)
Killing the Lions to Save the Deer--To Kill the Deer
by Stephanie Ernst
Published February 16, 2009 @ 07:56AM PST
Yes, we again enter the bizarre land of hunting and "wildlife management" logic, otherwise known as WTF? 101. Some of you may recall that I posted on the "management" of deer in late November, featuring excerpts from and linking to some excellent commentary and evidence supplied by Doris Lin of About.com. Here's the introduction from that post: "Think that hunting is all about reducing deer populations? What if you learned that state wildlife agencies actually work to keep deer populations high--for the benefit of hunters who want to kill the deer and for the financial incentives involved for the state?"
And from one side of the country to the other these days, the so-called management of deer and other animal populations is a hot topic.
But Nevada--oh, Nevada takes the cake, at least for the moment. I learned via AP and the San Jose Mercury News this morning that "state wildlife officials have announced a plan to kill more mountain lions to help increase the deer population." And when asked to defend this decision, whom did Nevada's director of its Department of Wildlife cite as his expert advisers recommending this action? Hunters. Shocking. "Some hunters think the solution to the deer problem is to kill a lot of lions and the deer will come back." The hunters--that's what this is all about. This isn't about "saving" any deer; it's about preserving the chance to kill them for a species that doesn't need to kill them by killing off another species that does need to hunt them for survival. It's about humans needlessly killing one set of animals so that humans can have the perverse pleasure of needlessly killing another set of animals. From the Mercury News:
Nevada's deer population fell from 240,000 in 1988 to 108,000 in 2008, while its current lion population ranges from 1,500 to 2,400, according to the wildlife department.
"Basically, what they're doing is applying the Sarah Palin method of wildlife management, which is to remove animals with big teeth in order to promote the animals hunters like to shoot," said D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute based in Washington D.C.
"It's an archaic form of wildlife management. Unfortunately, they're making the mountain lion a scapegoat, despite the importance of the mountain lion as a top-line predator in any ecosystem," he said.
And of course, who gets to kill all these mountain lions? Sport hunters! "The state Board of Wildlife Commissioners, meeting in Reno last week, directed agency staff to pursue the policy with the help of sport hunters and contract employees from the U.S. Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services." It's a win-win for the hunters. They want to keep killing deer, and now the state government is telling them that they can kill bunches of mountain lions too, to make their deer hunting even easier.
Tell you what, Nevada. You implement a program to thin the herd of human hunters who are out there killing Nevada's deer every year, and maybe I'll take your concern for deer populations seriously. Until then, I'm reminded of the following pre-election Friends of Animals ad, which I shared with you in early October. Unfortunately, it's not true that you must be in Alaska. It happens all over.
(And omnivores who may be tempted to join the bashing of Nevada's plan, please keep in mind that this is just another version of the "Kill the coyotes-or-other-natural-predators to save the cows--to kill the cows" practice that goes along with ranching and, yes, "free-range" farming.)
** Editors note: This article was copied intact from:
http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/killing_the_lions_to_save_the_deer--to_kill_the_deer
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