An update: Good news! The Mexican wolf, a critically endangered subspecies of the gray wolf, got a break when the US Fish and Wildlife Service settled a lawsuit with 6 conservation organizations. FWS (not the same as the Wildlife Services I refer to below) has agreed to stop their "three strikes" rule that removes Mexican wolves from the wild (either lethally or non-lethally) if they kill three or more head of livestock a year. There are only about 52 Mexican wolves left in the wild.

Press release from the Center for Biological Diversity

Also, I submitted my Wildlife Services writeup as a news article.

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Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. By land is meant all of the things on, over, or in the earth. Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one organism. Its parts, like our own parts, compete with each other and co-operate with each other. The competitions are as much a part of the inner workings as the co-operations. You can regulate them—cautiously—but not abolish them.

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it. The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering. — Aldo Leopold

With that in mind, here are a few recent news stories affecting wildlife:

Air pollution in Denver impacts lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park

Airborne nitrogen from vehicle exhaust, agricultural practices, and power production is having a much greater effect on high-altitude lakes than previously reported. The nitrogen – in the form of ammonium and nitrogen oxide – is accumulated by algae in lakes, reducing levels of phosphorous and other nutrients. This effectively turns the algae into junk food microorganisms, moving up the food web and eventually impacting fish. There has also been a documented increase in sedges (a type of grass) and a decrease in other plants. Similar effects have been documented in Norway and Sweden.

Colorado is currently working to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, but ammonium is not regulated. The is bad news for RMNP, which was created largely to protect sensitive alpine tundra habitat.

(Full story here.)

Virginia considers reintroducing elk

Elk were extirpated from Virginia over a century and a half ago, but the state is now considering introducing Rocky Mountain elk. This would follow a similar program in Kentucky, which has been lauded as a success. Around 150 elk have already crossed the state line from Kentucky into Virginia. Virginia game officials think an elk reintroduction would draw hunters and tourists. Farmers have raised concern about competition with livestock and disease transmission. However, the Kentucky population has so far been free of disease and had very little if any impact on farmers.

(Full story here.)

M-44s, Compound 1080, and Wildlife Services

Finally, this isn’t “news” per se, but I’m pretty sure a good chunk of American taxpayers don’t realize they’re footing a $100 million bill to poison hundreds of thousands of mammals and millions of birds each year on public land.

Wildlife Services, a branch of the USDA, oversees these programs. They operate more or less autonomously and with very little accountability. WS is authorized to kill animals regardless of their conservation status; in 2007 they killed 4 Mexican wolves, the most endangered mammal in North America. The data they provide do not explain why an animal is killed, just how many and how it was done. Their methods include scores of poisons, aerial shooting, and trapping. Two of the most egregious poisons are M-44s and Compound 1080.

M-44s are spring-loaded capsules filled with sodium cyanide. The capsules are placed inside pipes with an ejector and the pipes are drilled into the ground. The ejector is then covered with a smelly substance that attracts canines. When an animal bites or pulls on the baited ejector, enough force is released to launch the cyanide particles five feet into the air. Death typically occurs anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes.

Millions of M-44s have been placed on public land in an attempt to control coyotes and, to a lesser extent, foxes. However, these devices are indiscriminate, and they also kill wolves, black bears (and a grizzly in at least one case), bald eagles, deer, and domestic dogs (source). In fact, from 2003-2008, 573 domestic dogs were killed by M-44s. WS has illegally placed M-44s in multiple cases, either on private property, too close to public roads and trails, or by leaving them unmarked. After years of mishandling M-44s they were issued a warning by the EPA in 2008.

There is an antidote to sodium cyanide, but it must be administered immediately. In Australia officials who handle them are required to have special clothing, a respirator, and the antidote as a precaution. Despite this, the EPA describes them as an "environmentally sound tool" and "safe to use". In the U.S. officials are merely required to carry the antidote and are advised not to keep M-44s in the glovebox of their vehicles.

Another widely used poison is Compound 1080. It was first manufactured as a rat poison, but it was banned in 1972 after it killed 13 people. However, the poison was never recalled, and it is still used illegally; in recent years its illegal use came to light when several wolves in Idaho were found poisoned. It was reintroduced during the Reagan administration, and now is manufactured by one company in Alabama.

Most of the Compound 1080 produced is sent to New Zealand, which accounts for some 90% of the total 1080 used globally in an attempt to control invasive mammals. In the U.S. the only legal way to use 1080 is in "livestock protection collars". LPCs contain sacs filled with 1080 and are placed around the neck of a sheep or goat. When a predator attempts to grab prey by the neck it pierces the sac and ingests the toxin. Each collar contains enough 1080 to kill 5 people. The sacs rupture easily and can poison livestock as well as their intended targets. In arid areas most punctured collars are actually ripped on cacti and other vegetation.

There is no known antidote to Compound 1080, and death typically occurs from hours to days. It causes heart arrhythmias, seizures, convulsions, and intense pain. Carcasses containing 1080 remain toxic for months, so the incidence of secondary poisoning is high. Because death is not instantaneous, it is difficult to assess how many animals it kills each year.

Wildlife Services has mishandled LPCs on multiple occasions. In one instance, 156 out of 1,787 were reported missing. In two more cases, more collars were returned than WS reported had been used.

A bill to ban M-44s and Compound 1080 was introduced in Congress in April 2008. Unfortunately as of April 2009 the bill had failed (source).

These poisons are two of many that are used by Wildlife Services, and they are part of a much wider problem: predator control. No amount of poison, trapping, or aerial gunning is going to eliminate coyotes and other predators. WS kills about 1,000 coyotes a day, yet populations remain high. The reason behind this is simple: coyotes have density-dependent reproduction, so if the population drops, they have more babies.

It costs taxpayers literally hundreds of dollars per animal killed, yet predators kill relatively few livestock. Aerial gunning kills thousands of animals, but WS have had a number of accidents in recent years — 52 since 1979 — which resulted in the deaths of 10 federal agents. So why are we spending hundreds of millions of dollars on ineffective, inhumane, indiscriminate, dangerous, lethal control methods? Pressure from ranchers and, to a lesser extent, hunters.

It's true that predators will kill livestock; they've evolved for millions of years to hunt and kill prey — but you can't take that fact out of a larger context: when you look at livestock production numbers and mortality rates you realize that relatively few animals succumb to predation.

In 2004, 7,650,000 sheep were raised in the U.S. About 224,200 were killed by predators, representing 2.9% of total production. However, 376,100 were killed by other causes. That’s 4.9% of sheep production killed by things like weather, old age, starvation, and falling on their backs.

Yes, 3,800 sheep died because they rolled onto their backs and got stuck.

The numbers for cattle are even lower. In 2005, 104,500,000 cattle were raised in the U.S., and 190,000 were killed by predators, representing 0.18% of total production. In contrast, 1,110,000 cattle died of respiratory problems, 648,000 died from digestive problems, 39,000 were poisoned, and 275,000 were killed by weather events. In all, 4.9% of total cattle production was lost due to causes that had nothing to do with predators.

Predators like coyotes, wolves, and mountain lions provide valuable ecosystem services that should not be underestimated. For instance, coyotes prey on medium-sized carnivores and omnivores like foxes and raccoons, which helps ground-nesting birds like the endangered sage grouse. Cougars increase biodiversity by preying on deer that would otherwise overgraze sensitive habitat; in arid areas, riparian zones improve greatly with the presence of cougars.

After some 70 years of extirpation in Yellowstone, the reintroduction of wolves has already had substantial effects on the ecosystem. Willow and aspen stands have become healthier as elk are forced to move instead of becoming sedentary (source). Despite wolves’ terrible reputation, they kill very few livestock; vultures kill more cattle and sheep than wolves do. In Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana there was a lot of concern that wolves would decimate the elk population. Well, from 2008 to 2009, the population increased by 10,000 animals in Wyoming, stayed exactly the same in Montana, and dropped by 8,000 animals in Idaho (source).

It's worth noting that reintroducing wolves drastically reduced coyote populations; they have dropped some 50% since wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone and Idaho in 1995 and up to 90% locally. There were also no coyotes in the eastern U.S. until wolves were eradicated, but they moved opportunistically eastward. On the way, they bred with the few remaining wolves, creating hybrids that are significantly larger than their purebred relatives. Coyotes have tripled their range in the past century, while wolves occupy a mere 5% of their former range. There is a logical conclusion to be made here: If there is a niche for a predator, it will be filled.

Wildlife Services currently kills about 1,000 coyotes a day when nonlethal means of reducing predation exist and are effective. In Marin County, California, county commissioners revoked their funding of lethal methods like poison and leg-hold traps and instead invested $40,000 in alternatives like guard animals, bells, and fences. After five years, predation on sheep was cut in half.

Hunters often want to keep ungulates (hoofed animals) like deer and elk at artificially high populations, and predator control is often their solution. Aside from the devastating impacts that grazers have on the ecosystem, studies have shown that reducing predator populations only helps ungulate populations for a short time. Predators keep herds healthier by preferentially preying on sick or old individuals.

It's also time to re-consider what livestock are doing to public lands in the U.S. The fact is that they've existed in extremely high densities for too long and drastically altered the landscape. They've passed diseases to native animals, decimating their populations. Currently only about 30,000 bighorn sheep remain, down from 1.5 to 2 million two centuries ago. Should a tiny minority of people have the right to do that to land and wildlife that belong to everyone? We are long overdue for a paradigm shift in land and wildlife management.

Send a message to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to stop poisoning wildlife on public land

Sources:
AGRO – A National Coalition to End Aerial Gunning of Wildlife
Congressman Peter DeFazio’s statement on M-44s
The Leopold Report, headed by A. Starker Leopold (Aldo Leopold's son)
The Natural Resource Defense Council’s statement on Compound 1080

Wild Earth Guardians “War on Wildlife: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ‘Wildlife Services’”
Wolf predation on Livestock by Defenders of Wildlife