Source: National Geographic
“Lethal Predator Control” is no longer reason for mass slaughter of wildlife in the United States, according to Adrian Treves, lead researcher of a new study on killing ‘predators’ to save livestock.
Predator control methods are meant to help reduce the number of livestock killed every year by primary predators such as bears, coyotes and wolves. Every year, the U.S. Wildlife Service group kills thousands of these animals to protect livestock, yet researchers in the new study maintain there is not enough scientific evidence and data to support destroying wildlife.
The study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment pointed out that few data prove that livestock are actually protected by mass killing carnivores. In fact, the study found that livestock are in greater danger in some cases because older male carnivores are usually the ones killed, which are also the ones that keep younger, “more aggressive” predators away from cows and goats.
Treves urged that the system of mass killing predators is not productive nor scientifically proven to help farmers, and thus cannot be defended by the government as a “science-based policy.”
“Any government action that destroys wildlife should be scrutinized to a higher level,” Treves said, as reported by National Geographic.
Read full story at: National Geographic