Feds Approve Killing Sea Lions in the Columbia River

The Federal government has approved the killing of California Sea Lions in the Columbia River, blaming them for killing and eating endangered salmon. Never mind the main reasons for the problems with the salmon: hatcheries, human harvest, hydropower and the destruction of habitat.

New Jersey Bear Hunt to Continue as Planned

Despite efforts by animal rights activists to stop this hunt, it is scheduled to continue. That really sucks. It's a cull to "control the population."

From North Jersey.com...

New Jersey’s first bear hunt in five years is just a week away and set to go on as planned despite a last-ditch effort by several animal rights organizations to have the hunt postponed.

On Monday, Nov. 22, State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin rejected an appeal made by the Animal Protection League of New Jersey (APLNJ) and the West Milford-based Bear Education and Resource (BEAR) Group to postpone the six-day hunt, scheduled for a seven-county region that includes parts of Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Passaic, Morris, Somerset and Bergen counties. The bear hunt, set to take place from Dec. 6 to 11, is authorized under the state’s recently adopted Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP).

"The facts are clear, we have an overpopulation of black bears in New Jersey, and we must address that issue," said Martin in a press statement. "A regulated black bear hunt is one important and necessary tool to deal with the growing number of bears, as part of the state’s overall, comprehensive approach to managing its black bear population."

Wolf Killing in Idaho Under Scrutiny

I'm not surprised Sarah Palin's family is from Idaho. The state government is as crazy about wolf killing as she is. But a US District Court Judge has granted a hearing on stopping the killing to wolf advocates represented by Earthjustice.

Montana is another state where wolf killing is allowed.

Camels to be Culled in Australia

There are camels in Australia? Apparently so and they are considered feral pests...you know what that means.

Some Environmentalists Support Mustang Culling

Well, this sucks. Another battle on the difficult animal rights vs. environment front.

Some environmentalists and scientists have come to see the mustangs, which run wild from Montana to California, as top-of-the-food-chain bullies, invaders whose hooves and teeth disturb the habitats of endangered tortoises and desert birds.

...Environmentalists’ attitudes toward the horses have evolved so far that some are willing to say what was heresy a few years ago: that euthanasia is acceptable if the alternatives are boarding the mustangs for life at taxpayers’ expense or leaving them to overpopulate, damage the range and die of hunger or thirst.

Cormorants Get Culled Too

Too many double-crested cormorants in Middle Island (one of the Toronto islands in Ontario) led to a culling by Parks Canada last spring.

And although animal protection groups continue to strongly oppose the culling, one activist agreed that Parks Canada staff followed procedures and were mindful of the cormorants' environment.

"The most humane way, of course, is to leave (the cormorants) alone. We've made our position clear and that hasn't changed," said Liz White of Animal Alliance and Cormorant Defenders International. "But to their absolute credit, (park staff) did what they said they would do. They carried out the cull carefully ... maintaining all the practices they agreed to."

Australian Town to Cull Feral Cat Colony

Kill them! Kill them all!

STRATHFIELD Council has decided to put down the colony of feral cats in Homebush's Powell St, despite strong opposition from animal rights activists.

At last Tuesday's meeting, the council voted unanimously in favour of a one-off cull of the stray colony.

A spokesman for Strathfield Council said the cats would be killed by injection.

"For the protection of people and other animals that frequent the area, the feral cats will be caught and euthanased humanely, consistent with section 32 of the Companion Animals Act 1998," the spokesman said.

Photo by The Naked Artisan.

Badgers Seen as Possible Cattle Killers in UK

Interesting article about badgers possibly infecting cattle in the UK with bovine tuberculosis. Some people want to cull the badger populations.

As usual, this battle pits animal rights against agricultural interests.

Photo by Bryan26.

Kill the Toads!

Australia being urged to plan for a massive cane toad killin'.

Queensland MP Shane Knuth called for a cane toad equivalent of Clean Up Australia Day, an annual event in which Australians scour the countryside for litter.

The fast-spreading cane toads are the country's most disliked introduced pest, their poisonous skin accounting for the deaths of millions of birds, crocodiles and other predators each year.

Volunteers taking part in the 'Toad Day Out' would be encouraged to kill the creatures by placing them in plastic bags and dropping them in the freezer.

So freezing them to death is the most humane way of managing this species? I'm not a biologist, but is this because they are amphibians? I don't get it.

It is not the first time {Knuth} has demanded a war on cane toads. Last year he suggested that children should be encouraged to hunt them down and paid a bounty of 40 cents (20p) per animal, dead or alive.

Photo by williewonker.

Canberra Kangaroos May be Culled

Kangaroos in Canberra are facing an uncertain future.

A review was commissioned after the Department of Defence applied to relocate mobs of eastern grey kangaroos to New South Wales from Belconnen.

Earlier Defence plans to cull the kangaroos met with strong opposition from animal welfare groups.

ACT Commissioner for the Environment Maxine Cooper says she will not confirm the future of the native animals until her report is released.

"My report has had to deal with that very complex issue and that report's with the Government at the moment," she said.

"I do think it'd be appropriate for us to wait for the release of that report so people can actually get the totality of all the issues that I've had to deal with rather than just focusing up on this one particular issue of the eastern grey."

Photo by mfunnell.

Aussie Enviros Call for Wild Horse Killing

Another example of the conflict between the rights of the individual animal and the perceived need to manage its species.

Environmentalists called Wednesday for hundreds of wild horses to be shot dead to prevent a unique Australian national park becoming a "horse paddock," with little room for native species.

Around 1,700 feral horses -- known in Australia as 'brumbies' -- have caused havoc in the Kosciuszko National Park, according to the National Parks Association of New South Wales state.

They are increasing in numbers by as much as 300 a year, the conservation group said, but the state has banned shooting of the animals from helicopters, widely considered the most effective way of controlling them....

The association suggests culling more than 1,000 horses in the first year, with most of those left killed in the second year to stop the population growing again through breeding.

Photo by Dr Snafu.

Plan to Kill Badgers in Britain to Stop TB Meets Opposition

Animal activists have criticized the Governments chief science adviser, Sir David King, for recommending that badgers be "culled" to control the spread of tuberculosis.

The recommendation by Sir David King contradicts a report earlier this year by the Independent Scientific Group (ISG), that said a cull would be ineffective and overly costly. In June, the ISG concluded assessing the results of a nine-year experiment analysing whether culling would slow or stop the disease being spread.

It found that badgers did play a role in spreading TB, but such extensive culling would need to take place in order to take effect, that it would be too expensive. It also found the disease can spread to adjacent farms from those involved in a cull, shifting the problem rather than resolving it.

But Sir David yesterday concluded a cull was the "best option available at the moment to reduce the reservoir of infection in wildlife," in areas where there was a "high and persistent" level of the disease in cattle.

His advice, to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), was based on the ISG research that used randomised badger-culling trials in 30 areas of England.

Sir David's report said culling would be designed to reduce but not entirely remove badgers in the affected areas – within 100 sq kim – and must be done humanely and "within conservation considerations".

Photo by Lawrie Phipps