Top scientists back federal plan to protect Alaska predators
Source: The Guardian
Top scientists back federal plan to protect Alaska predators
New rules would ban ‘non-subsistence’ killing of bears, wolves
and coyotes – some of the ‘most iconic yet persecuted species’–
in the state’s 16 wildlife refuges
Oliver Milman
Tuesday 29 March 2016 17.44 BST
A group of scientists has backed a federal plan to restrict the trapping and gunning down of bears and wolves in Alaska’s wildlife refuges, in the face of bitter opposition from the state government.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed an overhaul of hunting regulations for Alaska’s 16 national wildlife refuges, which span nearly 77m acres of wilderness in the state.
The new rules would effectively ban “non-subsistence” slaughter of predators within the refuges without a sound scientific reason. Practices to be outlawed include the killing of bear cubs or their mothers, the controversial practice of bear baiting and the targeting of wolves and coyotes during the spring and summer denning season.
Anyone hoping to take a plane or helicopter to shoot a bear will also be unable to do so. These changes have been backed by a group of 31 leading scientists who said the current hunting laws hurt some of the “most iconic yet persecuted species in North America: grizzly bears, black bears and wolves”.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/29/scientists-back-federal-plan-protect-alaska-predators
Related: Proposed Regulatory Changes (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
= new reply since forum marked as read
