where science and ethics intersect with politics
New York City’s new wildlife law promises humane treatment, but advocates warn that promise may be undermined if federal agencies linked to goose roundups, egg destruction, and lethal wildlife control are allowed to help shape the city’s future wildlife policies. As molting season places Canada geese at heightened risk, activists are calling for immediate mayoral action to halt cooperation with federal wildlife operations and redefine what “humane” truly means.
The federal Wildlife Services program killed 2.7 million animals in 2016. In its annual “kill report,” the agency data shows that 1.6 million of the 2.7 million deaths were of native wildlife species. Wildlife Services maintains that it “manages the damages” caused by so-called invasive species, yet less than half of the animals in the report are actually considered invasive. The Center for Biological Diversity asserts that of the almost 3 million animals killed yearly, many are unintentional kills that include household pets.
The Humane Herald 