base argument is how ethical and humane it is for the animal . Nothing proves the lack of pain and damage to wolves or other animals caught in foothold traps more than the posterchild of the animal-rights movement : the reintroduced wolf .
Yellowstone wolves were captured using foothold traps and relocated to the park .
Let them gush — even agree with them — while latching onto the ecosystem-changing diatribe associated with and credited to the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park . Then inform them that Yellowstone ’ s reintroduced wolves were captured in Canada primarily using foothold traps . Those wolves didn ’ t have broken toes or legs and didn ’ t chew their appendages off . They were trapped exactly as trappers catch wolves in the Rocky Mountains and were removed from traps just as trappers release accidental catches of wolves in the Great Lake states .
Furthermore , the Mexican wolf , which is far more endangered than the gray wolf has been in decades , is trapped for monitoring using foothold traps . The U . S . Fish and Wildlife Service ( FWS ) tries to maintain at least two radio collars per pack , and prioritizes uncollared wolves . Biologists are trying to monitor as many Mexican wolves as possible to follow their movements and gauge their reproduction and recovery in the Southwest . Likewise , the red wolf on the East Coast is captured , examined and released to better understand the species and to establish new populations .
“ Trapping is a useful tool in capturing and collaring uncollared single wolves who are not associated with a pack , as well as fostered pups from the prior spring . Trap lines compliment aerial darting , as trapping cannot be done when the ground is frozen , and darting cannot happen until there is snow on the ground ,” states the FWS website ( fws . gov / story / capturingmexican-wolves ).
The Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies ( NEAFWA ) sums it up perfectly : “ Foothold traps are generally the only effective traps for catching canid species such as wolves , coyotes and foxes . As a result , they are almost always the trap of choice when any of these famously wary species are targeted for capture by either the public or wildlife researchers .” ( neafwa . org / benefits-trapping . html )
If trapping is a safe , ethical and humane way for biologists to capture animals for scientific study and relocation , then it ’ s a safe , ethical and humane way to pursue game for sportsmen , too . Period . Whether an individual likes it is irrelevant — the
BUZZWORDS : SUSTAINABILITY AND BIODIVERSITY No matter where you turn today , the words sustainability and biodiversity are thrown around like confetti on New Year ’ s Eve . Of course , when it comes to wildlife management and ecosystems , their use makes sense . However , we ’ ve seen the terms abused by politicos when making policy decisions related to sportsman activities , as well as alarmist activists claiming the loss of both due to hunting and trapping .
However , the hard truth is that trapping promotes sustainability and biodiversity in multiple ways , including promoting nesting success , enhancing wetlands and controlling invasive species , as well as protecting and restoring threatened and endangered species .
Trapping has been used to create and improve wetlands by capturing and relocating beavers , and by eliminating invasive nutria , which destroys the important ecosystems at an unimaginable rate from the Gulf Coast to the Canadian border .
Nest predation of migratory and shorebirds is one of four primary threats to successful reproduction and population fluctuations . Like predator contests used during calving seasons , trapping can be employed during nesting seasons to help increase nesting success in specific areas . “ The use of modern traps and trapping has been identified as the most effective approach for reducing predator abundance at local levels and increasing the hatching and fledging success of shorebirds in key nesting areas within the [ Atlantic ] flyway ,” according to NEAFWA , which also notes that endangered sea turtles benefit from concentrated trapping of nest raiders .
The last black-footed ferrets , one of the most endangered mammals in the United States , were trapped in the 1980s for a long-term captive breeding and release program . Those species-saving trapping and relocation activities resulted in small populations of the wild ferrets today , and trapping is still used to capture and release them multiple times a year for inoculation against sylvatic plague .
Whether it ’ s nesting birds and sea turtles on the Atlantic coast , black-footed ferrets in Wyoming , extirpated river otters in Missouri , endangered Canadian lynx in Maine , fisher reintroductions in West Virginia and Pennsylvania , relocating wolves in the West or studying bobcat populations in New Hampshire , trapping has played a key role in protecting and expanding the range of countless threatened and endangered species .
Trapping helped drive westward expansion during the early years of our nation as it played an economically important role in society . Today ’ s use of regulated trapping benefits everyone , from urban and suburban homeowners to farmers and ranchers . It promotes sustainability and biodiversity , ecosystem balance and welfare , and has been the primary means of protecting , capturing , studying and relocating threatened and endangered species of plants and animals nationwide . The next time someone disparages trapping with outdated and ignorant cliches , share the stories and facts about trapping and all the good it provides .
ADOBE STOCK
22 SPORTSMENSALLIANCE . ORG