Alaska: Trump authorises the killing of bear cubs and wolves in national parks
Environment — di Lorenzo Brenna
The previous ban imposed by Obama has been revoked, and hunting in national reserves will now be permitted using bait and traps.
Alaska: Trump authorises the killing of bear cubs and wolves in national parks
The previous ban imposed by Obama has been revoked, and hunting in national reserves will now be permitted using bait and traps.
From 9 July, wildlife in Alaska will be able to be killed in numerous and horrifying ways, even in national reserves. Bait will be permitted to flush bears out of hibernation, entire litters of wolves can be wiped out directly in their dens, caribou can be shot while swimming, and it will be permitted to open fire from virtually any vehicle: cars, aeroplanes, boats and snowmobiles. The Trump administration has revoked the ban on such practices in protected areas imposed in 2015 by Obama, turning the last frontier of the United States into a kind of Disneyland for hunters.
More prey for hunters
Hunting, under the new rules of the National park service, will henceforth be regulated by the state. Alaska's state officials, predominantly hunters, as reported by the Washington Post, welcomed the measure and argued that the previous restrictions violated traditional hunting practices. Conservationists, however, consider it an attack on the protection of biodiversity that parks should strive to uphold. The 2015 ban had in fact been adopted after the National park service had established that hunting practices in Alaska were in conflict with the federal mission to protect wildlife.
"The state's real objective is to reduce populations of wolves and other predators in order to increase the numbers of caribou, moose and other animals that trophy hunters love to shoot," said Jim Adams, director of the Alaska region of the National parks conservation association.
Licence to kill
The new rules will, among other things, allow hunters to attract animals with various foodstuffs, such as doughnuts and fat-soaked bread, and to dazzle them using artificial lights. It will even be possible to kill wolf and coyote cubs during the weaning period and to use dogs to hunt black bears.
The administration finalized a rule allowing a range of cruel & barbaric hunting methods on National Park Service lands in Alaska – this could include the killing of bears & cubs & wolves & pups in their dens. Help fight these attacks on Alaskan wildlife! dfnd.us/HelpAlaskanWil…
"The Trump administration has shockingly reached a new low in its treatment of wildlife," commented Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of the conservation NGO Defenders of wildlife. "Allowing the killing of bear and wolf cubs in their dens is barbaric and inhumane. The new rules set aside the primary purpose of national reserves: to preserve wildlife and pristine environments."