The U.S. Department of Agriculture s latest report on its wildlife killing program, which aims to reduce the loss of livestock to carnivores, suggests the agency is continuing its preference for lethal management. More than 404,000 wild animals were killed in their natural habitat last year. .
Conservation groups are slamming a spending deal in Congress that s expected to pass this week - because it would forbid Endangered Species Act protections for an imperiled bird in the West. The sage grouse population in the high desert country of Western states has dropped 80% since 1965. Yet federal spending bills have included this prohibition since 2014. .
A federal judge has restored endangered species protections to gray wolves across much of the Lower 48, including Wisconsin. While conservation groups cheer the decision, some experts are urging states to learn from what they believe was mismanagement of wolf populations. Adrian Treves, founder of the University of Wisconsin-Madison s Carnivore Coexistence Lab, said wildlife management strategies give preference to a small subset of the population: hunters. .