Exposing the Big Game

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Category Archives: Trapping

Don’t allow wolf traps Wolf-killing payments are unethical

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Editor’s Note

According to a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, in August, the department provided a grant of $23,065 to the Foundation for Wildlife Management to reimburse expenses of hunters and trappers who kill wolves in 18 big-game management units where elk populations are low or where there are wolf-livestock conflicts. Fifteen of those units are in northern Idaho and three are in the McCall/Council area of western Idaho.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is planning to expand the wolf trapping season and to open private lands to trapping. On Jan. 27, a poster appeared on Facebook offering expense reimbursement of up to $1,000 from the Foundation for Wildlife Management. The payments are funded by a grant from Fish and Game’s Community Challenge Grant and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and are supported by the Fish and Game Commission, the Idaho Cattlemen’s Association and Idaho Farm Bureau.

Wolves were reintroduced in 1995 because a whole lot of people cared about wolves taking their proper ecological role in ecosystem health. The Legislature and the commission have made it clear that wolves, and other predators, are not welcome in Idaho. Fish and Game wildlife biologists and conservationists understand that predators are the most important piece of the ecosystem puzzle. Instead, the commission has teamed up with the Foundation for Wildlife Management to manage wolves with increased trapping. The commission is setting policy according to the wishes of the legislators, trappers, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Cattlemen’s Association, the Farm Bureau and their partner, Wildlife Services. There is no consideration of conservation whatsoever when it comes to predators.

Wildlife are so vulnerable in the winter. A baited trap, a snow machine or an ATV have nothing to do with sportsman-like hunting and are inhumane and unethical. The Wood River Wolf Project, a group of conservationists, has worked for years with ranchers to implement non-lethal methods for keeping livestock safe. The commission is ignoring its mandate to set policy based on good science.

The Department of Fish and Game has stated that since people like me don’t pay their salaries, I should not have a say about how wildlife is managed. But there are many Idahoans who care deeply for conserving wildlife and are willing to pay for conservation of wildlife. Please let the department and the commission hear from you.

Christine Gertschen, Sun Valley

Wolf trapping proposal is insidious first step

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  • By Brian Bean

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is proposing to lengthen the wolf trapping season in areas of the Magic Valley Region where it is already allowed on public land and to initiate a trapping season on private land where no season currently exists, including in Units 48 and 49, which surround the Wood River Valley.

The pelt quality of furbearers is highest during winter. The quality of pelts from wolves harvested in October is likely to be poor. This feels like relaxing the constraints on legal harvest for the sole purpose of killing more wolves.

Extending the wolf trapping season to the end of March is alarming. Mating typically occurs between January and March. Gestation is 63 days. Trapping and killing an alpha breeding female in the last trimester of gestation or early lactation is barbaric. If she dies pregnant, whatever she is carrying dies with her; if she dies lactating, her pups will starve to death in short order. The legal wolf hunting season for 25 units across several regions begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. Is this the direction we’re headed for wolf trapping?

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Restricting wolf trapping to private land will not eliminate the threat of injury to people, pets or livestock. There are thousands of acres of private land in wolf country in Blaine County that the public may and does legally access. Recreation in Blaine County is highly centered around outdoor recreation, including hiking with dogs.

I fear that the private-land-only aspect of the proposed wolf-trapping rule changes has the potential for insidious incremental dismantlement. Are we beginning on a path that is simply a redux of the “private land first, public land to follow” scenario observed in other Fish and Game regions? What assurances do Blaine County residents have that this “evolution” will not occur here?

Wolf traps are effective because of the bait used as an attractant. Wolves will likely be attracted from remote locations that include public land. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area abuts private land in the Wood River Valley and a portion of the Hemingway-Boulders Wilderness is in our backyard. Domesticated dogs will also likely be drawn to wolf traps on private land.

The Wood River Wolf Project, a collaborative consisting of sheep ranchers, federal and state agencies (including Fish and Game), wildlife advocates, wolf experts and Blaine County, employs nonlethal tools to prevent depredation by wolves on sheep and, as a consequence, to reduce or eliminate lethal control requests by operators who have incurred wolf depredation losses. Killing more wolves in Blaine County is not an outcome favored by most Blaine County residents.

The elk population in the game management units pertinent to Blaine County materially exceeds the high end of the target range. As a consequence, and to mitigate crop depredation losses and the associated costs to recompense farmers and ranchers, Fish and Game is pursuing significantly increased elk harvest in our area for the next several years while concurrently proposing to kill more wolves here. Why kill a native predator that kills elk if you want fewer elk? What about this makes any sense whatsoever?

There are fewer than 2,000 trappers active in Idaho. Only a fraction of those trap wolves. Many of those who do are compensated by outside parties in amounts greatly in excess of the value of the pelts. Fish and Game is one of those funding entities. Though these payments are characterized as “reimbursement” for expenses incurred, your state game management agency is paying bounties to trappers to kill wolves.

The proposed wolf trapping rules changes are confusing as to intent, are in conflict with the department’s elk management objectives, can only be viewed as the first step of several to further liberalize wolf trapping in Blaine County, raise ethical concerns in terms of the proposed season end date, benefit few, endanger many and, finally, are not wanted by most Blaine County citizens.

Indiscriminate Traps Harm Endangered Mexican Wolves

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Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on February 15, 2019 – 9:47am

WEG News:

SANTA FE — As a bill to ban recreational and commercial trapping works its way through the New Mexico legislature, indiscriminate trapping is proving an enormous impediment for endangered Mexican gray wolves’ already uphill battle toward recovery.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reports that, since Nov. 2018, five lobos have fallen victim to traps in New Mexico. One of the wolves, female 1565 died in veterinary care. Another, male 1669 lost a leg. Male 1556 was treated and released but was later observed limping. Two other wolves were captured and released without injury.
New Mexico House Bill 366, called “Roxy’s Law” in honor of a dog who died in a trap on public lands in November, would prohibit traps across public lands in New Mexico with exemptions for human health and safety, ecosystem management, and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish depredation trapping. In an 8-4 vote the bill passed the House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee Saturday.
“Trapping take a tremendous toll on New Mexico—companion animals, native furbearers, and our most imperiled species pay the price for these indiscriminate killing devices,” said Chris Smith, southern Rockies wildlife advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “Public lands and our desert ecosystems cannot bear this burden any longer and it’s time for our elected officials to take action.”
“We are grateful for the state legislature’s thoughtful consideration of House Bill 366 to strike a better balance among diverse interests on New Mexico’s public lands—toward improved public safety, animal welfare, and ecosystem health—that would protect endangered species from dangerous, indiscriminate traps,” said Jessica Johnson, chief legislative officer for Animal Protection Voters.
“Trapping serves no viable wildlife management purpose and is ethically indefensible,” said Camilla Fox, executive director of Project Coyote. “Body-gripping traps, which are inherently indiscriminate, pose a danger not only to pets, but also to threatened and endangered species including Mexican wolves.”
“Banning leghold traps on public lands will save the lives of all types of animals, including endangered Mexican wolves,” said Michael Robinson, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Traps are inhumane, sometimes fatal, and the smelly bait intended to attract coyotes is just as likely to draw curious wolves.”
“This is yet another chilling example of the grave threats lobos face, on top of an already dire genetic crisis,” said Kelly Nokes, shared Earth wildlife attorney at Western Environmental Law Center. “Mexican wolves are among our nation’s most critically imperiled species and they need proper protection if they are ever to recover as the law demands. Already threatened by an illegal management rule we’re challenging in court that banishes them from necessary habitat and caps their population at a number too low for recovery, lobos should not be further exposed to the lethal grip of indiscriminate traps strewn across New Mexico’s public lands –– the Mexican wolf population is simply too fragile as it is.”
The annual official count of wild Mexican wolves is ongoing currently. As of last February, there were 114 lobos in the wilds of New Mexico and Arizona. The past year has seen a large number of Mexican wolf mortalities. During the 2017-2018 trapping season, at least four lobos were caught in traps. Two subsequently died.
Domestic dogs are also caught in traps on public lands. Along with Roxy, Ranger died from trap wounds this year. Kekoa lost a leg to a trap in December.
BACKGROUND:
TRAPPING
Trapping on public lands is legal in New Mexico. No bag limits exist for furbearer species. The law does not require trap locations to be marked, signed, or for any warnings to be present. No gross receipts tax is levied on fur and pelts sold by trappers. No penalties exist for trappers who unintentionally trap non-target species including endangered species, protected species, domestic animals, pets, humans, or livestock.
No database or official record is kept by any public entity and no requirement exists that trappers report when they have captured a dog in their traps. The pattern these incidents follow are usually similar; dogs screaming and frantically biting at the person desperately trying to rescue them. Veterinary and even human medical treatment along with associated expenses can result, as can long-lasting psychological trauma. Neither New Mexico Game and Fish nor trappers are liable for the damages that are caused by traps.
The true toll that trapping takes on native wildlife is difficult to know. Reporting requirements exist for some species, but not for often-trapped so-called “unprotected furbearers” like coyotes and skunks. The accuracy of reporting is unverifiable, and numbers do not adequately articulate the suffering and carnage that traps wreak on bobcats, foxes, critically imperiled Mexican gray wolves, coyotes, and other animals.
The almost singular excuse for the above-mentioned incidents is that trapping is necessary to control carnivore populations, but scientific studies do not support this assertion. In fact, scientific studies show that trapping and lethally removing carnivore species, like coyotes, often exacerbate conflicts such as those with livestock (see Using Coyotes to Protect Livestock. Wait. What?, Randy Comeleo, Oregon Small Farm News, Vol. XIII No. 2, p. 2, (Spring 2018)).
The existence of trapping by a minuscule subset of the population using New Mexico’s public lands is in direct conflict with one of the state’s most valuable economic strengths: outdoor recreation. Highlighted by the recent New Mexico Outdoor Economics Conference in Las Cruces, the outdoor recreation economy in New Mexico is a current and future boon—diversifying and stabilizing the state’s economy while creating 99,000 direct jobs in the process. Outdoor recreation includes hiking, camping, wildlife viewing, photography, hunting, horseback riding, angling, trail running, and bicycling. This economy is not bolstered by piles of dead animals discarded by public roadways or by the thousands of wild animals taken from New Mexico’s diverse public landscapes for personal profit.
MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES
The lobo, or Mexican wolf, is the smallest, most genetically distinct, and one of the rarest subspecies of gray wolf. The species was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1976, but recovery efforts have largely foundered because the Service has yet to implement scientifically recommended recovery actions.
Although lobos once widely roamed across the southwestern United States and Mexico, the Mexican wolf was purposefully eradicated from the U.S. on behalf of American livestock, hunting, and trapping interests. Recognizing the Mexican gray wolf’s extreme imperilment, the Service listed it on the federal endangered species list in 1976, but recovery efforts have largely foundered because the Service has yet to take the actions science shows is necessary to restore the species.
In 1998, after the few remaining wolves were put into captivity in an attempt to save the species, the Service released 11 Mexican wolves to a small area on the border of Arizona and New Mexico now known as the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. The program has limped along ever since, with illegal killings and sanctioned removals subverting recovery.
Mexican wolves are at tremendous risk due to their small population size, limited gene pool, threats from trapping, Wildlife Services’ activities, and illegal killings.

Charges filed in high-profile New Mexico trapping case

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http://www.artesianews.com/1680131/charges-filed-in-high-profile-new-mexico-trapping-case.html

By 

Published: 12:49 pm, Wed. Feb. 13th, 2019

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico wildlife authorities say charges have been filed in a trapping case that is fueling this year’s debate among lawmakers over whether the practice should be banned on public lands.

The state Game and Fish Department announced Wednesday that while Marty Cordova had a valid license, he’s accused of running illegal trap lines that resulted in the unlawful harvest of wildlife and the death of a dog named Roxy.

The legislation named after Roxy is pending in the House. It’s sponsored by three Democrats from northern New Mexico.

Conservation officers served a search warrant at Cordova’s home in January and seized snares and foot-hold traps that weren’t properly marked. They also found bobcat pelts and skulls as well as fox, badger and ringtail pelts.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the 42-year-old Chimayo man had a lawyer.

Trapping bill highlights state’s urban-rural divide

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  • By Andrew Oxford | aoxford@sfnewmexican.com
  • Updated 
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/trapping-bill-highlights-state-s-urban-rural-divide/article_98de3134-0ae0-51f4-9958-9a8cd3f54676.html

Mary Katherine Ray has seen traps up close.

One caught the leg of her dog Greta while they were hiking.

“I will never forget the sound of Greta’s screaming,” Ray told a New Mexico legislative committee on Thursday.

It was a story lawmakers heard over and over again — a story of beautiful days outdoors turned bloody by traps lurking in the brush.

Animal welfare advocates and others are renewing a yearslong effort to ban trapping on New Mexico public lands. And with House Bill 366, lawmakers are reigniting a visceral debate over the humane treatment of animals and deep-rooted traditions.

Critics argue that banning trapping on public land would not stop the sort of illegal trapping that usually spurs outrage.

Trappers legally are supposed to get a license from the state, mark their traps with an identifying number and abide by rules about where they can place their traps.

Banning the practice, ranchers say, would only deprive them of a method that is key to defending their cattle from predators such as coyotes.

“This bill is government overreach and hinders cattle growers from protecting their livestock,” said Randell Major, president of the New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association.

In turn, ranchers say banning the practice would amount to one more blow to a way of life many of them already view as under threat.

But proponents of the ban argue that trapping has been ineffective, pointing to the coyote’s spread across North America.

Neighboring Arizona and Colorado have banned trapping on public lands. And a range of groups, including hikers, birders, and search and rescue teams, have raised concerns about the dangers of allowing the practice in New Mexico.

“Wildlife management needs to advance in New Mexico. We’re not controlling coyotes with these methods,” said former Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, chairman of the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter.

When the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee took testimony from the public about the issue Thursday, however, the biggest argument against trapping was simply that it is cruel.

In a packed hearing room, critics of trapping recounted stories like Ray’s of dogs or people caught in traps.

HB 366 has become known as Roxy’s Law, in honor of an 8-year-old heeler mix strangled in a trap last month at Santa Cruz Lake.

But perhaps more than any other bill in the Legislature this year, the proposal reveals the divide between urban and rural New Mexico.

Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, has convened groups from opposing sides of the issue during the past couple of years to try to forge some sort of consensus. He proposed a ban a couple of years ago that foundered in the Legislature, and he remembers how divisive the issue was. This year, he has Senate Bill 390, which would ensure the State Game Commission can address issues of trapping on public land.

But groups including Animal Protection Voters are rallying behind HB 366, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Matthew McQueen of Galisteo, Christine Chandler of Los Alamos and Bobby Gonzales of Taos.

McQueen put forward a series of mostly technical changes when the bill received its first hearing Thursday, ensuring the law would not apply to corral traps, for example, to tribal governments or to spay-and-neuter programs that catch and release feral cats.

The committee is scheduled to vote on the bill Saturday.

While the bill is likely to make it out of the House Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, trapping bans have faltered in the Senate, leaving its outlook uncertain.

Letter: Mandatory trap checks needed in MT

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    •  https://missoulian.com/opinion/letters/mandatory-trap-checks-needed-in-mt/article_916d9166-c08c-5bc7-811e-72007a5158fe.html
TRY 1 MONTH FOR 99¢
Letter

According to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, trappers should check their traps at least once every day.

The American Society of Mammalogists states, “Snares or foot-hold traps should be checked a least daily, but more frequent depending upon target species, the potential for capture of non-target species, and environmental conditions. Frequent checking of traps is the most effective means of minimizing mortality or injury to animals in live traps.”

Montana has no mandatory trap check time. Trapped animals can suffer for days, even weeks, injured and exposed to the elements. Only bobcat trap sets in designated lynx protection zones and traps set for wolves require checking every 48 hours.

“The longer that animal is in a trap, the more likely you have foot injury, shoulder sprains, vascular damage, neural damage,” said Carter Niemeyer, a retired wildlife biologist.

Thirty six states have 24-hour/daily trap checks in their trapping regulations. House Bill 287 requires daily trap checks and allows for exceptions if a trapper cannot tend to the traps. HB287 helps end prolonged suffering of trapped animals and gives the trap-released non-targets, i.e. raptors, mountain lions, grizzly, deer, lynx and beloved pets a chance to survive.

Trapping is a bipartisan issue.

KC York,

Hamilton

Montana Trap Check Bill, Trapped Mtn Lion

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Friend,

View this email in your browser

Sorry for our absence and the length of our trapping news but….

Montana HB787 for MANDATORY DAILY TRAP CHECKS is almost complete and should then be scheduled for a hearing soon!

TFMPL partnered with our good friends at Wolves of the Rockies to make this happen!  Now we need you to be contacting your legislator!We know from our many diverse supporters that trapping is bipartisan issue! Regardless of your legislator’s party affiliation, mark our words, they need to hear from you and NOW! 

Montana Legislators & contact info can be found at find a Montana legislator.  It is best to call. Let them know you are in their district and that you urge them to vote for HB 787 Mandatory Daily Trap Checks! If necessary, leave a message as such. Let us know if you have any difficulty looking them up. Legislators want to be re-elected so it matters what their constituents want!

Trust us, make absolutely no assumption the Democrats will support it and Republicans will vote against it! Start calling NOW as their vote is often decided ahead of the hearing! You can follow-up with an email to them but best to use your own words and keep it brief.

Currently in Montana, traps set for bobcats in designated lynx protection zones and traps set for wolves are the only traps that are required for the trapper to check every 48 hrs. Other traps and snares can remain unattended for days even weeks with trapped animals legally suffering. 36 other states have 24 hr/daily trap checks in their regulations. 3 states have none, Montana included.

All of you should know by now we oppose trapping. We hope to see it end in our lifetime! However, that doesn’t mean there is not a lot we can do to help end the suffering of trapped animals and enable those released from traps a better chance at survival whether that be an eagle, lynx, mountain lion or your lost beloved dog!

HB787 also has a limited exception if the trapper cannot tend to his/her traps daily. Once the language is approved by legal, it will be of public record and we will provide it to you. Our deepest appreciation to Representative Bridget Smith of Wolf Point for sponsoring this bill!Please let us know if you plan to attend the hearing or want to. The House Fish & Wildlife Committee meets on Tues. and Thurs. at 3:00 to hear the bills.

 * We are also working with any interested parties on the language for Mandatory Trapper Education LC538, too!

More on the MOUNTAIN LION TRAPPED & KILLED IN MONTANA
January 3,2019 – Square Butte, Montana

A large male mountain lion was found dead on a Square Butte trapline near town of Great Falls. TFMPL obtained more specifics and learned the mountain lion was killed in a snare. The trapper was not charged as the warden deemed the mountain lion was unintentional. TFMPL also learned the trapper did follow the law and reported.


photo courtesy GreatFalls Tribune

Snares only cost a couple of dollars and so are a favorite weapon trappers like to set in large quantities and leave to strangle any animal to death, eventually. No matter the victim, routinely, trappers are not charged since traps and snares by nature do not discriminate. A Montana Trapping Advisory Committee (TAC)member has been asking about allowing the keeping of trapped mountain lions.  In just 2 years, 2013-2015, 48 mountain lions were known “accidentally” trapped in Montana. Over 80% were dead or reported noticeably injured. Meanwhile, another TAC member continues to push for the legal snaring of wolves which is currently illegal.

RALPHIE UPDATES!

The sweet goofy boy, Ralph, from Laurel, Montana who lost his leg to a snare after missing for a couple of days is recovering!

Thanks to your donations, Trap Free Montana was able to donate $1,000 towards Ralph’s reduced veterinarian bill of $1,125! Please remember Ralph and all the other trapped pets and the need for mandatory daily trap checks. We continue to hear of yet another precious dog in Montana trapped! Think too of all their medical bills and who pays those costs? Certainly, not the trappers. Keep this in mind with LC/HB2007 a bill for “Wolf Trapper Expense Reimbursement”.

WILDLIFE COLORING BOOK
Check out this wonderful educational coloring book, award winning, “Endangered Species Have Feelings, Too”!

It’s 32 pages front and back of wildlife and teachings promoting knowledge and compassion. “Endangered Species Have Feelings Too” is a wildlife coloring book unlike anything else on the market. Not only does it provide an opportunity for children to bring each page to life, but to also develop their morals and “feelings vocabulary” along the way.”

The author, Dr. Delis-Abrams, has generously offered 25% of sales to Trap Free Montana.
Purchase at http://bit.ly/2S1xnp2  Please be sure to mention Trap Free Montana in your purchasing! 

UPCOMING FINAL TRAPPING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
The Montana Trapping Advisory Committee (TAC) will have their final meeting in Great Falls on 1/31 and 2/1. To review the previous meetings and the upcoming agenda http://bit.ly/2FNMyvR. The meetings are open to the public and we are given 3 minutes to speak. People can submit a written comment to the TAC urging them to support mandatory 24hr/daily trap checks and support HB 787, mandatory reporting of all trapped animals, closure of trapping on rare species such as swift fox and fisher, trapping limits and protections for beaver, mandatory trapper education for all trappers with all stakeholders equally providing oversight and supporting LC/HB 538 for Mandatory Trapper Education.

Send your respectful comment & in your own words to FWP:
 jvore@mt.gov with subject line: Public Comment for TAC

WOMENS’S MARCH HELENA
TFMPL was given the honor and privilege to speak up for wildlife and for support for HB787 Mandatory Daily Trap Checks at the Helena Women’s March on Saturday 1/19/19!http://bit.ly/2DmNGox It was a great experience with excellent speakers promoting necessary changes!

MORE “END THE SUFFERING” BILLBOARDS ARE UP!
Trap Free Montana, our 501(c)(3) affiliate now has added Great Falls and Billings to the list of “End the Suffering” billboards on major highways across our state. To learn more and be one of the proud owners of a billboard visit: trapfreemt.org/our-work

Thank you friends of Trap Free Montana Public Lands.

Actual NBC Headline: Advocates press Montana to ban trapping of fanged predator

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https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/advocates-press-montana-to-ban-trapping-of-fanged-predator

by The Associated Press

Tuesday, January 15th 2019

AA

BILLINGS, Mont. — Wildlife advocates are asking Montana wildlife officials to ban trapping along much of the Idaho border to protect a cat-sized predator that lives in old-growth forests.

Representatives of five environmental groups said in a petition submitted Tuesday to Montana wildlife commissioners that trapping is a serious threat to the Northern Rockies fisher.

Federal wildlife officials say at least 100 of the animals were killed in Montana between 2002 and 2016. Idaho does not allow trapping of fishers, but 86 were killed by trappers accidentally in that time period.

The fanged predators once ranged at least five states. They’re now limited to an area straddling the Montana-Idaho border. Federal wildlife officials in 2017 said fishers were not in danger of extinction despite worries about habitat loss and trapping.

Manitoba trapper sorry after cougar caught in snare

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Gerry Sherman found the endangered animal in a snare near Gilbert Plains, Man. last week

CBC News · 

The cougar was pulled from the trap sometime between Dec. 28 and Dec. 31. (Supplied)

A Manitoba trapper is sorry a rare and protected animal species was caught in one of his snares.

Gerry Sherman went out last week to check his snares in Duck Mountain Provincial Forest near Gilbert Plains, Man., and at first thought he snagged a wolf. But when he got closer, he realized it was something else — a cougar, a rare species that used to live in Manitoba but was driven out of the province.

“I wondered what I was supposed to do because I knew it was a [protected] species,” Sherman told CBC. “The proper thing that I came up with was take it out of the snare and take it home and once I got home I called Manitoba Conservation.”

Sherman is a registered trapper and uses the provincial forest, which borders Duck Mountain Provincial Park, with permission.

He said a pair of Manitoba Conservation officers came and picked up the animal on New Year’s Day and were very understanding about the whole ordeal.

“I am really sorry that it happened,” Sherman added. “Nobody likes to catch endangered species.”

“I am really sorry that it happened” – Gerry Sherman 

Bill Watkins is a wildlife biologist with the province. He confirmed the wild cat was caught sometime between December 28th and 31st.

“It’s what we refer to as bycatch,” he said. “There’s no way that a trapper could control the animals that wander into the trap. It was set for wolves so everything is completely legitimate.”

Watkins said that while the find was concerning, it could be a sign that the cougar population is recolonizing Manitoba. The animals were very rare in the province up until about six years ago.

Now, there are two to three sightings per year. A sign, according to Watkins, that they could be repopulating. The latest estimates pegged the population in Manitoba at fewer than 50.

Sherman said it’s the first time he’s heard of a cougar being caught in the Duck Mountains. He believes the animal will be stuffed and put on display at the Duck Mountain Interpretive Centre near Minitonas, Man., once it’s been inspected by a biologist.

“It’s a magnificent animal,” he said. “Anyone destroying these animals at will should be punished. On an accidental catch like this there is really nothing anyone can do.”

Not the first time

It’s the second time in just months that a cougar has been accidentally caught in Manitoba.

A female cougar was caught and killed near Boissevain, Man., on Nov. 21.

Watkins, at the time, said it is possible that the animal wandered up from North or South Dakota.

Dog loses leg after caught in trap, prompting renewed calls to ban trapping

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By:

Posted: Dec 16, 2018 12:36 PM MST

Updated: Dec 17, 2018 02:18 PM MST

WARNING: Some pictures in this story are graphic.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It’s a hotly debated topic in New Mexico: whether or not to ban animal trapping. Now, a local rescue group is pushing for the ban after a lost pup barely escaped with his life.

When Argos Animal Rescue first found Kekoa, they didn’t think he would make it through the night. Now, after a miraculous recovery, he’s acting as their poster pup for change.

“Kekoa means warrior in Hawaiian,” said Kim Domina, Argos Dog Rescue founder. “Strength of a warrior and I think that’s what Kekoa is.”

A warrior who survived days with his leg caught in a steel trap.

“Officer Rico said that he was definitely caught in a leg-hold trap of some kind,” Domina explained. “And that he probably was there for a couple days.”

On November 27, Argos Animal Rescue and K-9 Rehab got a call about the horrific conditions Valencia County Animal Control found Kekoa in.

“He tried to chew his own leg off. He does have pretty horrific injuries,” Domina said. “He had bite wounds all over his entire body. We ended up having to amputate his leg because it was fractured.”

Tracie Dulniak with the K-9 Rehab Institute says this type of injury is becoming more and more common.

“We get a lot of these dogs that are coming in from other counties and other states that have been severely abused or injured through traps,” Dulniak said.

This leaves the injured dogs with emotional, physical and mental scars, a concern that Trap Free New Mexico says should be addressed.

“We shouldn’t have to rely on New Mexican’s dogs stuck in traps until we abolish the practice,” said Christopher Smith, advocate for Trap Free New Mexico.

It is a practice that state legislators have tried to ban before, but has remained legal.

Current laws say a trap must be 25 feet or more from a trail and checked every day. The only possible changes coming to the law, at this point, is that Game and Fish is considering increasing the setback requirement to 50 feet.

“Minor tweaks to the regulations aren’t going to keep people safe,” Smith said. “It’s not going to keep many pets safe but also, it’s not going to keep our native wildlife safe.”

Kekoa’s medical bills have exceeded $3,000. Argos Rescue and K-9 Rehab are now asking for help with those bills and boarding and are searching for a skilled foster parent to care for him because no one has claimed him.

KRQE News 13 reached out to the New Mexico Trappers Association for comment, but did not hear back.