A ‘barbaric’ federal programme killed 1.75 million animals in US in 2021: Report

A wing under the US Department of Agriculture has stoked the fury of conservation groups after a report revealed that they were responsible for killing 1.75 million animals across the country in 2021— at a rate of around 200 creatures every hour, reported The Guardian.

The killings were part of a federal wildlife program that targets wolves, coyotes, cougars, birds and other wild animals, primarily to benefit the agriculture industry in states like Texas, Colorado and Idaho.

According to new data released by the program, the Wildlife Services has killed 324 gray wolves, 64,131 coyotes, 433 black bears, 200 mountain lions, 605 bobcats, 3,014 foxes, 24,687 beavers, and 714 river otters last year.

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The Wildlife Services has been slaughtering the animals “to protect agricultural output, threatened species and human health”.

Wildlife Services says that it targets certain invasive species which it considers a threat to ecosystems, such as feral hogs and a type of giant swamp rodent called nutria.

However, it has also controversially killed vast numbers of America’s native species.

“It’s stomach-turning to see this barbaric federal program wiping out hundreds of thousands of native animals,” said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Killing carnivores like wolves and coyotes to supposedly benefit the livestock industry just leads to more conflicts and more killing. This is a truly vicious cycle, and we’ll continue to demand change from Wildlife Services.”

The reported number of native animals killed in 2021 was similar to the 433,192 killed in 2020.

The only it reported a sharp decline was in 2019 when approximately 1.3 million native animals were killed.

(With inputs from agencies)