On trapping, Nevada shouldn’t replicate California

The Review-Journal recently published a commentary by animal rights activist Stephanie Myers condemning regulated trapping of wildlife in this state. Possibly the most revealing thing about her article is comparing Nevada with Los Angeles and her longing for Nevadans to be more like Californians.

Let’s take a quick look at California and the state of wildlife management there.

Since California all but eliminated regulated trapping some years ago, there has been a corresponding and significant increase in the number and type of urban coyote problems, mostly in the L.A. basin. Never mind that countless pets are being attacked and killed by coyotes, humans are being attacked there as well. And in one instance, a little girl was killed.

A report authored by professors at two California universities documents 110 incidents of coyote attacks on humans in California, all since the early 1970s. The attacks resulted in injuries to a total of 136 individuals — 87 adults and 49 children. A 3-year-old-girl, Kelly Keen, was attacked and killed by a coyote in the front yard of her home in Glendale, Calif., in August 1981.

In their conclusions, the authors state that conflicts, including these attacks on humans, have expanded more in Southern California than in any other region in North America.

The coyote problems are but one example of wildlife issues in California. While feral animals such as hogs and cats have greatly increased in numbers and range, the indigenous wildlife populations have diminished and suffered greatly.

The feral cat situation in that state is a travesty. In the name of protecting one type of animal, activists are condemning to death millions of others — mostly indigenous and in some cases endangered species. It is estimated that 160 million feral cats in this country are killing in excess of 20 billion birds and small animals per year. That’s “billion,” with a “B.”

In Southern Nevada, we are beginning to experience some of these same types of problems, though not yet as severe. Neighborhoods in Summerlin, Seven Hills, Anthem and North Las Vegas have all reported incidents recently in which aggressive coyotes were attacking and killing pets. Ms. Myers states that there was “only” one school lockdown in the last year because of wild predators. In fact, Metropolitan Police Department data indicate there were 12 school lockdowns in 2013 alone due to predators.

The urban coyote problems faced by the residents here — so far limited to attacks on pets — does not need to regress to the state of things in Southern California, although recent history is beginning to indicate that it will.

In 2011, the Nevada Legislature passed Senate Bill 226, signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval. This law eliminated trapping in certain areas of the Spring Mountains and within a half-mile of residences in Clark County. Since then, the news reports of coyotes killing pets in residential areas have increased dramatically, as have school lockdowns.

That law was followed in the 2013 session by SB213, another set of trapping restrictions, before the impact of the first law was even known.

Ms. Myers states that trappers’ defenses are “emotional arguments, not based on science.” What science is she talking about?

The Wildlife Society, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the American Veterinary Medical Association all support regulated trapping as a critical and essential wildlife management tool. Of animal rights groups, the veterinarians say: “Some special interest groups oppose trapping of animals in general, but this can actually compromise animal welfare.”

In Nevada, elected officials and wildlife commissioners need to be careful not to be bullied and harassed into making big mistakes on behalf of these animal rights “experts.” Nevada wildlife has been very well managed by a professional agency, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, under the guidance of a civilian regulatory commission with input from county advisory boards. Wildlife in Nevada today is abundant, healthy and on the increase in most areas and for most species. The urban problems with predators are still isolated and manageable. California by comparison has been a calamity by design.

Let’s not make the same mistakes here.

John Sullivan is vice president of the Nevada Trappers Association.