ANATOMY OF A "DOE" HUNT:
How Killing Female Deer at the Watchung Reservation Increased Birth Rates and Reproduction
by Stu Chaifetz
The Watchung Reservation in Union County was the first area to use "Community Based Deer Management". From 1993 to 2001, more than 1,000 deer were either killed or wounded in the Reservation. In 1994, an infra-red air count of deer showed only 139 deer on 4,600 acres of land, 2,000 of which was the Reservation. That means that there were less than 100 deer in the Reservation itself when the hunts were initiated.
The deer in the reservation lived under non-hunting conditions for nearly a century before hunting was initiated, and had only reached a population height of 100, yet, in nine short years, more than 1,000 deer were produced and killed, and dozens, perhaps hundreds of others, were created and immigrated to other neighboring areas. How is such a thing possible? This the effect that hunting has on deer, and, thanks to the reports produced on the Reservation hunts, we now have the evidence that proves it.
The Watchung Reservation deer hunts targeted females and were designed to kill as many females as possible. After each female deer was killed at the Reservation, her womb was cut open and the fetuses, still alive, were removed. The study detailing the results of this can be found on page 25 of the 1997 Union County Parks Department report titled "Deer Management Program For Watchung Reservation".
All of the pregnant females killed during the first hunt had only one fetus in her womb. No twins or triplets were recorded at all. After the second year, 57% of the pregnant deer that were killed had twins in their wombs. After the third year, 60% of the pregnant deer killed had twins, and 8% had triplets. From this point on, the overwhelming majority of deer that were pregnant at the Reservation were producing either two or three offspring. In other words, as soon as hunting was introduced, the deer reacted with a massive increase in offspring production.
This is the heart of the matter: Before being hunted, female deer gave birth to only one child. Afterwards, it was double or triple that. This is what hunting does to deer. It is the reason why killing deer, female or male, doesn't reduce deer herds
http://www.HonorAndNonViolence.com
Killing wolves to foster moose population in McGrath, Alaska
APArticle by Dan Joling in News-Miner, Fairbanks, AL, March 13, 2003
Board OK's predator control
ANCHORAGE--All seven members of the Alaska Board of Game voted Wednesday to kill wolves and move brown and black bears from a 520-square-mile area near McGrath.
A final decision on the predator control plan now is in the hands of the acting commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game and Gov. Frank Murkowski.
The experiment of up to four years is designed to temporarily remove predators so that moose numbers increase. The plan also calls for a ban on resident hunting in the area, already off-limits to nonresident hunters.
Board members voted unanimously despite a threatened tourism boycott by a national animal rights organization, Friends of Animals. Alaska wildlife groups also objected and accused Murkowski of packing the board with pro-hunting advocates. Six of the board members were appointed by Murkowski, elected in November.
Predator Control Around McGrath: Shot-gunning Wolves from Helicopters
Friends of Animals' Opposition, Presented to the Alaska Board of Game - March 6, 2003
I'm Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, an international animal advocacy group, based in Connecticut - here to represent hundreds of Alaska members, and many hundreds of thousands of non-Alaskans who hold the interest and right to express their views about issues concerning the ethics and treatment of wolves and other free-living wildlife.
Relying on Gordon Haber, an Alaska wildlife scientist who has conducted wolf-ungulate research for 37 years, I've heard that the science behind the McGrath wolf-killing scheme is abominable. Haber and other scientists who have been marginalized in their exchange with proponents of the predator control scheme, say the alleged problem of a severe moose decline, and related hardship for a community of 407 human residents in McGrath isn't real.
The arguments advanced by wolf control proponents don't prove that there are low, declining moose numbers. Nor do these arguments reveal reliable numbers of wolves and bears in the McGrath area. And, no one is claiming that McGrath residents are beginning to starve, or anything close to that.
State biologists say they want to produce 50 - 75 more moose for McGrath hunters by eliminating wolves and bears. They want to kill all the wolves that affect a 520 square mile portion of the McGrath area - and I'm advised they'll continue to shoot wolves for four years who migrate into the area, where wolves have been massacred.
In the year 2003, 14% of Alaskans hold a hunting or trapping license, but far fewer want predator control to make moose hunting more convenient.
Times have changed. Violent persecution campaigns against wolves or other predators are considered uncivilized and mean-spirited.
If the Board of Game convinces Gov. Murkowski to approve this proposal, and appease the predator control minority, as opposed to most Alaskans and wildlife-watching tourists who denounce shot-gunning wolves from helicopters, FoA will initiate demonstrations and protests all over the country - and internationally --matching every dollar you devote to killing wolves in launching an offensive.
We'll run a series of high-profile ads in major dailies and through other mediums, urging a tourism boycott of Alaska like those launched by Friends of Animals in the early 1990s, and prior to the cancellation of Alaska's wolf control programs in 1993. And, as before, our focus will be to form a broad-based coalition of people who respect wildlife, and who book summer cruises and visits to Alaska with tourist booking agencies during the key months of November 2003 through January 2004.
We implore you to defeat the wrong-headed predator-killing, moose farming proposal and to listen to the voice of reason.
Priscilla Feral, President Friends of Animals
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Animals hunted and trapped in National Wildlife Refuges
Press release from the Fund for Animals March 12, 2002
This Friday, March 14, marks the centennial of the National Wildlife Refuge
System. President Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps the most famous hunter of his
day, recognized the need for places where animals would be protected from
hunting and trapping, and established the first national wildlife refuge in
Pelican Island, Florida, in 1903, specifically to protect birds from plume
hunters.
For half a century, the system was made up of true refuges that protected
animals from hunting and trapping. But now, most people would be astonished
to learn that hunting and trapping are allowed, even encouraged, on more
than half of the nation's 540 national wildlife refuges. As the nation
celebrates the 100th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System this
week, please ask federal officials to restore our national wildlife refuges
to their original mission and President Theodore Roosevelt's original vision
of protecting wildlife from hunting and trapping.
The Fund for Animals has launched a new web site where you can find more
information about this issue, contact federal officials, and look up
national wildlife refuges in your area to find out whether they allow
hunting and trapping. To find out more, please visit: http://www.Refuges.org
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