Conservationists Seek Ban on Lethal Wildlife Poisons

The poisons are sodium cyanide, used in M-44 ejectors, and sodium fluoroacetate, commonly called Compound 1080, a toxic used in "livestock protection collars" strapped onto the heads of sheep and goats.

Both agents are classified by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA as having the highest degree of "acute toxicity."

In a Federal Register notice published Friday, EPA is soliciting public comment on whether the pesticide registration for these two agents should be revoked, which would remove them from use. Comments are welcome through December 16.

The Federal Register notice comes as a result of a petition filed earlier this year by a coalition of conservation and public health organizations coordinated by Sinapu and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, PEER, a national association of workers in natural resources agencies.

Sinapu, based on Boulder, Colorado, is a nonprofit organization that works to restore and protect native wildlife such as wolves, mountain lions and bears in the American West.

"While I am happy that EPA has acted on our petition, the threat to people, pets and wildlife will remain until these poisons are outlawed," said Wendy Keefover-Ring of Sinapu.

Citing persistent reports of accidental poisonings of what Wildlife Services calls "non-target" animals, she said, "These toxicants are outmoded, dangerous and inhumane means of wildlife management."

The poisons are distributed by Wildlife Services, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, which used these two agents during 2006 to kill an average of 1.6 animals every hour, the petitioners say.

Coyote preys on a sheep (Photo courtesy Colorado State)

The USDA says the goal of the WS program is to manage the damage caused by wildlife, not to eradicate wildlife populations. "Upon request, WS wildlife professionals implement or recommend effective management methods to alleviate or minimize predation. WS employees strive to remove only the predators that are causing the damage."

As EPA considers revoking their registration, legislation is being prepared in Congress to ban the two chemicals from production and use. That legislation is being spearheaded by Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat who introduced an earlier bill in 2005 for the same purpose.

Each year, M-44s account for the deaths of some 13,000 mammalian carnivores, out of a total of more than 1.6 million birds, coyotes and other wildlife killed last year by Wildlife Services, at an annual cost to taxpayers of $108.6 million, the petitioners contend.

Compound 1080, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, water soluble toxin, is classified as a chemical weapon by several countries for its potential threat to water supplies.

Government audits have repeatedly faulted sloppy inventory control by Wildlife Services that could lead to theft or black market sales, the petitioners say.

Wildlife Services' own records show that livestock protection collars go missing and that their poison-containing pouches can get punctured on sharp objects like brush, rocks, or barbed wire, creating what the petitioners call "an uncontrolled biohazard."

The groups contend that relatively few livestock are killed by predators, making the use of these toxic agents "unwarranted."

USDA figures show that in 2005, more than 20 times as many cattle were killed by weather, rustlers and other causes than by predators, which accounted for only 0.18 percent of losses.

The USDA explains that the lethal control efforts of Wildlife Services personnel "typically remove less than 5 percent of a species' overall population. In many situations, the number of animals removed amounts to less than 1 percent of their total population. This amount is considerably less than the number of animals taken by hunters and trappers annually."

"The USDA's extension service, APHIS' National Wildlife Research Center, and the federal government's General Accounting Office confirm that lethal controls used by Wildlife Services do not unduly threaten the well-being of statewide predator populations," the USDA argues.

Still, two states - California and Oregon already have banned Compound 1080 and it is explicitly allowed for use in only 11 states.

The EPA had banned Compound 1080 nationally, but during the Reagan administration, the agency reversed itself and allowed re-introduction of the poison in livestock collars.

The comments received to date are overwhelmingly in favor of a ban. One commenter wrote, "Livestock growers have access to more effective, non-lethal methods such as guard animals, sheds, pens, fences and electronic devices to protect livestock. Because these toxicants pose unreasonable hazards and risks, they should be banned as predator poisons in the United States."

Veronica Egan, executive director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, a national wilderness advocacy organization, commented, "The use of such indiscriminate poisons poses an unacceptable risk to both non-targeted species and to humans. Predators are a necessary part of any healthy ecosystem, and the attempt to eliminate them to protect livestock is misguided, dangerous, expensive and ineffective. Many alternatives to these poisons exist."

Comments are welcome through December 16. Visit http://www.regulations.gov and enter Docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0944 to submit a comment.

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