An article recently came out encouraging people to trap animals that predate on turkey nest eggs with the goal of increasing wild turkey numbers so people can hunt them. The author argues that populations of fur-bearing animals who may raid turkey nests like raccoons, opossums, skunks, and foxes, have skyrocketed in recent years, without referencing any legitimate scientific data confirming this trend.
Instead, the article uses vague and unfounded terms including “simple observation here and there” and “anecdotal observation” to reference the apparently “falling” wild turkey numbers, while also acknowledging that “there is no nationally accepted standard for estimating broad swaths of wild turkey populations.” The article goes on to voice “concerns” from hunting groups like Turkeys for Tomorrow, who claim they are “saving wild turkeys through sustainable, science-based solutions,” according to Jason Lupardus, TFT’s director of partnerships.
Trapping Harms Wildlife Populations
Just one hunter stated that he “will trap around 100 raccoons and opossums per year off of [his] 1,500-acre property.” Many of the species targeted for trapping face multiple threats to their survival, including climate change and habitat destruction, and traps and other nonregulated lethal wildlife control measures further imperil those populations. Moreover, there are no up-to-date population censuses for these animals, making it impossible to know which populations may be declining precipitously. Later, the same hunter was quoted saying that “We’re not trying to exterminate raccoons or any population. We only want to achieve a balance of populations that let both predator and prey species thrive.” How does he expect to achieve a symbiotic balance between predators and prey when largely unmonitored practices like trapping and hunting have been introduced?
Trapping Is Cruel
Encouraging lethal animal control methods is not only wrong in this case, but incredibly cruel, as many animals who encounter a trap will not die a humane death, but instead may languish for several hours or days before eventually succumbing to the effects of dehydration, hunger, infection, exposure, or predation before the trapper returns to collect their body. Countless nontarget animals are also frequently trapped and killed in the process, including companion animals like dogs and cats, bald and golden eagles, owls, migratory birds, and many species listed as threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).1
Lethal Predator Control Measures Often Fail to Meet their Goals
According to the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries Department, & Parks, turkeys make up a very small percentage of most predators’ diet, as many of these animals tend to primarily hunt rodents and small mammals. In fact, adult turkey survival is relatively high in most years. Research in Mississippi suggests that less than 10% of adult turkeys are killed outside of the hunting season because of “natural” causes, including predation.
While it is true that many turkey nests (between 40-60%) will be eaten before they are hatched (many by federally protected birds of prey), research conducted by wildlife scientists has yielded mixed results regarding the efficiency of predator control programs. Although some studies have shown that lethal predator control can increase turkey populations, others have demonstrated that even the most intensive lethal predator control programs result in limited, unpredictable, and short-lived population increases.
The failure of lethal predator control programs can largely be attributed to the extremely varied, sensitive, and complex relationships between predators and prey, and the balance that the existence of both brings to an ecosystem. In many instances, removal of one predator may invite another, or the few remaining individuals will have much higher reproductive outputs to compensate for the temporary decline in the population: ultimately further depleting prey species.
Similarly, as exemplified by decades of lethal wildlife control attempts to help mitigate human-wildlife conflict with predators resulting in the loss of livestock, research has revealed that the conflicts reported with wolves, mountain lions, and coyotes are not improved by lethal methods. In fact, non-lethal predator control methods (including fladry and livestock guarding dogs) have been demonstrated to be more effective in preventing carnivore predation on livestock. Some lethal control methods, including government culling and regulated hunting, however, were found to increase instances of livestock predation in some cases.
None of this is Wildlife Conservation
Vowing to kill countless animals to create more opportunities for humans to kill another species does not even remotely resemble wildlife conservation. How could hunters expect the public to believe they are interested in the conservation of wild turkeys when they openly state that they only wish to protect turkey nests so that there will be more adult turkeys for them to hunt?
And, this plan is as cruel as it is cynical. The archaic idea that an indiscriminate, loosely regulated, and destructive practice like trapping improves wildlife conservation must be revealed for what it really is: glorified animal torture. Using the name of wildlife conservation to justify acts that harm animals and the environment cannot persist, especially when we need legitimate conservation efforts the most; in 2024, in the midst of the sixth mass extinction and global climate crisis. Animals need our help more than ever.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Devan
- Fox, C., Papouchis, C.M. (2004). “Trapping on Public Lands: National Wildlife Refuges.” Cull of the Wild: A Contemporary Analysis of Wildlife Trapping in the United States. Animal Protective Institute, 113-119.
