Arizona-New Mexico Mexican Wolf Population Grows in 2013

GW:  If only an animal-rights activist would ever agree on the definition of recovery…

PHOENIX — During its annual year-end population survey, the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) counted a minimum of 83 Mexican wolves in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico at the end of 2013. This number demonstrates a 10 percent increase in the known population of Mexican wolves in the wild compared to the 2012 minimum population count of 75 wolves. Read more

Polar Bear Population Increasing?

Northern Canada’s Hudson Bay region has been noted as the area of the most threatened Polar bear population, but new evidence shows estimates as much as 67 percent higher than suggested.  Details here…

An Alaska scientist, Charles Monnett,  whose observations of drowned polar bears helped galvanize the global warming movement has been forced out of his position as part of a settlement with a federal agency.  Turns out he made things up and left other fact out of his argument to support an animal-rights agenda.  More here…

Hat tip to John Lott.

Nebraska Senator Threatens to Shut Down Legislature Over Mountain Lion Hunt

GW:  Another liberal who doesn’t get it…

Just two weeks into Nebraska’s inaugural Mountain Lion hunting season, a bill has been introduced to stop the hunt.

The bill, LB 671 sponsored by Senator Ernie Chambers (D-Omaha), would ban mountain lion hunting, threatening not only livestock but public safety also.  Senator Chambers has also announced his intentions to oppose every proposal of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission until the mountain lion season is abolished.

In 1995, Nebraska added mountain lions to the state’s game list in order to protect the steadily growing population.   Over the past 20 years, the population levels have risen enough to sustain a limited harvest using a controlled quota system.  In 2013, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission established its first ever mountain lion season which commenced this month. Read more

QDMA to Convene First-Ever Whitetail Summit to Address Declining Deer Herds and Other Threats

GW:  It had to happen.  What goes up must come down.  But, what are the answers to land development, diseases, predators, etc?  Time to find out…

Declining deer herds and other threats to North America’s deer-hunting heritage will be the focus of the first-ever North American Whitetail Summit being convened by QDMA, March 3-6, at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Missouri.

“Whitetail numbers are down throughout much of their range due to many factors including EHD, predators, and even over-harvest,” said QDMA CEO and wildlife biologist Brian Murphy.  “In some areas, herds are below what the habitat can support and what provides a quality hunting experience. This is a serious issue with significant long-term implications for the future of deer hunting.” Read more

Safari Club International and Hunters Helping the African Lion

GW:  Another example of how hunting helps…

Tucson, AZ – From the outside looking in, a non-hunter might find it hard to comprehend. What needs to be understood is that hunters have a deep care and passion for the animals they pursue to ensure that a healthy population of that resource remains.

Hunters commit a large amount of resources and time to help promote species of game to sustainable levels to be able to pursue them for hunting.

The impact of hunters on the African lion has become a hot button issue, to say the least, over the past few years. What should be a discussion based on science has turned into an emotionally charged topic. Read more

Ranchers, Hunters Get Reprieve from Excessive Government Restrictions for Three Antelope Species

Washington, D.C. – With the passage of the Omnibus spending package that keeps the U.S. government funded until September 30, 2014, America’s hunters and ranchers received a welcome surprise that eliminates government restrictions on the hunting of U.S. populations of scimitar-horned oryx, dama gazelle, and addax (three antelope species). The legislative fix, first written by Safari Club International’s Washington, D.C. staff, reinstates a 2005 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulation that facilitates U.S. conservation of these species. Read more

The Paradox of Good Intentions

By Glen Wunderlich

A paradox of good intentions is the only description that comes to mind with a story from Texas relative to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  Although the ESA has been with us for some 40 years and is touted as having credible successes with certain species (and, rightfully so), it’s having a severe, negative impact on three antelope species:  horned oryx, Dama gazelle and addax.  These antelope species are known in Texas as the “Three Amigos.”

The U.S. House and Senate will consider Dallas Safari Club (DSC)-backed legislation that would exempt from ESA protections three antelope species nearly extinct in their native countries but thriving on ranches in Texas.  The exemptions would clear the way for ranchers to maintain their herds and to offer hunts for these game animals without government intervention.

Once again, the seemingly counter-intuitive rationale to allow hunting is being used as an argument to save the species.  Yes, they are not indigenous to Texas, but tell that to the once-thriving herd.

First, we must understand that the imposition of ESA mandates brings with it certain prohibitions Read more

HSUS “Ambassador” Caught with Illegal Ivory

This from www.HumaneWatch.org

We reported earlier this week about the controversy around an auction for a hunt of a single, non-breeding black rhino that raised $350,000 for anti-poaching efforts. It’s interesting that the biggest complainer about this auction, the Humane Society of the United States, isn’t apparently spending much, if anything, toward rhino conservation itself, according to its tax returns.  If HSUS had its way, this $350,000 wouldn’t make its way to anti-poaching programs, simply because HSUS is ideologically against hunting.

And now, the latest setback in the fight against illegal poaching comes from HSUS’s own “global ambassador,” the music artist calling herself Ke$ha. Read more

U.S. Congress to Consider ‘Three Amigos’ Amendment

GW:  An ESA failure with hope from hunters…

WASHINGTON- -The U.S. House and Senate will consider Dallas Safari Club (DSC)-backed legislation that would exempt from endangered species protections three antelope species nearly extinct in their native countries but thriving on ranches in Texas.
The exemptions would clear the way for ranchers to maintain their herds and to offer hunts for these game animals without government intervention. Read more

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