Predator control methods antiquated, cruel

The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association is advocating the mass killing of wolves and coyotes in Manitoba as a means of addressing predation of livestock -- a so-called "predator-control program" (Put bounties on wolves, coyotes, Feb. 27).

But it is a misguided strategy that, if implemented, would be a disaster for wildlife, deadly to people and pets, and ultimately fail in its goal of reducing predation on livestock.

The cattle producers have lobbied the federal and provincial governments to reintroduce the use of the highly toxic poison cyanide for predator control in Manitoba, the poison of choice for killing wolves and coyotes in North America since the 1960s.

The cyanide is dispensed to predators by a device known as a "cyanide ejector" -- technically known as an "M44" -- that to all the world looks like an innocuous stake or survey marker sticking out of the ground.

The top of the ejector is coated with a substance that attracts predators, canines in particular. When an animal pulls up on the head of the ejector, a spring ejects a deadly spray of sodium cyanide into the animal's mouth and face, causing death when the poison comes into contact with the mucous membranes in the face. The force of the ejector can spray the cyanide granules up to five feet.

Cyanide ejectors are like land mines in their quiet and indiscriminate lethalness, which makes them an animal-welfare nightmare.

Like land mines, cyanide kills indiscriminately. For every wolf and coyote targeted by a cyanide ejector, countless other "non-target" predators such as bears, foxes, raccoons, crows, eagles and owls who tug haplessly on a baited cyanide ejector perish as collateral damage. Dogs, attracted by the powerful canine attractant, are also common victims.

Like land mines, cyanide ejectors do not ensure a quick, humane death. After being hit with the cyanide spray, an animal can die within minutes or linger over a longer period of time, depending on how directly the spray hits. Researchers have found poisoned wolves a kilometre away from bait sites, indicating a significant time lapse between ingestion of the poison and death. Until death, suffering is extreme.

Cyanide is a Category 1 toxin -- one of the most lethal substances on earth -- and can kill humans within minutes.

The potential dangers associated with unleashing a deadly poison indiscriminately into the environment should be of concern to each and every Manitoban. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers cyanide ejectors so dangerous that baiters are required to notify local hospitals of potential accidents.

All USDA Wildlife Services trappers and anyone else who handles cyanide ejectors are required to carry amyl nitrate to counteract the poisonous effects of the cyanide if accidentally ingested.

Unsuspecting hikers, children or others who stumble across cyanide ejectors accidentally have no such protections, and face imminent death or injury.

Congressman Peter DeFazio of Oregon will soon be introducing a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives banning the use of sodium cyanide as a predator-control measure on all public and private lands.

The bill is in response to a rash of human injuries and pet deaths in the U.S. caused by accidental encounters with cyanide ejectors intended primarily for coyotes:

-- In 2003, a cyanide ejector exploded in the face of Dennis Slaugh of Utah when he mistook it for a survey marker. To this day, Dennis finds it hard to breathe and suffers from many other medical ailments.

-- In 2006, Sharon Aguiar of Utah watched her beloved German shepherd, Max, suffer and finally die after a lethal dose of cyanide was fired into his mouth by a cyanide ejector on public land. There were no signs posted.

-- In 2000, George and Dixie Tippett of Oregon noticed their German shepherd, Buddy, didn't come home. The next day, Buddy was found dead, next to a spent cyanide ejector 100 yards from their back door where kids routinely played.

And scientists are questioning whether predator-control programs are actually effective. Paradoxically, killing predators can actually increase, rather than decrease, livestock predation.

Wildlife ecologist, Dr. Robert Crabtree of Montana State University, believes coyote-control programs can actually make coyote numbers rebound due to the resilience of the species to fill a void.

A 1999 report of wolf predation on livestock commissioned by Riding Mountain National Park recommends against poisoning wolves as a means of addressing livestock predation. The study concludes that killing adult wolves means that their young are not taught which animals to eat and which animals to avoid as prey. Also, removing predators from the food chain increases the number of prey species normally controlled by predators, such as deer, beavers and gophers, thereby creating a whole new host of wildlife conflicts for the farming community.

The Riding Mountain study recommends instead that livestock producers discourage predators through better management practices such as burying or burning dead animals, calving closer to home and checking pastured livestock on a regular basis.

The indiscriminate killing of wildlife is a cruel, outdated and ineffective response to human-predator conflict, and hearkens back to a time when the balance of nature and the lives of individual animals counted for very little. Now we know better.

John Youngman, a Winnipeg lawyer, is on the board of directors of the Winnipeg Humane Society

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 30, 2010 A10