Trump Administration to Allow Hunters to Kill Bear Cubs and Wolf Pups
The latest move reverses an Obama-era hunting ban, and will now allow the use of “amazingly cruel” killing methods in Alaska.
Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals
Bear cubs, wolf pups, and caribou, are among the animals now under increased threat from hunting in federal wildlife preserves in Alaska.
A law introduced by the Obama Administration, which restricted hunting methods and banned the hunting of bears with cubs, has now been overturned by the Trump Administration.
The move allows hunters to kill using a series of barbaric methods, including hunting bears with dogs, baiting them with human food, and attacking bear cubs and pups in their dens.
The rule change is “just the latest in a string of efforts to reduce protections for America’s wildlife at the behest of oil companies and trophy hunters”, Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, told The Guardian.
In a further easing of other restrictions, hunters can now gun down swimming caribou from motorboats, and operate during the denning season for wolves and coyotes - meaning their pups will be killed too.
“Amid the global pandemic, the Trump administration is declaring open season on bears and wolves, through their sport hunting rule on national parklands in Alaska”, Theresa Pierno, National Parks Conservation Association CEO, told The Independent. “Interior Secretary David Bernhardt had the opportunity to halt this rule that includes baiting park bears but chose instead to ignore commonsense and opposition by members of Congress, scientists and tens of thousands of Americans.”
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