Under terms of the accord, Wildlife Services, a branch of the Department of Agriculture, will suspend for at least six years its practice of gunning down coyotes from helicopters and airplanes and using traps to kill creatures in wilderness areas in 16 counties in California.
The agreement stems from a June lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians and other conservation groups alleging that Wildlife Services had violated federal law by failing to analyze the environmental impact of killing hundreds of wild animals in Shasta, Sierra and 14 other California counties.
“We are working to put Wildlife Services out of the cruelty business by dragging its archaic practices out of the shadows and pushing the program to embrace modern ethics and science in wildlife management,” said Michelle Lute, wildlife coexistence campaigner for WildEarth Guardians.
