WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Conservation Groups Condemn Utah Prairie Dog Killings

Conservationists call on Fish and Wildlife Service to increase protections
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Santa Fe, NM-May 13. The recent illegal poisoning of a dozen Utah prairie dogs in Enoch has sparked an investigation by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR). UDWR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are offering a combined reward of $3,500 for information leading to an arrest, and the Utah Humane Society has offered an additional $5,000. While WildEarth Guardians and Center for Native Ecosystems join in condemning the Enoch prairie dog poisoning, they point out that UDWR and FWS allowed nearly 100 times this number of Utah prairie dogs to be shot or kill-trapped in 2006.

"It's pretty hypocritical for the government to be jumping up and down about the killing of a dozen Utah prairie dogs when they are allowing 100 times that number to be legally killed," stated Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. "We think Utah prairie dogs should be protected from all lethal control."

Under a special rule issued in 1991, FWS allows up to 6,000 Utah prairie dogs to be killed between June 1-December 31 every year. The rationale for the rule is that it would diminish illegal killings. The Enoch poisoning and two similar incidents earlier this year challenge that rationale. When it issued the special lethal control rule, FWS said it would rely on state annual reports on the species to monitor the level of take. But UDWR has not issued an annual report on the Utah prairie dog since 2002.

The latest census count indicates approximately 11,000 adult Utah prairie dogs currently exist. In comments to the press in April 2007, FWS stated that the current rule allowing take of up to 6,000 animals is not "biologically defensible" and it planned to announce a revision of the rule in summer of 2007. But no revision has yet been announced.

"What other endangered species would people stand by and allow to be killed by the hundreds?" said Erin Robertson, Senior Staff Biologist for Center for Native Ecosystems. "Poisoning these dozen Utah prairie dogs was illegal, but the government allowing hundreds to be killed annually is no less criminal."

Contact: Nicole J. Rosmarino, Ph.D., WildEarth Guardians (505) 988-9126 x1156, nrosmarino@wildearthguardians.org Erin Robertson, Center for Native Ecosystems, (303) 546-0214, erin@nativeecosystems.org