The Associated Press
Wildlife advocates on Wednesday said they will seek a court order
halting a United States government program that allows tens of thousands
of pelts from bobcats and a small number of gray wolves to be exported
annually for sale on the international fur market.
Representatives of WildEarth Guardians said the little-known program
should not continue without a detailed study of its effect on wildlife
populations.
Government figures show more than 57,000 bobcat pelts and a handful of
wolf pelts were exported from the U.S. in 2014, the most recent year for
which data was available. Exports over the past decade ranged from a
low of 30,000 bobcat pelts in 2009 to almost 68,000 in 2013.
The pelts typically are used to make fur garments and accessories.
Russia, China, Canada and Greece are top destinations, according to a
trapping industry representative and government reports.
"The government's been allowing this to happen blindly without doing any
analysis. When we're talking about such high numbers, it's just
preposterous," said Bethany Cotton, director of WildEarth Guardians'
wildlife program.
The group filed a lawsuit in federal court in Missoula challenging the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program. The agency regulates trade in
animal and plant parts according to the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which the U.S. ratified in 1975.
Bobcats are not considered an endangered species, nor are wolves in much of the Northern Rockies including Montana and Idaho.
Nevertheless, the international trade in bobcat and wolf pelts is
regulated because they are "look-alikes" for other wildlife population
that are listed as endangered.
State wildlife agencies have opposed the inclusion of bobcats in the
CITES treaty, arguing the species is thriving and protections are
unnecessary. The animals are about twice as large as house cats and feed
primarily on rabbits and hares. They range across the contiguous U.S.
and portions of Canada and Mexico, according to the Association of Fish
and Wildlife Agencies.
Between 2.3 million and 3.6 million bobcats lived in the U.S., with
populations that were stable or increasing in at least 40 states,
according to a 2010 study from researchers at Cornell University and the
University of Montana.
Cotton said her organization became aware of the scale of bobcat fur
exports when it sued state game officials in Montana over the accidental
capture of another wild cat, Canada lynx, by trappers pursuing bobcats.
Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Laury Parramore said the agency
would not comment on pending litigation. But she said the government
requires exported pelts to be legally acquired and "not detrimental to
the survival of the species."
National Trappers Association President Chris McAllister says the
targeting of exports marks a new tactic in a long-running campaign by
advocacy groups to shut down the industry. Prior lawsuits have focused
on the types of traps used and the inadvertent trapping of protected
species.
"They're trying to use anything they can," McAllister said. "'If they
can shut us down from exporting furs, it would definitely have an
impact."
McAllister could not immediately provide figures on how many bobcats are
trapped across the U.S. annually. He said prices for pelts from the
animals fell drastically over the past several years, from as much as
$1,000 for a top-quality pelt to just $200 today.
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