Future of NH bobcats - You Decide! by Helen Tam-Semmens based on presentation to Next Charter School, Derry, on March 9, 2015
Is there a need to kill bobcats?
NO!
Is there a need to kill bobcats? No, and here’s why...
Wildlife Management argument to kill bobcats - Flawed! Killing ‘surplus’ bobcats as ‘wildlife management’, otherwise bobcats will ‘overpopulate’, starve themselves, or decimate prey population - these are outdated ideas, not supported by latest ecology !
Latest science: 1. Apex predators don’t ‘overpopulate’ because they self-regulate their population. Bobcats are apex predators in NH. 1 2. Bobcats regulate their own population by lowering their pregnancy rate when food is scarce. 2,3 3. Bobcats are not nuisance animals . 4. Trapping does not reduce, but rather increase diseases such as rabies. 16,17,18 Notes: (i) Superscript numbers 1,2,3,4, etc point to references in the Reference section toward the end of the presentation. (ii) How bobcats self-regulate their population: Researchers observed that crash in jackrabbit population resulted in a decrease in bobcat pregnancy rate from 100% to 12.5%. 2,3
NO economic/commercial reason to kill bobcats I’m more $$valuable$$ to NH alive than dead
It’s cold out! How about a fur coat? Yea? But don’t take my skin. I need it more than you!
Synthetic clothing is better than fur Fur is no good. Don’t be fooled.
Fur is no good for humans 1. Fur industry bribes celebrities and clothing designers to lie about fur! 5,6 2. Fur is not warm. People who work in extreme cold weather don’t wear fur. 5 3. High tech designs far outperform fur . 5
Synthetic material much better than fur 1. Fur needs to be preserved in toxic chemicals and kept refrigerated to prevent from decomposing. 5 2. Synthetic material warmer than fur, keeps dry, less toxic, easy to maintain, easy to design into high fashion, eco-friendly. 5 3. US armed forces don’t use fur , but synthetic Primaloft to keep warm, made with 90 percent recycled material. 5
NH doesn’t make money from killing bobcats 1. Trapping is mostly for ‘sport’. Trapping makes little money and does not benefit NH as a whole. 2. Fish & Game will lose money by opening a bobcat season! But do it because obligated to provide opportunity for trapping/hunting. 3. Fish & Game are also obligated to provide opportunity for wildlife viewing ! You kill a bobcat only once, but can view a bobcat many times. Notes: (i) Nationwide statistics show that each trapper makes less than a few hundred dollars from trapping per year. (ii) Director Normandeau of Fish & Game said in a hearing that opening a bobcat season would actually make F&G lose money despite licence fees: “If we do institute a season, it will cost the department money. It’s about our statutory obligation to utilize the resources we are in charge of.” NH statute 207:58 obligates F&G to provide opportunity for trapping/hunting, as well as wildlife viewing .
Trapping is not good business 1. Trapping is a dying & cruel trade. 2. Let it die, to make way for better businesses in tourism. 3. Trapping is not a good ‘tradition’ to preserve. 2 out of 3 animals trapped are non-targets, including dogs and cats and endangered species. Such cruel ‘tradition’ gives NH a bad reputation. 22 Notes: (i) Business 101: To allow dying business to die in order to make way for better businesses is called creative destruction. For instance, it was futile to prop up horse- n-buggy business after cars were invented. Car industry created more and better jobs. (ii) Most tourists come to NH to view wildlife, not to kill them. Many are going off-trail these days with GPS in hand. They would cringe at seeing a trapped animal suffering in the woods.
Are you proud to call this NH ‘tradition’?
Is there a downside to killing bobcats?
YES, of course! Don’t kill my mommy!
When bobcat mothers are ‘harvested’, their kittens could die a slow painful death of starvation. 7 Notes: Studies show that legal ‘harvest’ of bobcats has direct impact on kittens, leading to high kitten mortality rates. Kittens usually nurse for 2 months, then begin to learn to hunt at 5 months. Bobcats normally give birth in spring, but as late as Oct. Bobcat season can start in Nov or Dec. So 75 ‘harvest’ quota equates to much higher casualties. Slow starving of kittens is not humane. 7
But Nature is cruel anyways, right?
Nature is actually humane in comparison. Predators usually kill their prey quickly and efficiently because they can’t afford to waste energy otherwise. The kill is usually quite painless due to adrenaline flowing in the prey. On the other hand, trapping... Notes: People who were attacked by animals (very rare) or even in hiking accidents reported that they didn’t feel any pain at all until after reaching safety.
Scientists: “Animals are conscious like us and feel much like we do.” Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness, 2012
Trappers: “Let us kill some bobcats for fun or fur. It won’t hurt NH or wildlife viewing.” Not true
NH needs bobcats alive, untrapped and unhunted! 1. Apex predators (such as bobcats) keep our ecosystems healthy; animals and plants more abundant and diverse; water cleaner. 1,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 2. Reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone park has revitalized Yellowstone ecosystem. 13,14 3. Predators cannot maintain healthy ecosystems if trapped or hunted at all. 1,15 Notes: Apex predators exert top-down regulation to keep our ecosystems healthy. But studies show that predators can’t do such magic to our ecosystems if their social structure and relationship with each other are disrupted by trapping or hunting. A study in Australia showed that dingoes could no longer revive ecosystem and combat invasive species when trapped/hunted, although their population density remained the same as in neighboring areas where dingoes were not trapped/hunted. 1,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
4. Trappers/hunters cannot substitute for natural predators in making our ecosystems healthy. 1,8,13,14 5. Bobcats prey on rodents and small rabbits, which help agriculture, and lessen the need for toxic chemicals in our food. 6. Bobcats do not increase diseases such as rabies. And may even help in reducing lyme disease. 16 Notes: (i) Predators target the sick and the old, improving the prey’s gene pool. They affect the movement of preys to allow ecosystems to thrive. And may even combat invasive species. Trappers/hunters cannot do that. 1,8,13,14 (ii) Lyme disease is carried by rodents among other animals. Lyme disease has seen dramatic increase in NH in recent years. Bobcats controlling rodent population could reduce lyme disease.
7. Trapping/hunting predators could actually increase predator nuisance behavior. 8. Most tourists come to NH to view wildlife, increasing revenue in NH. They don’t want to see animals trapped and linger in agony in the woods, or worse, accidentally step on a trap themselves and get hurt. Notes: Trapping/hunting predators can increase their nuisance behavior, according to studies, so not a good management tool. Juveniles probably didn’t get a chance to learn how to hunt before parents/elders got killed, hence resort to rummaging garbage and stealing food from humans.
Bobcats are not out of the woods yet 1. Bobcats have just begun to come back to NH. 2. Bobcats don’t do well in deep snow, which we have a lot this winter. 19 3. ‘Harvesting’ of bobcats kill a lot of bobcat kittens. Some are still nursing or have not learned to hunt, and will die of slow starvation. 3,7
4. Younger bobcat females do not have as many kittens as older ones. 3,7,20 5. Study showed that NH highways separate bobcat populations, causing inbreeding, risking reproductive failure and a lack of adaptability. 21 Notes: Yearling females generally produce smaller litters than older females. The percentage of females that actually conceive increases with age and levels off after about three years. This shows the importance of sustaining a mature bobcat population. 3,7,20
Whose right is it anyways? Trappers/ hunters: “I have a right to trap and hunt.”
Majority of Granite Staters: “I have my rights to a healthy ecosystem, less disease, clean water, view wildlife, and better economy through tourism.
Whose rights? Need a balance! 1. NH Fish & Game Commission are ALL trappers/hunters/fishermen. 2. Majority of Granite Staters want to view and enjoy wildlife , not to kill them. 3. The majority are not represented! The majority need to speak out!
Bobcats’ fate depends on YOU! Fish and Game said bobcat season or not depends on which group’s voice is louder - yours or the trappers’. Notes: Mark Ellingwood, Chief of the Wildlife Division, F&G: “People who are interested in taking advantage in a consumptive way, and balancing that with the interest of those people who enjoy the presence of cats and enjoy seeing them in their backyards and the woodlands of the state.” "How each commissioner votes, when they’re asked if they want a trapping season, will have a lot to do with which of those groups is louder between now and then."
The Future of bobcats in NH? You Decide!
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