The potential of non-extractive/non–exploitive wildlife viewing and photography are already huge revenue streams in New Mexico. Shooting wildlife with cameras has far more sustainable financial potential than hunting or the egregious trapping—still legal in New...
New Mexico has a problem with traps on public lands. The ongoing destruction inflicted by hidden, baited, steel jaw traps is well documented. Users of public lands, companion animals and wildlife, including endangered species, continue to suffer the harm inflicted by...
This letter was published in the Santa Fe New Mexican on December 10, 2019 New Mexico has a problem with traps on public lands. The ongoing destruction inflicted by hidden, baited, steel jaw traps is well-documented. Public lands users, companion animals and wildlife,...
In early November, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish formally rejoined the federal Mexican Wolf Recovery Program as a lead agency. The department signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a framework for...
Another wolf pup is undergoing treatment as private trapping continues to take a toll on endangered species and public lands RESERVE, NM – An endangered wild wolf pup in the Gila National Forest has more than the usual number of threats to his survival right now. A...
She has sat next to Anna Wintour at London Fashion Week and awarded Stella McCartney the Order of the British Empire. Now Queen Elizabeth II is building on her fashion-forward reputation: The 93-year-old monarch will stop buying clothing made with real fur, the...
2400 public comments result in zero change to rule proposal ROSWELL, NM—At their November meeting, the New Mexico Game Commission made zero amendments to a set of proposed changes to the trapping rules. Department staff said that approximately 2400 public comments had...
If you are going to end another life, at least end it mercifully. NASHVILLE — Last week, Walden’s Puddle, a nonprofit wildlife rescue organization in a rural area of Nashville, posted a set of photos of a barred owl caught in the jaws of a leg-hold trap. The first...
Map shows trapping incidents occurred in 22 counties in New Mexico Nogal resident Kathleen McDonald had climbed about 100 yards into the Lincoln National Forest when Jasper, her Golden retriever Jasper suddenly began yelping and crying. “I went running down and...
For Immediate Release November 4, 2019 Contacts: Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, Mary Katherine Ray, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, 575-772-5655, Laura Bonar, Animal Protection of New Mexico &...
Just in time for trapping season, a coalition calling itself Trap Free New Mexico is launching a new online interactive map that tracks incidences of illegal trapping and locations where dogs, Mexican gray wolves and even people have been caught in traps. Chris Smith,...
In what world does a man charged with 34 counts of illegal trapping – brought to light by the gruesome strangling of a family pet in a snare as her owner tried in vain to free her – get off scot-free because the state bungled the case? New Mexico, that’s where....
The Game Commission is considering minor changes to the trapping rule: they are inadequate. Another trapping season is looming in New Mexico after last year’s saw at least two dogs killed, a handful of others injured, and untold thousands of native wildlife trapped...
Albuquerque Journal Guest Column by SUZANNE REED Many of us New Mexicans are – or know – people who “fair chase” hunt on our public lands. Our state Department of Game & Fish (DGF) rules give over 80,000 licensed hunters seasonal opportunities to shoot wildlife...
Despite a valiant effort by La Cañada Flintridge residents and state wildlife officials to rescue a fawn spotted on Sept. 20 with a trap stuck on its leg, the creature died Saturday after being extricated from the likely illegal device. “It’s been so long this poor...
SANTA FE – A dead fox was found in a trap on the eastern outskirts of Santa Fe Wednesday, and a WildEarth Guardians representative says the cage trap may have been illegal. WildEarth’s Christopher Smith said a runner found the trap with the fox about 15 feet off of...
On the face of it, the announcement last month the New Mexico Game and Fish Department is considering banning the use of poison, as well as traps and snares in four high-use areas and at hiking trailheads, sounded good. Because after all, that’s what smoke and mirrors...
Trapping is cruel: trapped animals endure stress, dehydration, starvation, broken bones, dislocations, predation, and even self-amputation. Trapping is indiscriminate: unlike hunting, traps maim and kill non-target animals. Endangered species and companion animals are...
It may still come as a surprise that today, in 2019, it is still legal in New Mexico to set a steel-jawed leg-hold trap or strangling wire snare in order to catch any one of 16 kinds of native wild animal that includes bobcats, foxes and badgers, for fun and profit....
In the waning days of the Susana Martinez administration, the Department of Game and Fish and the state Game Commission entertained marginal changes to state trapping regulations. It was, in the words of former Game Commission Chair Paul Kienzle, “play(ing) some...