The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services reportedly killed at least four million animals in 2013 alone.
The federal agency was responsible for killing at least four million animals including at least 866 bobcats, 75, 326 coyotes, 528 river otters, 3,700 foxes, 973 red-tailed hawks, 12, 186 prairie dogs, 419 black bears and three eagles, both golden and bald.
Two members of the Congress questioned the Wildlife Services for its failure to be transparent and truthful about its operations and basis for killing these animals. Although the service provided a tally of all animals killed within 2013, the document failed to outline why and how these animals were exterminated.
Carol Bannerman, spokeswoman for the Wildlife Services, expressed that the service was willing to engage in talks with different government agencies to quell the conflicts between them.
"As wildlife damage increases, requests for assistance also increase," Bannerman said to the Washington Post
In December 2013, the Center for Biological Diversity created a petition calling the Wildlife Services to explain why these native animals were killed. The request specifically required the agency to justify the killings based on the benefits the killings may serve.
Lyndsay Cole, spokeswoman for the agency at that time, responded that birds were exterminated in at least 800 airports to prevent them from affecting the airplanes' functions. She also added that the Wildlife Services may be compelled to lessen the population of some animals, especially if they were threatening the population of the endangered ones. In addition, animals such as raccoons were killed as part of the National Rabies Management Program.
Cole assured everyone that the Wildlife Services used a scientific model before identifying which species should be killed.
Oregon Rep. Peter A. DeFazio asked the program to reveal its secret operations. He campaigned for the full disclosure of the poison used to find out if it could also affect human beings and other animal species.
