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Wildlife:
unlawful feeding of wildlife
Our Position: support
Bill Number: SB1438
Sponsor: Hellon: Cannell, L. Lopez
Legislative Session: 2006 Legislative Session
SB1438 makes it a petty offense to feed wildlife intentionally in Pima and Maricopa Counties, thus targeting the more urban areas of our state. The bill would not move forward without this amendment. The bill excludes tree squirrels and birds and people who are in the process of hunting or fishing or people who are engaged in wildlife management activities. We support this wildlife feeding ban measure because the feeding of wildlife promotes human-wildlife conflicts where both people and the animals are at risk. Animals become habituated to humans and associate them with food. Feeding prey species like deer and javelina can also attract their predators.
Status
Senator Hellon is amending this bill on to HB2129. See that bill for details on the status.
Action Needed
Ask your senators to support HB2129 as it now contains the wildlife feeding language.
More information
To view the bill or to find more details on its status, go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1438 Also, see these articles for some additional background http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=61454 and http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0331nofeed0331.html
Contact
Sandy Bahr at (602) 253-8633 or sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org
Background
Why is feeding wildlife a bad idea? Animals become habituated to humans and associate them with food. Ultimately, that results in some kind of conflict. As Arizona continues to urbanize and move our cities and towns further and further into important wildlife habitat, there are increasing conflicts between people and wildlife. Some of these conflicts can be avoided if people refrain from feeding animals, especially the predator species and the species on which they prey (deer, javelina, etc.). How is human supplemented feeding bad for people? Animals that are habituated to humans can literally bite the hand that feeds them. Several years ago, some coyotes in the Scottsdale area bit some children; these coyotes had been fed by adults in the area. Feeding wildlife can also draw them in to areas where they will also prey on people’s pets. Larger mammals like black bears and coyotes can especially become a problem when they are fed by humans. Feeding of black bears leads to increased injuries to people, plus they become a nuisance as they break into vehicles, homes, and garbage cans. Pennsylvania has banned feeding of black bears for this reason. Mountain lions may also tend to stay in areas where their prey species are being well-fed by humans. How is human supplemented feeding bad for wildlife? In addition to the dangers for humans associated with animal feeding, there are also dangers to the animals. Many end up being euthanized as relocation is seldom a viable option or the animals end up in captivity – this is an especially cruel fate for large predators. Relocating “problem” animals poses a risk for the wildlife agencies if those animals then end up in future conflicts with humans. Any activities, such as feeding, that concentrate wildlife in one area can also promote the spread of disease. In places like Wisconsin, they have banned feeding of deer in order to limit the concentration of deer in certain areas and to limit the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a fatal and contagious disease believed to be caused by an abnormal protein known as a prion. Supplemental feeding of wildlife can also result in an unnatural and unhealthy increase in some animal populations. Feeding wildlife disrupts their migration patterns and concentrates wildlife in a manner that negatively affects habitats and other wildlife species. There is also no demonstrated biological benefit to feeding animals like black bears, so it makes no sense to do it.
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