In Defense Of Animals Calls To Restore Obama-era Regulations To Save Alaska’s Bear Cubs & Other Species From Heartless Trophy Hunters

In Defense of Animals and thousands of its supporters are calling on presidential candidate Joe Biden to restore Obama-era regulations intended to protect Alaska’s iconic wildlife from some of the most egregious and unethical hunting practices.

“It’s sickening that the Trump administration has brought back the most extreme and indefensible hunting practices that target iconic wild animals while they’re at their most vulnerable,” Julie Massa, Wild Animals campaigner for In Defense of Animals said in a statement. “Hunting bears with dogs or killing wolf babies and mothers in their dens should have no place on Alaska’s public lands.”

In a controversial move, the Trump administration recently overturned previously enacted hunting bans in Alaska that were put into place by the Obama administration in 2015.

As previously reported by WAN, now hunting in Alaska will once again be managed by the state rather than the federal government.

The Trump administration’s disastrous new rule allows the following practices on more than 20 million acres of public lands in Alaska, including national parks and preserves:

• Baiting brown and black bears with human food

• Hunting hibernating mother bears and cubs in their dens using artificial light

• Killing wolves and coyotes in their dens during the denning season when mothers wean their young

• Using dogs to hunt black bears

• Hunting and shooting swimming caribou from boats

These practices were banned in 2015 to make it clear that they are inconsistent with congressional mandates that both the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must meet to protect wildlife. The ban was also widely supported by the public, and dozens of state and national animal advocacy and conservation organizations who want Alaska’s wildlife protected from hunting practices that are unethical and scientifically unjustifiable.

As the rule goes into effect, In Defense of Animals and thousands of its supporters are urging Joe Biden, 2020 candidate for President of the United States, to pledge to overturn it once again to protect sleeping animal families from being mercilessly killed, if elected. 

The passing of this rule was allegedly done without the support of government agencies and conservation groups.

This ill-timed rule does not just signal disaster for bears, wolves, and caribou populations in Alaska; it comes as the state scrambles to boost the economy after COVID-19 shutdowns and job losses.

“Not only will this ruling devastate wildlife and ecosystems, it is going to devastate communities trying to recover in the wake of COVID-19, all to let trophy hunters continue to take advantage of the pay-to-play system at everyone else’s expense,” continued Massa. “We implore Joe Biden to commit to protecting wild animals from trophy hunters throughout his presidential campaign.”

Multiple studies have found that wildlife viewing opportunities are far more economically beneficial than hunting. Just before these rules were initially enacted to protect wildlife, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game released a study that concluded wildlife viewing is worth much more to the state, creating almost twice as many jobs and generating almost twice as much revenue.

Please read the petition and sign the letter to Joe Biden urging him to pledge to overturn the Trump administrations’ decision and continue to protect innocent wildlife families from being killed, if elected, HERE!

You can also Tweet the message below:

@joebiden if elected, do you pledge to protect sleeping mother bears and their cubs from being killed in #Alaska?