Trump administration overturns Obama-era ban on killing Alaska bear cubs, wolf pups

The Trump administration has overturned an Obama-era rule that prohibited the baiting of bear cubs and killing wolf pups during the denning season in Alaska national preserves. The National Park Service amended its regulations for sport hunting and trapping in national preserves in Alaska, removing regulatory provisions issued in 2015 that prohibited hunting practices otherwise permitted by the State of Alaska.

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to speed up environment nods for several construction projects, cutting environmental reviews and other protections. While hunting advocates and state leaders of Alaska had criticised the Obama-era ban, the wildlife welfare groups and conservationists have slammed the Trump administration of the rollback.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement that the Trump administration has shockingly reached a new low in its treatment of wildlife.  She said that allowing the killing of bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens is barbaric and inhumane. 

“The proposed regulations cast aside a primary purpose of national preserves to conserve wildlife and wild places," added Clark.

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The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which is defending the Obama-era NPS in federal court, said in a blog post that the Trump administration has just delivered a one-two punch to Alaska’s wildlife. Kitty Block, the president of HSUS, said that the new regulations have allowed some of the cruellest practices for killing black bears, wolves and other wildlife on national preserve lands in Alaska.

'Horribly cruel'

Block said that baiting the bears is a “horribly cruel” practice as trophy hunters leave out piles of junk food like doughnuts and candy to lure the animals and then shoot them. She wrote in her blog that mother bears, with their higher energy needs, are often attracted to bait piles, and when trophy hunters shoot them, they leave behind cubs who will often die of starvation, predation and exposure. 

“Bait piles also habituate bears to human scents and can lead to conflicts at campgrounds, picnic areas and other spots where there is food,” wrote Block.

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