In North America, there is a long history since European settlement of hostility and intolerance towards native predators like cougars, bobcats, wolves, and coyotes. This antipathy is reflected today in the current system of state wildlife management, which continues to permit extensive (and sometimes unlimited and year-round) hunting of these species. However, native predators play critical ecological roles, some of which benefit hunters themselves.
A recent piece entitled “Hunters Need Predators” by outdoor writer Ted Williams highlights the phenomenon of “predator cleansing”, a valuable service native carnivores perform in keeping herds healthier. For example, predators are hunters’ allies in combating Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), an always-fatal malady that affects ungulates like deer, elk, and moose. This disease is difficult to detect, continues to spread, and is considered a major threat to the future of ungulate hunting. However, bobcats potentially limit CWD contamination, as they are one of the few animals whose stomachs “deactivate” CWD prions when they consume infected deer. Wildlife ecologists have also noted that this disease has not flourished in areas where wolves roam the landscape. Other research indicates wolves and cougars selectively target infected deer and elk as prey, thus helping to keep herds healthier. Venison from CWD-infected animals is unsafe for human consumption but safe for wild predators.
“These and similar results in other states call into question the wisdom of permissive, in some cases unrestricted, hunting and trapping of cougars, wolves, coyotes and bobcats. If the whole of nature is good, no part can be bad. It’s time for all hunters to recognize predators as allies, not competitors.”
Read the op-ed here.