Defenders of Wildlife Blog

With the tax deadline looming there is still time for Californians to help make a positive difference for sea otters by donating as little as $1 to the California Sea Otter Tax Fund located on their state tax forms. With fewer than 2800 sea otters left along the California coast these charismatic critters are struggling to make a comeback and your donations will help fund vital research dedicated to helping sea otters survive.  With a target amount set by the Franchise Tax Board each year, the tax check off must raise $267,934 this year to return to the tax forms next year. So as you finish filling out your tax forms this year don’t forget about our furry aquatic friends. Visit www.saveseaotters.org to find out more on sea otter conservation and Defenders’ work with the California Tax Check-off.

A recent release from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that 335 sea otters were found dead last year along California’s coasts. This news comes as a blow to sea otter recovery which has seen a decline in the 3-year population average over the last two years.

A trend that is of concern to scientists who monitor sea otter populations is that 2011 saw a large jump in the percentage of sea otters deaths that were caused by shark bites.  Most of the bites, despite ultimately proving fatal, were considered exploratory in nature as the sharks were looking for their preferred food of sea lion or seal but scientists are still unsure as to why there was such a large increase in these attacks.  Of more concern to scientists was the rise in the number of female sea otters that were killed since female deaths will have a greater impact on the population growth.

While sea otter deaths caused by shark bites occur every year it has been shown to be increasing over the decades.  In the 1980′s and ’90′s sharks were responsible for around 8% of sea otter mortalities. By the late 1990′s that number had risen to 15% but in 2010 and 2011 that number has jumped to 30%.

Californian’s can continue to help sea otter recovery efforts during the tax season by donating to the California Sea Otter Tax Fund located on the state tax forms.

You can read the full USGS press release here.

Howls heard in California – Oregon’s wandering wolf OR-7 continues to elevate his celebrity status, this time by making the front page of last Sunday’s Sacramento Bee. Environmental reporter Matt Weiser caught wind of OR-7’s travels and talked to Defenders’ wolf expert Suzanne Stone about the potential for wolves in California:

“It’s actually a reason to celebrate,” said Suzanne Asha Stone, Northern Rockies representative for the group Defenders of Wildlife, which led the charge to reintroduce wolves to the West. “I didn’t think I’d see it in my lifetime.”

At this point, OR-7 appears to be staying put in an area 30 miles north of the California border between Medford and Klamath Falls in Oregon. Without a mate, he’s not likely to stick around for long, and it’s anyone’s guess which way he’ll go next. But the fact that Oregon’s wolves are dispersing to new areas is a testament to the success of wolf recovery efforts across the region. And that IS a reason to celebrate!

Photo courtesy of Ken Cole/The Wildlife News

LA Times exposes darker side of wolf-killing agency – For years, there were rumored to be photographs of a plane used by federal agents of USDA’s Wildlife Services in Idaho, covered with paw prints for every wolf they had killed. This week they finally surfaced. Ken Cole published the photos on his blog, The Wildlife News, in a post titled “The Professionalism of USDA Wildlife Services.” Kim Murphy with the LA Times picked up on it, and the story has since gone viral.

The story emerged just as Idaho is again planning to have aerial gunners target wolves in the Lolo region near Clearwater National Forest. State wildlife officials want to eliminate between 50 and 75 wolves in order to artificially boost elk numbers, which have dropped significantly over the past two decades. Notably, the herd has been in decline since well before wolves were restored to the landscape as a result of multiple factors, including hunting pressure, habitat changes, other predators and use of ATVs. Yet wolves still get most of the blame:

“Unfortunately, it’s become a situation where they’re just scapegoating wolves to try to appease the hunters in the area,” said Suzanne Stone, Idaho representative for Defenders of Wildlife.

With an estimated 103,000 elk in Idaho at the beginning of the fall, compared to about 700 wolves at the end of last year, it’s hard to understand Idaho’s single-minded focus on killing wolves. Meanwhile, hunters and trappers in Idaho have already killed more than 160 wolves with both seasons running through the end of March or later. We have to continue to speak out for wolves and oppose management decisions that allow politics to triumph over biology.

Oregon's first radio-collared wolf. May 2009.

Oregon wolf pack relying too much on livestock  –With only 23 confirmed wolves in Oregon, the population still has a long way to go to achieve full recovery. Unfortunately, at least a few wolves from the Imnaha pack in Wallowa County have gotten into the habit of preying on livestock. Imnaha wolves have been implicated in 19 depredations in the past two years, including five since October. Defenders is exploring solutions to prevent further conflict between wolves and livestock.

The good news is that help is on the way from the state, which announced this week that it is ready to roll out its wolf coexistence and livestock compensation program. The $100,000 program will reimburse ranchers for livestock lost to wolves and offer grants for preventative measures to minimize the risk of predation.

Wyoming wolf rider dropped from budget bill – It appears wolves in Wyoming dodged a bullet in this year’s must-pass budget bill for the federal government. A pernicious rider that would have barred legal challenge to the delisting of wolves in Wyoming has been taken off the negotiation table…at least for now. The omnibus funding bill still has to be finalized and signed by the President, but we should all be able to breathe a sigh of relief until next year. Now if the feds could only get Wyoming to adopt a decent wolf management plan…

Good reading – For most of us, wolf conservation is an abstraction, an ideal that we advocate for based on principles of stewardship and concern for the integrity of the natural environment. But for biologists at Yellowstone National Park, wolf conservation is a very different thing. It’s backcountry skiing, peering through binoculars, inspecting elk carcasses, and collecting data—lots and lots of data. In fact, park biologists are the source of much our knowledge about wolves and how they fit into the broader ecosystem, which is why their work is so important. Carly Flandro’s story this week in the Bozeman Chronicle gives us a rare glimpse inside the world of some of those researchers.

For more biting commentary, don’t miss author Marty Essen’s op-ed in the Missoulian debunking persistent wolf mythology. On the heels of a decision by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to extend their wolf hunting season, he says that wolf hysteria is making it dangerous for people and their pets to enjoy the outdoors.

Beginning in 2013 the possession, sale and trade of shark fins in California will no longer be legal. It came down to the wire but California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed AB376 into law on October 7, 2011. This is a big win for sharks and a great victory for the many organizations who worked tirelessly on this legislation. We here at Defenders want to give a big ‘thank you’ to all the supporters who wrote to their congressional members and the governor lending their voices of support for passage of the bill.

Over 73 million sharks are killed each year by finning, a process that involves cutting off the shark’s fins, often while it is still alive, and throwing the shark back overboard where it can sink to the ocean floor and eventually die. Many shark populations have collapsed worldwide due to overfishing, with some populations declining as much as 90-99%. California now joins a growing worldwide movement to protect this rapidly dwindling species.

After signing the bill Governor Brown had the following to say: “The practice of cutting the fins off of living sharks and dumping them back in the ocean is not only cruel, but it harms the health of our oceans.  Researchers estimate that some shark populations have declined by more than 90 percent, portending grave threats to our environment and commercial fishing. In the interest of future generations, I have signed this bill.”

If you’d like to send a letter to California lawmakers and let them know you appreciate them protecting wildlife please head to Defenders’ Wildlife Action Center and send them your thanks!  

Nine years running and still going strong. Defenders of Wildlife’s internationally recognized Sea Otter Awareness week kicked off on Sunday, Sept. 25 around the world with events and activities related to sea otter education and conservation.

The California sea otter population’s three-year average has been in decline in recent years, and awareness for the plight our playful marine friends face is even more critical this year than ever before.

But there’s hope on the horizon. The Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to end the ‘no-otter’ zone off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. that calls for capture and relocation of sea otters that wander into these off-limit waters.

This move would give sea otters a chance to expand their range naturally into California’s southern waters—a necessary step if sea otters are to have a real shot at recovering to healthy numbers.

California sea otters face hurdles on the road to recovery: disease, habitat degradation, food scarcity, and as a recent study shows, exposure to freshwater toxins. The survival of the sea otter in California’s waters depends on public support and an increased understanding of the essential role sea otters play in nature.

Find out about Sea Otter Awareness Week events near you.

Help us save sea otters. Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service that you support dropping the “no-otter” zone in California. Learn how to submit comments at www.saveseaotters.org.

A win for wildlife! Earlier today, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB971, the pro-sea otter bill that Defenders co-sponsored with the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This law reestablishes the California Sea Otter Fund on state income tax forms for another five years.

This fund is the main source for investigating the problems southern sea otters face in California through a great research collaborative that is studying many aspects of the population.

The following is a statement from Jim Curland, Defenders’ marine program associate:

“This is a great day for sea otters! We are very grateful to Assemblyman Bill Monning for introducing this legislation reestablishing the California Sea Otter Fund for another five years. This Fund is critical to understanding the problems facing sea otters in California and figuring out ways to recover and protect this fragile population. Defenders of Wildlife greatly appreciates Governor Brown signing this bill into law today.”

Read Assemblyman Monning’s Press Release (PDF) about this great success.