Conservation and animal rights advocates celebrated a rare Trump era victory Thursday after the Environmental Protection Agency reversed its approval of so-called “cyanide bombs” to kill wildlife on public lands, a decision made last week that provoked impassioned public outcry.
“Obviously somebody at EPA is paying attention to the public’s concerns about cyanide bombs.”
—Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense
“I am announcing a withdrawal of EPA’s interim registration review decision on sodium cyanide, the compound used in M-44 devices to control wild predators,” agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement Thursday, referring to the traps by their official name. “This issue warrants further analysis and additional discussions by EPA with the registrants of this predacide.”
Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense, a wildlife group that opposes the spring-loaded poison traps, said in a statement to The Guardian that the EPA’s reversal seemed to be the result of widespread outrage over the agency’s initial authorization.
“Obviously somebody at EPA is paying attention to the public’s concerns about cyanide bombs,” said Fahy. “It would appear they’re responding to public outrage over the interim decision from last week. Our phone has been ringing off the hook from concerned citizens regarding their greenlight to continue using these horrific devices. We’ll have to see how this plays out.”
M-44 devices have been used by Wildlife Services—a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture—and state agencies in Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming to kill animals like coyotes, but critics note that their use also threatens the lives of non-targeted animals such as foxes, bears, and family pets. The EPA had initally authorized the agencies to use traps on an interim basis, pending a final decision in 2021—before the agency changed course Thursday.
With respect to the agencies that use the traps, Wheeler added, “I look forward to continuing this dialogue to ensure U.S. livestock remain well-protected from dangerous predators while simultaneously minimizing off-target impacts on both humans and non-predatory animals.”
“I’m thrilled that the EPA just reversed its wrongheaded decision to reauthorize deadly cyanide traps,” Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, told HuffPost in a statement. “So many people expressed their outrage, and the EPA seems to be listening. I hope the feds finally recognize the need for a permanent ban to protect people, pets, and imperiled wildlife from this poison.”
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