THE BODY COUNT

NUMBER OF ANIMALS KILLED ANNUALLY
ACROSS THE U.S. FOR SPORT

ANIMAL	DEATH TOLL	% OF TOTAL ANIMALS KILLED
Bears	24,465	Less than 1%
Cranes	12,628	Less than 1%
Deer	6,084,531	4.55%
Doves	35,000,000	26.17%
Ducks	16,569,100	12.39%
Geese	3,134,100	2.34%
Grouse/Quail/Partridges	12,209,159	9.13%
Pheasants	6,861,987	5.13%
Rabbits	12,873,454	9.62%
Raccoons	3,518,888	2.63%
Squirrels	26,655,926	19.93%
Swans	1,463	Less than 1%
Turkeys	615,548	Less than 1%

 

PENNSYLVANIA BODY COUNT

Just about every wild animal that is not endangered or threatened is hunted or trapped in the state of Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, the death toll for the 1996-97 hunting and trapping season was 5,945,116 animals. This does not include countless millions who die , e.g. : "small game" species such as rabbits, gophers, and muskrats whose death tolls are not required to be reported, animals who are wounded but run away and die a lingering death, and animals who are inadvertently trapped and released with mortal wounds. And the The Biggest Killers Were . . .

 

Changing attitude toward wildlife in Colorado not reflected in wildlife commission
Rocky Mountain News.com. 12 November 2005.
Westerners are changing the way they see animals, study shows.CSU study indicates many cherish game as 'extended family'. By Ken Papaleo
More and more Westerners are seeing the fish, fowl and wild
animals around them as something to cherish rather than
something to eat.
A Colorado State University study of values concerning wildlife
in 19 western states indicates a major shift from traditional
beliefs that "wildlife is mainly for human use" toward one in
which animals should be protected as "part of our extended
family."
The 12,673 people who answered the poll shed light on why
wildlife issues are so controversial and why wildlife agencies
are struggling to accommodate so many different views.
Just how polarized the debate has become is seen in the 641
responses from Colorado.
34 percent believe wildlife exists for personal or economic
uses, such as hunting or fishing.
35 percent are animal lovers, ranging from wildlife watchers to
animal rights advocates, who don't condone hunting or fishing.
22 percent don't hunt or fish, but they don't object to people
who do.
9 percent didn't show much interest in wildlife at all.
CSU professor Mike Manfredo, who headed the study, said 50 years
ago when there were a higher number of people living in rural
areas, the majority probably believed in hunting wild animals.
But as more people moved into the state, often from large U.S.
cities, the number holding those beliefs began to change.
Television shows that foster concern and even familiarity with
wildlife by those who may never go into the country contribute
to the trend, Manfredo said.
The study even found some people who said if there was an
accident involving a human and an animal, they would help the
animal first.
The reason for the change in attitude, Manfredo said, is the
people moving into western states come from highly urbanized
areas, usually with higher personal incomes, and have attitudes
more opposed to the traditional values of hunting and fishing.
How much traditional values are shrinking, he said, can be seen
in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study on hunting trends in
the mountain states between 1960 and 2001 in which the number of
hunters in the population dropped from 21 percent to 8 percent.
The shift in attitude is yet to be reflected in the makeup of
the Colorado Wildlife Commission, which oversees the state's
policy on game animals and non-game wildlife.
"I moved here from California to take advantage of the hunting
and fishing opportunities, and I think it's still one of the
major reasons people move to Colorado," said Commission Chairman
Jeff Crawford. "While I can't look into a crystal ball, I don't
envision a member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals) ever sitting on the wildlife commission because the
dollars that run this agency come from sportsmen and the money
should be spent on their needs."
Seventy-three percent of the Division of Wildlife's $100 million
budget comes from game license fees. No state tax dollars fund
the division, although around $10 million a year from the state
lottery is pumped into non-game wildlife programs the division
administers. In the past, the Division of Wildlife has made
concessions to include non-sportsmen in the decision-making
process.
One example is the state's Wolf Management Working Group made up
of ranchers, sportsmen, biologists, government officials and
environmentalists.  Rob Edward of Sinapu, a Boulder-based group
that advocates reintroduction of wolves, is a member of the
working group, which eventually advocated allowing wolves to
stay if they wandered into the state on their own.  "Colorado is
a leader by reflecting an attitude toward all wildlife rather
than, like other states, having to be forced screaming and
kicking to accept wolves," he said. "But we still have a long
ways to go, and the wildlife commission still represents
hunting, fishing, outfitting and ranching interests almost
exclusively."
He said the commission should have an equal balance of game and
nongame enthusiasts as well as a couple of non-division
biologists to represent biological management.  "When you have
so many of the wildlife commissioners with direct ties to
agriculture, you know change is going to be a long time coming,"
he said.
Still, there are those who believe outsiders have adequate
forums to be heard by the commission, including Russ George,
executive director of the state Department of Natural Resources,
the department that includes the Division of Wildlife.
"The division has an environmental round table and many non-game
groups attend it to give input," he said. "My impression is we
offer every opportunity for anyone to express himself, although
I can't say if any of them have a strong advocate on the
commission."
In the CSU study, Manfredo said, the states with the largest
percentage of hunters and anglers are Alaska and South Dakota,
where half the people hunt or fish or both.  In California and
Hawaii the number is about one in four.  With urbanization
today, children go to school with students who don't hunt, he
said.  Unless someone in their family hunts, most believe meat
comes from the supermarket, not the hoof.
"Hunting requires equipment, a place to go and a social support
system," Manfredo said. "Many who were hunters in other states
don't find friends here, where it's socially acceptable, and so
they quit."  To realize how much of a shift Colorado has made,
Manfredo says, look at the size and average income here since
the 1940s. Colorado has become urbanized and the lifestyle has
changed dramatically, he said.  "If you want to see Colorado 50
or 75 years ago, look at the Dakotas today," he said.