Promoting Animal Welfare - Best Management Practices Uses Science To Identify the Best Traps Today:
State Fish and Wildlife Agencies are conducting a National effort to Development Best Management Practices (BMP’S) for regulated trapping in the United States. This effort is to identify and promote the best technology available to capture wildlife. These Best Management Practices address five specific points relative to the use and performance of traps. These components include: the welfare of animals, the efficiency and selectivity of the traps, the safety of the traps to people, and the practical application of various types of traps.
Best Management Practices are essentially a set of descriptions about the different types of traps, how they work best, how they should be set, what training may be needed for people who trap, as well as other points of information that make a trap and trapper function safely, humanely and efficiently.
Best Management Practices will be recommended to State Fish and Wildlife agencies to be incorporated into state regulated trapping programs and used in trapper education programs.
There will be BMP's developed for five different regions of the country. These regions include the Northeast, Southeast, Mid-west, West, and Alaska. BMP’s are developed regionally because environmental conditions (weather and soil conditions) as well as the various types of wildlife species which may be legally trapped under state regulations vary across the United States.
Testing Traps for BMP’s.
State wildlife biologists working with specially trained wildlife veterinarians are working cooperatively in designing and conducting trap research projects to help identify the best traps available. Current trap testing programs involving over 32 types of traps have been conducted in 18 states from Alaska to Maine to Louisiana. In 1997 and 1998 over $1.2 million dollars was spent in the United States in trap testing programs specific to identifying the best traps as part of the development of Best Management Practices. All types of traps are tested including cage traps, snares, foothold trap as well as killing type traps. The testing is conducted on trap lines where experienced trappers accompanied by wildlife technicians operate traps under real world conditions.
Everyone - managers, regulators, biologists, veterinarians and the public who traps - is interested in using the best technology available for the responsible capture of furbearers. Working towards this goal state wildlife agencies will continue their efforts in trap research and developing Best Management Practices. Making sure trapping is conducted humanely and responsibly is extremely important to us all. Best Management Practices based on sound scientific data and biology will continue to measurably improve the welfare of captured wildlife in the United States.
If you are interested in more information about Best Management Practices and trapping, and furbearer management contact Samara Trusso via e-mail at Strusso@sso.org.
Animal Welfare  Improving Traps
Best Management Practices Trapping is Selective
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