Aerial Gunning

More than 35 years ago, Congress banned the use of airplanes to hunt or harass wolves and other wildlife by passing the Aerial Hunting Act in 1971. But Alaska is exploiting a loophole in the federal law to resume the practice. The state’s aerial gunning program takes out wolves and bears in an attempt to artificially boost moose and caribou populations, often for the benefit of guided out of state hunters. Other states could soon follow suit.

 Gunners in airplanes shoot the wolves from the air or chase them to exhaustion before landing and shooting them. More than 1,000 wolves have been killed since 2003. And now bears are also in the crosshairs. Alaska is allowing private citizens to kill brown and black bears, including sows and cubs, the same day they have flown – a practice known as “land and shoot.”

 Alaska’s aerial gunning program is unscientific and unnecessary. It’s time to stop aerial gunning once and for all.

 That is why Defenders of Wildlife and The Wolf Preservation are supporting the Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act, which will close the loophole in federal law.   Founded in 1947, Defenders of Wildlife is one of the country’s leaders in science-based, results-oriented wildlife conservation. We stand out in our commitment to saving imperiled wildlife and championing the Endangered Species Act, the landmark law that protects them.

For more information about this deadly practice, please visit defendersofwildlife.com.  Also contact Alaskan Governor Sean Parnell (http://www.gov.state.ak.us/govmail.php) to encourage him to put an end to aerial gunning.  MAKE YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!

**Thank you to Defenders of Wildife for providing the information posted in this blog.