Chris's Sharebook 

In late 2011, Idaho removed endangered species protections for wolves, allowing hunters to legally hunt and kill them with a permit. Senate Bill #1305, a piece of legislation proposed this year, would allow them to kill wolves without a permit if those wolves hurt or molested their livestock in the past 36 hours.

The bill suggests a variety of methods for killing wolves, including aerial shooting and using live goats, sheep or dogs as bait to lure them. "Molesting" is defined in the bill as "actions of a wolf that are annoying, disturbing or persecuting...or chasing, driving, flushing, worrying, following after or on the trail of, or stalking or lying in wait for, livestock or domestic animals."

This legislation allows a great deal of leeway for killing wolves without a permit, and could cause great emotional and physical harm to animals used as live bait. Please sign the petition to urge legislators to reject Bill #1305.

Human tar-sands development in Canada is killing off native caribou. To prevent the caribou population from declining further, the country plans to shoot and poison wolves, their natural predators.

The poison used will be strychnine, a bait used to kill vermin since the 1600s. The country plans to kill additional wolves by shooting them from planes. Both control measures are harmful for the environment and cruel to wolves. Poison bait causes convulsions and may poison non-target animals, and aerial shooting is more likely to wound wolves and make them suffer than kill them instantly.

The National Wildlife Foundation is suggesting that Canada restore natural Caribou environments as an alternative to targeting wolves. Please sign the petition to convince Canada to end their plans to poison and shoot wolves.

Human tar-sands development in Canada is killing off native caribou. To prevent the caribou population from declining further, the country plans to shoot and poison wolves, their natural predators.

The poison used will be strychnine, a bait used to kill vermin since the 1600s. The country plans to kill additional wolves by shooting them from planes. Both control measures are harmful for the environment and cruel to wolves. Poison bait causes convulsions and may poison non-target animals, and aerial shooting is more likely to wound wolves and make them suffer than kill them instantly.

The National Wildlife Foundation is suggesting that Canada restore natural Caribou environments as an alternative to targeting wolves. Please sign the petition to convince Canada to end their plans to poison and shoot wolves.

The cactus ferruginous pygmy owl is a tiny owl that nests in tree and cactus cavities throughout the southwestern United States. Despite their small size, the native birds benefit the ecosystem by hunting and catching rats, mice, lizards and other prey up to twice their size.

Today, fewer than 50 cactus ferruginous pygmy owls remain in the U.S. The factors leading to the owl's decline include invasive species, fires and drought. Unfortunately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service renewed their 2006 decision to keep the owls off the endangered species list, reasoning that larger populations exist in Mexico. According to Defenders of Wildlife President Jamie Rappaport Clark, the same reasoning would have prevented protections for the gray wolf and bald eagle.

Declining protection for this rare, interesting bird sets a precedent for future decisions regarding declining species. Please sign the petition to restore endangered species protections for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl.