Two proposals before regulators this week could align Nevada’s wildlife management policies more closely with the desires of the state’s residents, many of whom have little tolerance for hunting and trapping.
On Friday, the Commission will consider a ban on bear hounding, a practice critics say is abusive not only to bears but to the dogs deployed to chase them.
On Saturday, spurred by a resolution from the Clark County Commission, regulators will decide whether to outlaw wildlife killing contests, in which hunters are rewarded for stacking up the most dead animals.
“While those contests are often about coyotes in Clark County, across Nevada they target other species, too, including jack rabbits, fox, bobcats, raccoons, squirrels, woodchucks, mountain lions, and wolves,” says wildlife advocate Fred Voltz.
Of the 139 bears killed by hunters since 2011 in Nevada, 99 bears, or 71 percent, were hounded, according to a report from the Nevada Division of Wildlife. Of the 45 female bears killed in that time, 64 percent were hunted with hounds.