Every year, federal government hunters poison, shoot and trap wildlife across millions of acres in the West at the request of private cattle and sheep ranchers worried about their livestock. Often they do it on public land. Under a program started in 1931, every American. A Department of Agriculture report said 117,400 cattle were killed by predators in 1995. But that was only 2.7 percent of the cattle deaths that year.
Critics call the program a rip-off.
Topping the hit list were coyotes. Foxes, bears, bobcats, badgers and mountain lions also are killed by agency hunters. About 9,700 ranchers participate in the program. Texas has the largest number of predators killed, followed by California. In most cases, ranchers contact Wildlife Services after animals have eaten sheep or calves.