Aug. 05--The California Fish Game Commission on Wednesday approved a statewide ban on bobcat trapping.
The 3-2 vote caps years of debate on trapping, which animal rights activists say is cruel.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife had recommended a "zonal approach," or partial ban. That proposal would have allowed the state's 200 licensed trappers -- roughly half of whom specialize in bobcats -- to harvest pelts in areas where high-value bobcat populations exist. It would have allowed trapping to continue in hot spots that include Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, where 537 bobcats were taken in the 2013-14 season. Statewide, 1,300 bobcats were taken last season.
Animal rights activists say trapping should have been banned long ago. Trapped animals are strangled, shot or beaten to death, with care taken not to damage pelts before skinning them.
Activists also say that only a total ban can prevent trapping from disrupting genetic lineages of bobcats that travel along interconnected wildlife corridors stretching for miles over private and protected lands.
Trappers say that arguments about harming the bobcat population are uninformed. The California Trappers Assn. recently asked the commission to postpone action until after state wildlife authorities have a chance to conduct a comprehensive survey, the first in 36 years, to determine the size and health of the overall population.
As California's population has grown and sensibilities about nature and fauna have changed in recent decades, the number of commercial bobcat trappers has fallen to just 100 from 3,400 in 1982.
According to a statement from the commission, the ban still requires approval by the state Office of Administrative Law.
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