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Progress for Prairie Dogs
Thanks to the grassroots efforts of tens of thousands of Defenders activists and advocacy from our legal experts, prairie dogs and other wildlife on the Great Plains have scored some key wins.
In November 2009, federal officials issued a prairie dog management plan for the Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming. It is the first National Grassland prairie dog plan that truly focuses on nonlethal management before considering lethal control. The plan also bans shooting in several areas, promotes prairie dog restoration in core areas and promises reintroduction of the black-footed ferret -- a highly endangered animal that depends on prairie dogs to survive.
In January 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the agency would stop funding the use of Rozol -- a poison commonly used to kill prairie dogs. Rozol is highly toxic, causing a prolonged and painful death. The poison kills other animals who prey on the affected prairie dogs, killing golden and bald eagles, swift foxes and other predators -- including the black-footed ferret.
While FWS’s action won’t eliminate the use of Rozol and other toxins, it’s a step in the right direction. Defenders has taken the Environmental Protection Agency to court to stop the use of Rozol and we’re fighting to ensure the agency doesn’t approve another deadly poison, Kaput-D to wreak havoc on the American plains.
More Prairie Dogs Information
Read more in Defenders Magazine about our work to curb wildlife poisoning on America’s grasslands.
Learn more about prairie dogs and their importance to grasslands.
Learn more about Defenders’ efforts to protect prairie dogs and the wildlife that depends on them to survive.
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