DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Title

THE COST OF PREDATOR DAMAGE CONTROL USING TRAPPING AS THE PRIMARY CONTROL TECHNIQUE

Authors

Ronald A. Thompson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento, California

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

March 1976

The justification and economics of the operational animal damage control program in California as conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are discussed. Emphasis is given to the necessity for use of the steel trap. Nearly 83 percent of the depredators are taken by trapping. Annual agricultural losses due to predation were estimated at $4.7 million in California for Fiscal Year 1975. The projected cost-benefit ratio was 1:3.9.