Notice of Hearing on the Application to Use Sodium Fluoroacetate ...

9egartxct's Animal lanacjo Cm~roi S tzby Advi sory Csmi :se in
1977 and a w~ tness far Cefmd2rs <strong>of</strong> !di 1 dl i f ey a; a1 . , submi Zed
testimony to the effect that surveys conductad by mail questionnairss,
Gee, et a1 . in particular-, subscancially overestinated losses to
predators. He ~ ontsd i 3ut that they2 was a 2auci ty <strong>of</strong> rzi jab12
dzta on che extznr <strong>of</strong> predation losses ta sheep prior co 1372 and
maintained that publicity surrounding th? Gee, 2t a l. sarvey 2nd
the emotional clirnacs surrounding the predator control issue, biased
reported pr?tiat'on lgss figures ucltrard.
32. Dr. Cr2ndy fashioned a cab12 ccmparing Sield studies on szlxzive
r3nges in 'Ayc~!~;, Idaho, Utzh and )levada curi ng years ?ncsrrpassi ng
'he 1974 rssul,$s :-e,"crfed. by Gee, ?t a1 . in field cr biological st~cies,
I
investigators xake an sfforc tc find the carcasses <strong>of</strong> all dezd aniriai:
and verify the causz <strong>of</strong> deazh. Obt/iously, ~ L I C stsdies ~ 3re labor
intensive, very ?xpensive, depend sn the cccperation <strong>of</strong> the ranckrs
or producers conc2rned and can only cov2r a limited area or number
<strong>of</strong> herds. This, <strong>of</strong> course, means that such studies 3rz sinpiy
indications <strong>of</strong> what is happening and cannot 5e vie1:ied as representative
<strong>of</strong> losses inc~rrei by greaEer numbers <strong>of</strong> flacks, ?roduczrs in large
areas or in scates as a whole. Moreover, despite extensive searches,
some animals are simply missing and the cause cf loss or death
cannot be dstermined. It should also be pointed out that extensiye
human activfty i n connection wi €it searches for dead and mlssiny
animals, might in and <strong>of</strong> itself be a factor reducing predation