Oregon begins killing sea lions after ‘relocation’ fails

Wildlife managers have killed three of the animals using traps. The animals are being euthanized by a veterinarian by lethal injection and their flesh goes to a rendering plant.

GILLIAN FLACCUS: ‘The state Department of Fish and Wildlife obtained a federal permit in November to kill up to 93 California sea lions annually below Willamette Falls south of Portland, Oregon, to protect the winter run of the fish that begin life as rainbow trout but become steel-head when they travel to the ocean. As of last week, wildlife managers have killed three of the animals using traps they used last year to relocate the sea lions, said Bryan Wright, project manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s marine resources program…

Wildlife officials moved about a dozen sea lions to the coast near the small city of Newport last year, but the animals ended up swimming back to the falls within days. So the state petitioned federal officials for permission to start killing the animals, which are listed as a federally endangered species… The animals are being euthanized by a veterinarian by lethal injection in the same way that dogs and cats are put down, Wright said. Their flesh goes to a rendering plant’. SOURCE…

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