Go
Trapping.

Essential to wildlife conservation.

The more you learn about regulated trapping, the greater appreciation you’ll have for trappers. Learn how trapping supports wildlife conservation, offering many benefits to wildlife and people.

What is Trapping?

Regulated trapping plays an important role in managing wildlife populations and habitats in North America. Trapping is a valuable tool in wildlife conservation and offers many benefits – from helping to save endangered species, to reducing wildlife damage to crops and property, and resolving threats to human health and safety.

Trapping is highly regulated by agencies through scientifically based laws, rules and regulations that are strictly enforced by wildlife conservation officers. Trappers need to be licensed, adhere to regulations, and follow best practices. Animal populations are carefully monitored with trapping so that trapping does not cause species to become endangered. In addition, because trappers must be licensed, they also play a role in funding conservation. Check your state’s licensing and regulations.

FIND TRAPPING IN YOUR STATE

Trapping Benefits

Trapping is an essential part of wildlife conservation and mitigates wildlife-human conflict. Regulated trapping is used by State, Federal and Tribal agencies to manage wildlife and their habitats, and it provides many benefits to people.

Protects Endangered Species During Vulnerable Life-Cycle Periods

Foothold traps capture abundant predators, which reduces predation on many rare and endangered species (such as desert tortoise, sea turtles, whooping cranes, black-footed ferrets and piping plovers)
Reduces wildlife disease outbreaks by managing abundant furbearer species

Species Restoration

Helps restore populations through capture and translocation of animals
Foothold traps safely capture river otters and gray wolves for successful restoration programs

Helps Reduce Property Damage

Mitigates damage to critical road and railway infrastructure, such as flooding caused by beavers
Prevents or resolves agricultural damage, including crop loss and livestock depredations
Avoids estimated $1.48 billion alone in home damages in comparison to $600 million in insured damages from one hurricane in 2002
Saves taxpayers an estimated $202-$405 million annually

Habitat Protection and Restoration

When certain furbearers become overabundant, they can damage or destroy habitat (i.e., the regulated harvest of nutria in Louisiana helps protect 3.6 million acres of coastal wetlands)
Wild pigs cause $1.5-$2.5 billion in damage annually

Public Health and Safety

Helps reduce the spread of diseases among animals and people (i.e., rabies)
Keeps pets, gardens and homesteads safe

Sustainable Use

Regulated use of abundant wildlife is sustainable and ecologically sound
Trapping replaces and can manage other forms of wildlife mortality, such as starvation and disease
Diverse people and cultures that harvest wildlife feel a deeper connection to the land and develop a strong conservation ethic
Natural fur fibers from abundant furbearer species are more environmentally friendly than other substitutes (sustainable fur harvest with natural fur fibers)
Fur, meat, bones and other parts of the animal can be used

What are Furbearers?

Furbearers are typically animals that can be legally trapped, and the species can vary by state. Common furbearers include skunks, coyotes and bobcats, for example. Thanks to conservation efforts by state wildlife agencies, in cooperation with trappers, many of these furbearer populations are at their highest they’ve been in more than a century. Trapping is important for keeping these numbers in check for the conservation of other wildlife and helping to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.