Rick Feldman and In Defense of Animals File for Injunction Against Wild Turkey Eradication on Santa Cruz Island

Santa Barbara Businessman and Animal Protection Organization Say Turkey Slaughter Violates APA and NEPA

Santa Cruz Island—In a complaint filed today with the Los Angeles Federal District Court, Rick Feldman and In Defense of Animals (IDA) are asking for a temporary restraining order to halt the brutal slaughter of hundreds of wild turkeys on Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Ventura.

The plaintiffs’ application was based on alleged violations of federal laws by defendants the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy, owners and administrators of Santa Cruz Island. The plaintiffs demonstrated numerous violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), laws designed to protect natural resources by requiring compliance with detailed procedures before beginning projects that have a significant impact on nature.

The suit comes after 250 wild turkeys on the island were killed in December, because, the defendants claim, the birds “were threatening the fox recovery program.” The plaintiffs filed suit in 2005 after thousands of pigs were brutally hunted down and slaughtered on the island for the same reason. According to media reports, the pigs on the island had kept turkey populations in check by competing with them for food and eating their eggs. Since the pig population was decimated, the number of wild turkeys has mushroomed.

The plaintiffs charge that the defendants violated the APA by failing to abide by the procedures mandated by NEPA before deciding to eradicate the wild turkeys on Santa Cruz Island. Specifically, the defendants failed to prepare an environmental impact statement, as required by NEPA, before engaging in the wild turkey eradication program. The defendants also failed to abide by NEPA in neglecting to consider the cumulative impact the eradication of wild turkeys will have on the Santa Cruz Island ecosystem, specifically the bald eagle and island fox reintroduction programs.

“As far as we’re concerned, the defendants inappropriately slaughtered pigs, then rushed to start slaughtering turkeys for the same nonsensical reason without doing an appropriate evaluation of the consequences. Where does it end?” asked Elliot M. Katz, DVM, President of IDA. “These people need to be stopped. They are too quick to wipe out innocent animals while blatantly disregarding both ecological balance and the interests of other species beyond those they decide they want to save.”

“This is yet another example of how the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy operate,” said Rick Feldman. “All of a sudden, with no public notice, we learned on December 19 that the agencies intended to kill an unspecified number of turkeys. This plan lacks scientific merit, a primary requirement of NEPA, and has unintended consequences. The killing goes on and on.”

Read the full complaint filed.