AHPC Study Examines Public Perspectives on Furbearer Management

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is considering how it manages wildlife species classified as “furbearers,” including bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, mink, pine martens, badgers, red foxes, gray foxes, swift foxes, Western spotted skunks, striped skunks, beavers, muskrats, long-tailed weasels, short-tailed weasels, opossums, and ring-tailed cats.

The Animal Human Policy Center conducted a survey of 534 Colorado residents recruited via Prolific survey company and weighted to be representative of the Colorado public.

• We found that respondents were generally supportive of implementing bag limits for furbearer harvest and that 69% believed that a daily bag limit between 0 and 2 would be most reasonable. 
• Overall, 63% of respondents indicated that their trust in Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) would increase if the agency implemented a daily bag limit of one animal per species, compared with 41% if the daily bag limit were eight animals. 
• More than three quarters of respondents reported that their trust in CPW would increase if the agency 1) developed and enforced rules that ensure animals in traps are killed humanely, 2) required all hunters and trappers to report the number of furbearers they kill in a season to aid in population monitoring, and 3) developed management plans for each furbearer species that incorporate the best available science and the diversity of public values related to that species.

Read the full report here: AHPC Report Public Perspectives on Furbearer Management