On July 27, Missouri cattle producer Charlie Besher testified before the House Natural Resources Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee in support of the Black Vulture Relief Act. Besher, the chairman of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association's (NCBA) Property Rights and Environmental Management Committee, shared how predatory black vultures take a toll on cattle producers’ livestock and livelihoods.
Originally introduced on March 9 by Rep. John Rose (R-Tennessee) and Rep. Darren Soto (D-Florida), the Black Vulture Relief Act is bipartisan legislation that would allow cattle producers to take vultures without a permit, when there is an immediate need to protect their livestock from injury or death. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues black vulture depredation permits to states, and states issue subpermits to livestock producers. However, these permits only allow for the take of three individual animals per year. Given that black vultures can attack multiple times a month in flocks as large as 50, the NCBA believes current permit numbers are insufficient to address vulture depredation.
Black vultures are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Today, the species numbers some 190 million across the U.S. Even though a growing number of producers lose calves each year to black vulture depredation, the current framework for lethal take is quite restrictive. With the black vulture population continuing to climb, more conflict has arisen between producers and the birds in recent years. They have a reputation for attacking young calves, sometimes even minutes after birth.
“Black vultures play a role in the ecosystem, and cattle producers have no desire to eradicate the species, but to continue managing them under such a restrictive system is ludicrous,” Besher testified. “The species is abundant across the continent and no longer a conservation concern. These birds are extremely vicious predators and their attacks on cattle are devastating, both emotionally and financially. As a cow-calf producer who has invested for years in voluntary conservation in Missouri, I’m proud to testify in support of the commonsense Black Vulture Relief Act. On behalf of NCBA and the thousands of producers who are losing cattle each year to black vultures, I urge Congress to pass this legislation to give farmers and ranchers more tools to protect their livestock.”
