Wildlife
Animals need access to the full range of their habitats.
Wild animals enjoy few legal protections under either state or local laws.
At both the state and federal level, the key laws protecting wildlife are those governing when and where hunting is permitted. Some states have also begun to prosecute people who commit acts of cruelty against wild animals.
A handful of other federal wildlife laws are in effect. These include the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But these laws protect only a small number of animals, and even for these animals the protections are not robust.
Wild animals experience pain and pleasure just the same as the dogs and cats who share our homes, and who enjoy far more expansive legal protections. Wild animals also play a key role in our environment and ecosystem. And they are affected by all facets of human behavior: where we build, and what we do on developed land.
Factory farming not only affects the lives of the nine billion animals a year who are raised for food, but also the wild animals who drink from bodies of water and live on the land polluted by these agricultural activities.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is dedicated to pursuing better legal protection for wildlife.
Wildlife Services killed more than 2.2 million animals in 2019.
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
End Wildlife Services’ War on Wildlife
Millions of native wild animals, including coyotes, mountain lions, and bears, are targeted and killed by Wildlife Services. Tell Wildlife Services to stop using your tax dollars to slaughter animals by signing our petition.
Related Cases
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Urging FWS to Create a Robust Permitting and Enforcement Scheme to Protect Migratory Birds and Eagles used in Exhibition
Submitted comments in response to FWS request on July 3, 2023
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Challenging the Government’s Fatal Mismanagement of Protected Tule Elk
Gescheidt v. National Park Service
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Challenging USDA Redaction of Geese Culling Contract
Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Looking for case and legal resources? View Resources
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California: Help protect animals from dangerous rodenticides!
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Argentine Court Declares Cougar a “Subject of Rights”
Argentine court has declared a cougar to be a “subject of rights,” providing for her “total freedom” while — in a move noted by some to be contradictory — also granting custody of her to the Buenos Aires Eco-park.August 3, 2023 Animal Law Update
