US cull kills 19 feral cattle in New Mexico

Nineteen feral cattle have been shot from a helicopter by federal employees in a New Mexico wilderness area in a cull opposed by ranchers and criticised by the state’s governor, reported Reuters. The US Forest Service (USFS) said the three-day operation was the most efficient way to stop the undomesticated animals destroying endangered species' habitats and menacing hikers in the Gila Wilderness of southwest New Mexico. Ranchers tried to block the cull in court saying it was inhumane and could mistakenly kill privately owned cattle that had strayed after breaking through fences. An animal welfare group called for a roundup and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the USFS failed to engage with locals over the issue. The aerial shoot, the second in as many years, targeted an estimated 150 stray or unbranded cows but four sweeps over the Gila's mountains and canyons found a fraction of that number, the USFS said. “Ground-based and aerial removal efforts since October 2021 ...