"It's a difficult but necessary decision. In New Mexico's Gila National Forest, feral cows pose such a threat - both to locals and to biodiversity - that authorities have decided to carry out a massive culling campaign there. Only, in order not to put their personnel in danger, the decision was made to carry out this mission directly from the air, in a helicopter, as reported by CNN journalists. The goal is to slaughter 150 beasts.
Cattle that are accused of attacking hikers and whose trampling would cause erosion and sedimentation of the banks, thus affecting the quality of the water. "The removal of feral livestock from the Gila Wilderness is necessary to protect public safety, the habitats of threatened and endangered species, water quality, and the naturalness of the area," the rangers said. .
These feral cows and bulls have actually been a problem since the 1970s. According to the Forest Service, it was around this time that a farmer decided to abandon his herd in this protected wilderness area, making the cattle wild and dangerous. Also, "the difficult terrain of the forest as well as the 'wild and uncooperative nature of the animals' make the capture of live cattle difficult and dangerous for the animals and humans involved", analyze our colleagues in an attempt to explain the choice of slaughter them from the air.
