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Government agrees to halt use of cyanide traps in Colorado

Government agrees to halt use of cyanide traps in Colorado
Posted at 1:14 PM, Nov 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-06 18:17:44-05

The Latest on a lawsuit seeking to stop the use of cyanide traps to kill predators in Colorado (all times local):

3:30 p.m.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman says the agency no longer uses cyanide traps to kill predators on public lands in Colorado, but it still uses them on private lands.

An agreement with environmentalists approved Monday by a federal judge prohibits the use of the traps on Colorado public lands pending further study.

Agriculture Department spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa says the devices are no longer used on federal or state lands despite an agency study from January that suggested they were allowable on state land.

Public pressure to ban them nationwide has increased since an Idaho teenager was injured and his dog killed by one of the traps in March.

Stuart Wilcox with WildEarth Guardians, which wants to ban cyanide traps nationwide, says he's skeptical of the claim they are not being used on public lands in Colorado.

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12:15 a.m.

U.S. officials have agreed to stop using predator-killing cyanide traps on Colorado public lands amid pressure to ban the devices nationwide after one injured an Idaho teenager and killed his dog.

Court documents filed Monday show the U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to stop using "cyanide bombs" pending further study. A judge must approve the agreement.

The groups WildEarth Guardians and Center for Biological Diversity sued the government in April alleging cyanide traps meant to protect livestock from predators can kill indiscriminately.

An agreement is pending in a separate lawsuit challenging the devices' use nationwide.

A ban on the traps already was in place in Idaho when a 14-year-old boy triggered one near his home in March. They remain in use elsewhere to kill thousands of coyotes and other predators annually.