It is hard to blame wild animals for encroaching on highly populated urban areas; afterall, it was their land first. This is especially true in desert regions where wildlife can have difficulty finding sources of sustenance. Wild animals that dwell in desert regions, like coyotes and javelinas, are lured into urban areas by the relatively greater abundance of food and water. When wild animals are strongly drawn to urban areas in this manner, they can be very difficult to control. It is also important that wild animal populations be controlled with humane measures. For government-employed animal control workers, simply shooting wild animals dead is not an option, but apparently, shooting wild animals with paintball guns is an option. If you think that working as an animal control officer in Tucson, Arizona sounds boring, you may change your mind after learning that wildlife populations in the city will become targets for paintballs.
For those who love paintballing, and have always had a desire to work with wildlife, then being an animal control officer in Arizona may be the ideal job. Due to a series of coyote and javelina sightings in the Tucson area, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has recently adopted a zero tolerance policy concerning wildlife that invade urban areas. While some may consider the use of paintball guns to be inhumane, the wildlife department is not concerned. According to Mark Hart, Public Information Officer for Arizona Game and Fish, paintball guns have been approved by the Humane Society as an acceptable instrument for wildlife control. Of course, paintball guns are non-lethal, for the most part anyway, and they will only inflict a pronounced sting that leaves behind a welt. The use of paintball guns in this case will also help animal control officers to estimate the size of the wildlife population. If coyotes and javelinas are spotted with one or several paintball stains, then they can gain a better idea concerning the number of wild animals that are a threat to Tucson residents.
Do you think that shooting wildlife with paintball guns for population control purposes is inhumane?
