To Report Wild Turkeys or Not, DEM and Animal Rights Advocate Split

To Report Wild Turkeys or Not, DEM and Animal Rights Advocate Split

RI Department of Environmental Management is asking the public to report when they see wild turkeys. The state agency says the reports help with research.

But, one of Rhode Island’s leading animal rights advocates Dennis Tabella is calling on Rhode Islanders not to assist DEM.

Tabella has taken to Facebook and writes, “The RI Department of Environmental Management is asking you to report turkey sightings again. DEM stocks turkeys for hunters to kill. Day you really want to help hunters to kill turkeys?”

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Tabella heads Defenders of Animals whose mission is to "defend the inalienable rights of both companion animals and wildlife through education, legal and legislative activism."

DEM says, "DEM's turkey restoration program, which ran from 1980 to 1996, resulted in increased opportunities for the public to see and hunt wild turkeys. The restoration project released wild trapped birds that established new turkey flocks in Exeter, Burrillville, Little Compton, West Greenwich, Foster, Scituate, and Tiverton. Restoration of the wild turkey was funded by state hunting license fees and the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration program."

Currently, DEM is evaluating the state's wild turkey population, which is believed to be growing based on the number of young reaching maturity and an increase in harvests reported during the spring hunting season that ended last month. The 2019 spring harvest was 270 birds, an increase of 42% from the 190 taken during the 2018 season. The 80-bird increase is likely due to the spring season bag limit being increased from one to two birds.        

Information gathered from the public is helpful in determining the number of young birds that survive after common causes of mortality such as predators, weather, and road kill are considered. DEM’s Division of Fish & Wildlife receives hundreds of brood reports annually that assist biologists with monitoring recruitment, population dynamics, and distribution of the wild turkey flock in Rhode Island.

“Results from this survey allow biologists to determine wild turkey productivity and reproductive success by estimating the average number of turkey poults per hen, assessing annual fluctuations in the turkey population, gauging reproductive success from year to year, and recruitment of new birds into the fall population,” said Jenny Kilburn, a gamebird biologist in DEM’s Division of Fish & Wildlife. “Rhode Island has a healthy population of turkeys and this data helps us ensure it stays this way.”

The public is encouraged to report sightings of hens with or without broods via a brief online survey; participants should record the date, location, and the total number of hens and poults seen.