In 1999, after pressure from the European Union, an Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) that would result in the banning of the steel-jawed leghold traps in the European Community, Canada, and Russia was signed. The United States implemented these standards through an Agreed Minute with the European Community. Over the last two decades, scientists have criticized the AIHTS for (1) omitting species that are commonly trapped; (2) threshold levels of trap acceptance that are not representative of state-of-the-art trap technology; (3) excluding popular traps which are commonly used by trappers although they are known to cause prolonged pain and stress to captured animals; (4) inadequate coverage of capture efficiency and species selectivity (i.e., number of captures of target and non-target species) performance. Concerns about the ability of standards and test procedures to ensure animal welfare, and about the implementation of standards, have also been voiced by wildlife biologists, managers, and conservation groups. In this review, we present a synopsis of current trapping standards and test procedures, and we compare the standards to a then contemporary 1985–1993 Canadian trap research and development program. On the basis of the above-noted concerns about AIHTS, and our experience as wildlife professionals involved in the capture of mammals, we formulated the following hypotheses: (1) the list of mammal species included in the AIHTS is incomplete; (2) the AIHTS have relatively low animal welfare performance thresholds of killing trap acceptance and do not reflect state-of-the-art trapping technology; (3) the AIHTS animal welfare indicators and injuries for restraining traps are insufficient; (4) the AIHTS testing procedures are neither thorough nor transparent; (5) the AIHTS protocols for the use of certified traps are inadequate; (6) the AIHTS procedures for the handling and dispatching of animals are nonexistent; (7) the AIHTS criteria to assess trap capture efficiency and species selectivity are inappropriate. We conclude that the AIHTS do not reflect state-of-the-art trapping technology, and assessment protocols need to be updated to include trap components and sets, animal handling and dispatching, and trap visit intervals. The list of traps and species included in the standards should be updated. Finally, the concepts of capture efficiency and trap selectivity should be developed and included in the standards. Based on our review, it is clear that mammal trapping standards need to be revisited to implement state-of-the-art trapping technology and improve capture efficiency and species selectivity. We believe that a committee of international professionals consisting of wildlife biologists and veterinarians with extensive experience in the capture of mammals and animal welfare could produce new standards within 1–2 years. We propose a series of measures to fund trap testing and implement new standards.

Although predation bounty programs (rewards offered for capturing or killing an animal) ended more than 40 years ago in Canada, they were reintroduced in Alberta in 2007 by hunting, trapping, and farming organizations, municipalities and counties, and in 2009 in Saskatchewan, by municipal and provincial governments and the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association. Bounty hunters use inhumane and non-selective killing methods such as shooting animals in non-vital regions, and killing neck snares and strychnine poisoning, which cause suffering and delayed deaths. They are unselective, and kill many non-target species, some of them at risk. Predator bounty programs have been found to be ineffective by wildlife professionals, and they use killing methods that cause needless suffering and jeopardize wildlife conservation programs. Our analysis therefore indicates that government agencies should not permit the implementation of bounty programs. Accordingly, they must develop conservation programs that will minimize wildlife-human conflicts, prevent the unnecessary and inhumane killing of animals, and ensure the persistence of all wildlife species.

In this review, we make the point that current checking times for killing traps and snares are inadequate or nonexistent in most North American jurisdictions. We use Conibear 120 rotating-jaw traps and killing neck snares as examples of trapping devices that may fail to consistently and humanely kill furbearers. Because these killing devices are not powerful enough for the target species, the trigger systems do not properly position the animals in traps, or trappers are inexperienced and improperly set traps or snares, these killing devices become restraining devices, and animals suffer long and painful deaths. Because trappers use a variety of trigger configurations and trap sets, all killing devices, even those certified by trapper organizations or governments, should be monitored at least once every 24 h on traplines, but preferably every 12 h, because one cannot know a priori whether traps will strike animals in appropriate locations for a quick kill. However, when using trapping devices such as killing neck snares that are legal and allowed by government agencies despite being inhumane, trappers should check them every 12 h. When traplines are situated near urban areas, e.g., within 10 km, checks should be done every 12 h to release pets and non-target animals.

According to the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS), which was signed by the European Community, Canada, and Russia in 1997, killing devices used for the capture of canids and other fur-bearing nonhuman animals should render an animal irreversibly unconscious within 300 s. However, killing neck snares are not included in the agreement. In this commentary, a parallel is drawn between injuries caused by steel-jawed leghold traps, which have been banned by the AIHTS signatory countries, and killing neck snares to demonstrate that these snares should also be included in international humane trapping standards (i.e., AIHTS). Previous scientific investigations have shown that neither manual nor power-killing neck snares can consistently render canids unconscious rapidly. Animals caught in killing neck snares suffer injuries that are similar to or worse than those reported for leg-captured canids. The authors strongly recommend that AIHTS be modified to include killing neck snares and that such devices be subject to the criteria applied to other trapping devices. Alternative restraining trapping devices, which are effective and more humane, are available for capturing wild canids.

To reduce predation on a woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population threatened by industrial disturbance, a recent study in Alberta (Canada) used strychnine baits to kill wolves (Canis lupus). Strychnine should not be used to control wolves because it is: (1) inhumane; (2) in contravention of animal welfare guidelines; and (3) non-selective.