Unintentional cruelty: Are prairie dog relocations worth their mortality?

Spring marks the annual beginning of an increasingly popular non-lethal method of removing unwanted prairie dogs: Relocation of entire segments to more suitable and protected habitat.

But the job isn’t for sissies or the faint of heart, because there is a huge amount of work and preparation involved, with a variety of associated challenges, including potentially fatal consequences for a number of prairie dogs—sometimes even if the job is done by experts.