Predator Defense
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Protecting vital native predators & ending war on wildlife.
- Income
- $175,385
- Spending
- $217,230
- Reserves
- 6.3 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 100%
- Highest pay
- $145,000, executive director
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 63 out of 100. Higher than 33% of charities in its peer group (animals, under $250k).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.3 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 16% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 24% of income.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $174,086 spent. GENERAL: Ongoing nationwide advocacy, litigation, and public outreach to end America's brutal, unscientific and counter-productive war on essential native predators--wolves, coyotes, cougars, bears, bobcats, and more. We work with the public, media, elected officials, state and federal wildlife agency personnel, and environmental/conservation groups to stop the wrongful maligning, persecuting and killing of native predators. This has become even more urgent, due to the extinction crisis. We promote science-based evidence that management of native predators via killing is counter-productive and provide common-sense approaches for people to co-exist with wildlife. Specific work includes: Joining litigation to protect native predators. Collaborating with researchers, groups, governmental agencies, elected officials and others to improve our ability to reform policies and promote non-lethal predator control solutions. Collaborating with wildlife scientists to share results of their research to a broader audience. Working with journalists on in-depth articles and features. Engaging, educating, and galvanizing the public to action on the issues via social media, email, and print communications. Working with people who have been injured or lost pets to traps and poisons used in wildlife "management." Fielding volumes of calls and emails requesting expertise on predator-related issues. Contributing to documentaries, educational programs, public meetings, and conferences.
- $9,685 spent. ENDING PREDATOR KILLING: BANNING WILDLIFE TRAPS & POISONS: In 2024 we followed up on our prior work creating a West Coast free of M-44 cyanide bombs and our historic 2023 victory banning them on the 245 million acres of public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. We expanded our push by asking federal officials for an M-44 ban on the U.S. Forest Service's 193 million acres of public lands. In this process we learned that-thanks to all our nonstop pressure over the years-quietly, behind the scenes, no M-44s had been deployed by USDA Wildlife Services on Forest Service lands since 2021. Wildlife Services was also currently prohibited from any M-44 activity other than removing devices, including on private lands, via a 2024 appropriations bill. This was incredible news, but is not a permanent ban, not all devices have been removed, and the ban can be undone by Congress. So we continue working to support federal legislation to ban M-44s on all federal, state and local public lands. This remains a public safety issue, as even those who don't care about wildlife do care about their children and their dogs. STOPPING USDA WILDLIFE SERVICES: Continued our ongoing work to expose USDA Wildlife Services' barbaric wildlife-killing programs methods as counterproductive measures that ignore the best-available science and unnecessarily kill thousands of coyotes and other wild animals without examining implications and damage. Their program costs far exceed the financial losses of livestock interests and are cruel, nonselective and dangerous to the public and pets. This work primarily entails social media outreach, coalition-building with other groups, and fielding queries from the media and public. ALLAYING PUBLIC CONCERNS ABOUT PREDATORS: We continued our longstanding tradition of responding to wild-life calls from the public, primarily about sightings of wolves, bears, cougars, coyotes and bobcats. We are generally able to allay their safety concerns by providing advice. We'll never know the number of animals saved from deaths that would have occurred if wildlife agencies became involved, but believe it to be significant.
- $11,129 spent. WOLF PROTECTION - In 2024 we continued supporting the legal push to protect wolves in the Western U.S. We joined in as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's determination that the roughly 2,700 gray wolves in the western U.S.-which represents an effective population of roughly 243 in terms of genetic diversity-are not threatened by small populations size, limited connectivity, high levels of human-caused mortality, a significant amount of lost historic range, and other cumulative threats. The case is moving forward, with a hearing and decision expected in 2025. In April 2024 we called for a boycott of Wyoming after the state grabbed international headlines, due to a resident who ran down a wolf with his snowmobile and tortured her for hours before killing her. The only punishment the state administered was a fine of $250. We urged Wyoming to do the right thing--severely punish him for animal cruelty and utterly reform their barbaric wildlife policies. They have not yet taken meaningful action, so we continued to press, urging the public to join. Their response was massive-both live via hearings and via social media-but so far Wyoming has refused to reform their policies.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since March 1995.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.