Idaho Wolf Hunt

[nwfloridafalconfan]

The Bad Old Days Are Back

The wolf is one of the most hated species on the face of the earth, thanks to ignorance, misconception, and propaganda and lies actively created and spread for the purpose of keeping hatred of the animals alive.

By the 1970s, wolves in North America had been hunted to the brink of extinction. Then, in 1974, there came legal protection from the Endangered Species Act. The wolf population of the northern Rocky Mountains increased over the next 35 years. The population now numbers 1645 wolves.

Hundreds of scientists agree that the population needs to grow to 2500 to assure a sufficient gene pool for the health of the entire species. In other areas, where the wolf population is very low, wolves are showing severe physical defects because there simply is not any way for them to avoid inbreeding.

But the wolves have been de-listed from endangered species status. The government thinks that 150 wolves per state in the northern Rocky Mountain region is enough.

And so today the hunting begins. The hatred will be vented via high-powered rifles. And if you think all this isn't based in hatred, you haven't seen the posters people have created, comparing wolves to any and every icon of evil, such as Saddam Hussein.

There is a book, written by someone who actually observed real wolves in their real habitat. You may have heard of this book; it's called Never Cry Wolf, written by Farley Mowat. His extensive observations totally debunked the myth of the wolf as a wanton killer; he revealed the devoted family life of the wolf "pack", which actually is a family unit. The book is oddly hard to find; a search at amazon.com does not easily turn up the current in-print version. The link above will take you to exactly that page.

So with the wolf population nowhere near what it needs to be to be healthy, people are poised once again to ambush and decimate the population, tear apart family units, until the wolf is again on the brink of extinction. With only 1645 wolves across the entire northern Rocky Mountain region, 9000 hunters have bought wolf hunting licenses in Idaho alone.

It is a sad day for both the wolf and man.

[nwfloridafalconfan]

   "I just wanted to beat my buddies to the punch" 

 The wolf hunt in Idaho continues because the judge who has the power to stop it hasn't made up his mind yet. Within hours of the official start of the season, 2 wolves were killed, a female tricked into the open with the sound of a wounded animal, and another who was said to be "harrassing" the hunter's horse.

What makes the wolf hunt so notable is that it is promoted and supported by lies.

Here's one of the lies: "The wolf population in the region has been growing by 20% to 30% every year." Let's look at that number. It's hard to find a hard number for the number of wolves in the region when they were first protected by the Endangered Species Act; some estimates go all the way down to 0. But let's take a very low number: 2. Two wolves, one breeding pair. And let's take the middle of that population growth figure: 25% per year. If that were true, there would be about 5000 wolves in the region, not the 1645 counted recently. Obviously the population has not been growing at the stated rate.

Another lie: "The wolves are wiping out the elk (and other ungulate) populations." This has been distilled into a popular bumper sticker: "Save 100 elk: Kill a wolf". But people with even the slightest knowledge of nature know that wolves do not wipe out their prey populations. They take the old and the sick. Wolves keep the elk populations strong and healthy.

Wolves also eat other animals, not just the big fancy ones that people want to kill themselves. They eat fish; they also eat mice and other rodents. Wolves keep the rodent population under control, thus wolves help farmers.

Shall I keep going? We're supposed to believe that, in Montana, two 80-pound wolves--one of them wounded by a gunshot--killed 120 200-pound rams in one night and --get this-- "piled [them] into a corner" of the pasture. That's an actual quote from the news article in The Missoulian.

But I can make all the arguments I want; the wolf hunt is based on irrationality, fear, and hatred. I don't know how to fight that. I said that yesterday and today I read in the Salt Lake City Tribune that someone with better credentials than I agrees with me:

Western Wildlife Conservancy Director Kirk Robinson called the wolf hunts "expressions of hostility" that aren't based on science.

http://kimbathewhitelion.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

[Donna]

This is very sad...Wolves are beautiful. They want to cull deer and bear here, I think they are all nuts. So sorry about the Wolves.

Donna

[MAK]

I agree with you Donna. They're all  nuts!

[Shaky]

Congrats on your first post, MAK!

[Dot_Forrester]

  I'm very saddened to read about the wolf hunt. Is there anything we can do, like writing letters?

      

Dot in PA

[Judi]

I'm very saddened to read about the wolf hunt. Is there anything we can do, like writing letters?

      

Dot in PA

Yes, Dot, there is something that can be done.  Go to Defenders of Wildlife's web site - www.defenders.org - click on the "take action" button below Ashley Judd's photo.  From there you can send a letter.  You might want to include this link in your letter (it's editable) from National Parks Conservation Association on the over-population of Elk in the hunt area -

http://act.npca.org/npca/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=26145898

Judi

[jeanne]

This sends me into another dimension.  On ABC news tonight, they interviewed some guys who wanted to kill wolves.  One guy said he eats deer and the wolves are competing with him.  Another said it costs a farmer 400 dollars to replace an animal killed by a wolf.

Unlike these idiots, wolves only kill what they and their pack can eat.  They are not killers for the sake of killing.

Wolves are majestic creatures.  I hope they are put back on the endangered species list.  And they will be if these hunters have their way.  This is bad enough but the aerial hunting of wolves in alaska is beyond disgusting

[Carla P]

I agree with Jeanne.  The aerial hunting in Alaska is sick, and made even sicker by then-Governor Sarah Palin's "bounties" for everyone delivering the left front forelegs of wolves.  And now Idaho... it's disgusting.  Sometimes I hate people.  I have always loved wolves, and have thought human families would be a lot better off if we took some lessons from wolf packs.
Dot, Defenders of Wildlife is a fantastic organization, and their fight for wolves is never ending.  Any donation you send will be well spent to carry on this fight.
Carla P.

[Bird Crazy]

the ignorance of the human species makes me sad to be a part of the same gene pool they are in. These types of people are sick and I literally hate them. I love wolves always have, I hope we can get them back to a protected status. 

[MAK]

I couldn't have said it better!     

[Judi]

Below is part of an email notification I received from EarthJustice and their court case requesting an injunction on the wolf hunt:

Here is the latest news on our case to protect the gray wolves of the northern Rockies.


Early this week, our legal team was in a Missoula federal court seeking an injunction to stop the wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana. Idaho's hunt began Tuesday, and Montana's is scheduled to begin September 15.

Our lead attorney on the case, Doug Honnold, made the strongest case possible for immediately halting the hunts: arguing for a population level of 2,000-5,000 wolves to ensure essential connectivity among wolves throughout the northern Rockies, and to create a legal safety net for wolves that prevents states from killing hundreds of wolves. This is occurring because of the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service to remove northern wolves from the protections of the Endangered Species Act.

As of this afternoon, the judge continues to deliberate our request, and we aren't sure when he will rule.

What we do know is that when we previously asked this judge for an injunction to stop wolf hunts, he took a while to decide ... and issued a deliberative, thoughtful opinion that granted our injunction.

Regardless of the outcome, this case is just one part of our larger legal effort to fully reinstate federal protections for the gray wolves of the northern Rockies.

On this point, our goal is clear. We want to see the wolves come off of the endangered species list, but only under conditions that ensure the long-term survival of the species.

If I receive any more updates from either EarthJustice or Defenders, I'll post them...

[Bird Crazy]

Thanks for the info Judi.

[Dot_Forrester]

UPDATE on wolf hunt from MSNBC: A federal judge said Wednesday that gray wolf hunts in the Northern Rockies can go on, denying a request by environmentalists and animal welfare groups to stop the first legal wolf hunts in decades in Idaho and Montana.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said plans to kill about 20 percent of the two states' estimated 1,350 wolves would not cause long-term harm to the population. He said federal biologists had shown the animal could sustain a 30 percent annual reduction without long-term harm. But Molloy added that by carving Wyoming out of the recent decision to remove wolves from federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service appeared to violate the Endangered Species Act by making its decision based on political boundaries.

Doug Honnold, the Earthjustice attorney who had argued the case on behalf of 14 groups opposed to the hunts, had a mixed reaction to the ruling.  "Obviously we're disappointed he did not issue an injunction," Honnold said, but added that the legal battle would continue against Fish and Wildlife. "If they violated the endangered species act, then this population eventually is going have to go back on the (endangered) list," Honnold said.

Hunters in Idaho have so far taken three wolves since wolf season opened there Sept. 1. The state has a quota allowing as many as 220 wolves to be killed. Montana's season is set to begin Sept. 15, with a quota of 75 wolves.

The wolves were removed from the endangered species list in those states just four months ago and after a controversial reintroduction program that started in 1995.  Environmental groups fear there aren't enough state protections in place to maintain their comeback.

"The human population successfully eradicated wolves from this region in the early part of the 20th century, and it would be a true shame after all the efforts that went into recovery if that happened again," said Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice.

How awful!!!
Dot in PA

[MAK]