By keeping wolf numbers at a manageable level, the state will protect ranchers, wildlife and the wolves themselves. Wolf activists argue that wolves have the right to exist in their native territories. This is a reasonable position, but not a reason to disallow wolf hunting. The mindless slaughter activists would have you imagine simply isn't happening. From the three states that currently allow wolf hunting, more than 30, tags were sold in their first year.
Out of those tags issued, fewer than 1, wolves have been killed, proof that hunting and killing a wild wolf isn't as simple as it sounds. Idaho failed to meet its quota in its first year. As you can see, wolf hunts are not nearly as bad as opponents would have you believe.
To put a healthy population of wolves under the protection of the Endangered Species Act is unethical, unreasonable, and frankly unlawful. A policy such as this would force us to reconsider hunting entirely, an engrained human behavior that is beneficial to people and the ecosystem alike. The much-debated decision to reintroduce wolves was the correct choice, just as having a hunting season is the correct and ethical policy.
The Humane Society of the United States is registered as a c 3 non-profit organization. Contributions to The Humane Society of the United States are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. The HSUS's tax identification number is American wolves need to be protected, not hunted By Blog Editor on December 17, with 8 Comments.
Subscribe to the Blog Enter your email address below to receive updates each time we publish new content. William earp says:. December 17, at pm. Tammy Adams says:. December 18, at am. Jordan says:. December 18, at pm. Sharyn White says:. December 19, at am. Daniel O'Brien says:. December 19, at pm. Rebecca Black says:. January 28, at pm. A hunt typically starts with houndsmen driving their dogs around in pickups fitted with dog boxes in the bed, until they see a single set of wolf tracks in the snow crossing the road.
On the side of the wolf is the Ojibwe tribe. The mismanaged hunt has strained relations between the Ojibwe and the state. As they have in the past, the Ojibwe claimed them, but opted to leave them unfilled. Isham sees a double standard at work.
Pressure on Wisconsin regulators to issue as many wolf permits as possible came from a number of interested parties, including farmers and ranchers, who lose stock to wolves every year.
But houndsmen, led by the Wisconsin Bear Hunting Association , have been arguably the most vocal. Some of that animus is undoubtedly personal. Black bear is the most common quarry for trailing hounds, and the bear hunting areas are often prime wolf habitat. As a result, houndsmen have lost dogs to wolves during bear hunting season — about two dozen hounds are killed in a typical year. Adrian Treves, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied wolf-hound conflicts, found that neighboring Michigan, which has stricter hounding regulations, has seen far fewer dogs injured or killed by wolves.
Lighter regulation in Wisconsin means more dogs in the woods, Treves said, which leads to more conflict. As Treves points out, common sense dictates that using hounds to take over wolves inevitably means dogs and wolves fighting one another. Schottel was referring in part to dairy farmers like Ryan Klussendorf of Medford, who told DNR officials at a hearing in January that he often saw wolves stalking the edge of his farm as he worked, looking for easy prey.
In , Wisconsin farmers and ranchers lost a total of 33 cattle, out of roughly 3. The state has set a goal of maintaining a minimum of wolves to avoid a return to federal regulation, a number that has been far exceeded for the last decade. Wolf hunting, from this perspective, is seen as a necessary form of population control.
But that figure was established over 20 years ago, before anyone had any real idea of how many wolves the state could host, said Ralph Henry, an attorney for the Humane Society who has worked on landmark wolf litigation.
Wolf seasons held in and caused the population to dip to , but conversely the lack of a hunting season after did not cause the wolf population to spiral out of control; it has held steady at roughly to 1, wolves for the last five years. This same phenomenon has been observed in Yellowstone national park, where hunting has never been allowed. After wolves were reintroduced there in the mids, the population expanded only until elk numbers began to decline, and then both predator and prey numbers stabilized — in each case at levels that likely varied little from the end of the last ice age until the time that the first fur trappers reached western Wyoming, when the rapid decline in wolves caused elk numbers to skyrocket.
So why hunt wolves? After decades of rancorous debate , wildlife officials have learned that wolf management is less about finding a balance between predator and prey than it is about how many predators people who live and work in their habitat will tolerate.
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