85% of Wolves Could be Killed in Idaho
In 2009, the Idaho wolf hunt planned for killing just 220. So how could an annual wolf hunt quota go from 200 to 800 or more in just two years? One might assume their overall population increased, but it actually declined in 2010. So there doesn't appear to be a valid answer for planning to kill so many extra wolves compared to the hunt in 2009. It could be simply antipathy for wolves, as typified by Idaho's governor Butch Otter, 'We didn't want them here at all'. (Source: MTexpress.com)
Notice the governor was quoted as saying there were 1,700 wolves, but that was likely 700 too many for Idaho.
Presumably some of the Idaho wolf population are pups that will either be killed outright or die of starvation when their mothers are killed in the hunts. If you don't believe it is possible for pups to die from the hunt, consider the fact mountain lion kittens have already died in a South Dakota hunt. Also research has shown the number of wolves killed in hunts is probably too high and has a more negative effect on the whole population than has been assumed.
One of the main reasons for some people wanting wolf hunts is their belief that all wolves kill livestock. It is typically just a small percentage of the whole wolf population that kills them, however. In other words, hunting and killing all the wolves in a population isn't sensible, because many of the wolves that are eliminated never injured or killed any livestock.
"Wolves in wilderness areas don't kill livestock, it's the wolves on the edge in agricultural areas. Do hunters want to hunt in farmland? I'm not sure," said Adrian Treves, a University of Wisconson-Madison professor. (Source: UW-Madison) Also, many farmers are compensated for their livestock losses due to wolf attacks, so some farmers aren't losing as much as they claim.
The Idaho and Montana wolf hunts are being allowed not because of sound science. It was just politics that allowed a rider to be attached to a budget bill, and the rider removed endangered species protections for the wolves, "The rule had been declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in August 2010, but the rider overturned that decision in May 2011 when President Barack Obama signed the budget bill." (Source: MTexpress.com)
Predators play an important role in managing the populations of other animals in their ecosystems. When predators are reduced too much, an ecosystem can become unbalanced and unhealthy. If the free value predators provide to ecosystems isn't a convincing enough reason to respect their lives, consider the fact wolves generate over thirty million dollars a year for Yellowstone National Park.
In Montana a quota of 220 wolf kills has been set, with more than 2,000 wolf hunting licenses sold already.
A draft Wyoming Game and Fish plan would give officials broad authority to kill wolves that upset elk feeding, prey on livestock, damage property or cause economic damage.
The plan also would require state officials to maintain a "recovered, stable and sustainable" population of the predators that numbers at least 100 in 10 packs. Wyoming would commit to monitoring wolf genetics and would allow migration of at least one wolf into the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population each generation — about four years.
Wolves were transplanted to Yellowstone in 1995 under the act and have flourished to the point there are an estimated 19 packs and 230 wolves in Wyoming outside Yellowstone.
The plan creates the Wyoming Trophy Game Management Area — about 12 percent of the state's total area — in the northwest corner of Wyoming. Wolves would be hunted there by license during a hunting season.
Elsewhere they would be classified as predators and could be killed by any means at any time.
The plan gives managers tools to kill or hunt wolves to preserve elk and other ungulate numbers.
For example, hunting seasons may be extended to "realize hunting quotas that are not significantly filled during the proposed hunting season, reduce wolf populations in areas where they are causing unacceptable impacts to ungulate herds, alleviate predation and/or conflicts at state-operated elk feedgrounds, or reduce wolf populations in areas that experience persistent livestock depredation," the document states.
An unacceptable impact is defined as "any decline in a wild ungulate population or herd that results in the population or herd not meeting the state population management goals or recruitment levels established for the population or herd," the document states.
Wolves also could be killed or targeted by hunting regulation if they disrupt feeding on any of the 22 state feedgrounds located in the proposed trophy game area.
"The department may take wolves that displace elk from feedgrounds in the Wyoming Trophy Game Management Area if it results in one of the following conflicts: damage to private stored crops; elk co-mingling with domestic livestock; or displacement of elk from feedgrounds onto highway right of way causing human safety concerns," according to the document.
Wildlife managers can also kill wolves to minimize economic impacts. "The economic impacts in all areas occupied by wolves in Wyoming should be minimal and manageable while wolves are under state management," the document states. "If not, management actions will be taken to minimize impacts while ensuring management objectives are met."
The draft plan's authors estimated wolves could have reduced revenue from hunters if projections before they were restored proved correct. Those projections could have resulted in "annual revenue losses of $232,000 to $465,000 from reduced license sales and losses of $207,000 to $414,000 from additional hunter expenditures," according to the document.Game and Fish could not document if the prediction came true, however.
"To date there are no definitive data showing a decrease in hunter harvest or opportunity due to wolf predation on elk or moose in Wyoming," the plan says.
As for livestock losses, from 1995 to 2010, Wyoming lost "at least 478 cattle, 482 sheep, 29 dogs and 15 'other' livestock," the document states.
The plan allows people to kill wolves actively engaged in destruction of property.
Once wolves are removed from Endangered Species Act protection, the state would commit to 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs. Including the Yellowstone and the Wind River Indian Reservation wolves would be managed for 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs.
The document prohibits state officials from managing wolves if the population drops below a point that would require them to again be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Hunters both inside and outside the predator zone would be required to report their wolf kills and provide body parts from the kill within a certain time.
People who wish to comment on the draft Gray Wolf Management Plan can write to Wolf Plan Comments, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 5400 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82006. People can also submit comments by fax to 307-777-4650. Comments are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 9.
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Wolves and elk
Much discussion has centered on the effect of wolves on Wyoming's elk herds. The draft state wolf plan and the 2011 Big Game Management Information Summary offer some insight to the debate.
The elk population statewide in 2010 was above objective. Game and Fish figures show a census of 104,912 animals last year, more than 21,200 animals above the objective of 83,640.
The census total does not include eight of the state's 35 herd units for which the department did not have or provide data. The statewide objective of 83,640 is for all 35 herds.
Most herd units meet or exceed population objectives. Nearly 49 percent of elk herd units in the state are above objective, about 23 percent are at objective and about 6 percent are below objective. "At objective" means within 10 percent of the Game and Fish goal. Data is unavailable for about 23 percent of herd units.
Biologists estimate wolves kill about 1 percent of the Jackson Elk Herd a year, according to the document. The herd numbered 11,976 last winter.
However, local wildlife managers are worried about the ratio of calf-to-cow elk in some local herd segments, especially in the Gros Ventre. There, officials say, ratios have dipped below 25, the level needed to sustain the desired population.(desired rather than sustainable for the land--blogger Rick)
. Wildlife managers are particularly worried about the impact of wolves on moose in the Jackson Hole area."Research conducted in other elk-moose-wolf systems suggests that wolf predation may significantly reduce the populations of alternative prey that exist at lower population densities than elk, such as moose and caribou," the document says.
Conservationists are asking an appeals court to stop the wolf hunts in Idaho that could kill an unprecedented number of wolves. It has been reported that Idaho's wolf hunt would have no upper limit on the number of wolves that can be shot and killed, and would be open from August 30-March 31.
It also would allow trapping wolves using devices that can kill them by snaring them around the neck and cutting of their air supply.
If the whole Idaho population is reduced from about 1,000 to 150, there would be over an eighty percent drop due to the hunting and trapping there.
An attorney for a conservation group said, "Idaho could easily shoot 90 percent of the wolves that are currently there before the 9th Circuit could decide the case." (Source: MTexpress.com)
Notice the governor was quoted as saying there were 1,700 wolves, but that was likely 700 too many for Idaho.
Presumably some of the Idaho wolf population are pups that will either be killed outright or die of starvation when their mothers are killed in the hunts. If you don't believe it is possible for pups to die from the hunt, consider the fact mountain lion kittens have already died in a South Dakota hunt. Also research has shown the number of wolves killed in hunts is probably too high and has a more negative effect on the whole population than has been assumed.
One of the main reasons for some people wanting wolf hunts is their belief that all wolves kill livestock. It is typically just a small percentage of the whole wolf population that kills them, however. In other words, hunting and killing all the wolves in a population isn't sensible, because many of the wolves that are eliminated never injured or killed any livestock.
"Wolves in wilderness areas don't kill livestock, it's the wolves on the edge in agricultural areas. Do hunters want to hunt in farmland? I'm not sure," said Adrian Treves, a University of Wisconson-Madison professor. (Source: UW-Madison) Also, many farmers are compensated for their livestock losses due to wolf attacks, so some farmers aren't losing as much as they claim.
The Idaho and Montana wolf hunts are being allowed not because of sound science. It was just politics that allowed a rider to be attached to a budget bill, and the rider removed endangered species protections for the wolves, "The rule had been declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in August 2010, but the rider overturned that decision in May 2011 when President Barack Obama signed the budget bill." (Source: MTexpress.com)
Predators play an important role in managing the populations of other animals in their ecosystems. When predators are reduced too much, an ecosystem can become unbalanced and unhealthy. If the free value predators provide to ecosystems isn't a convincing enough reason to respect their lives, consider the fact wolves generate over thirty million dollars a year for Yellowstone National Park.
In Montana a quota of 220 wolf kills has been set, with more than 2,000 wolf hunting licenses sold already.
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Elk to star in Wyoming wolf plan
State commits to 'recovered, stable and sustainable' population.
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
A draft Wyoming Game and Fish plan would give officials broad authority to kill wolves that upset elk feeding, prey on livestock, damage property or cause economic damage.
The plan also would require state officials to maintain a "recovered, stable and sustainable" population of the predators that numbers at least 100 in 10 packs. Wyoming would commit to monitoring wolf genetics and would allow migration of at least one wolf into the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population each generation — about four years.
Wolves were transplanted to Yellowstone in 1995 under the act and have flourished to the point there are an estimated 19 packs and 230 wolves in Wyoming outside Yellowstone.
The plan creates the Wyoming Trophy Game Management Area — about 12 percent of the state's total area — in the northwest corner of Wyoming. Wolves would be hunted there by license during a hunting season.
Elsewhere they would be classified as predators and could be killed by any means at any time.
The plan gives managers tools to kill or hunt wolves to preserve elk and other ungulate numbers.
For example, hunting seasons may be extended to "realize hunting quotas that are not significantly filled during the proposed hunting season, reduce wolf populations in areas where they are causing unacceptable impacts to ungulate herds, alleviate predation and/or conflicts at state-operated elk feedgrounds, or reduce wolf populations in areas that experience persistent livestock depredation," the document states.
An unacceptable impact is defined as "any decline in a wild ungulate population or herd that results in the population or herd not meeting the state population management goals or recruitment levels established for the population or herd," the document states.
Wolves also could be killed or targeted by hunting regulation if they disrupt feeding on any of the 22 state feedgrounds located in the proposed trophy game area.
"The department may take wolves that displace elk from feedgrounds in the Wyoming Trophy Game Management Area if it results in one of the following conflicts: damage to private stored crops; elk co-mingling with domestic livestock; or displacement of elk from feedgrounds onto highway right of way causing human safety concerns," according to the document.
Wildlife managers can also kill wolves to minimize economic impacts. "The economic impacts in all areas occupied by wolves in Wyoming should be minimal and manageable while wolves are under state management," the document states. "If not, management actions will be taken to minimize impacts while ensuring management objectives are met."
The draft plan's authors estimated wolves could have reduced revenue from hunters if projections before they were restored proved correct. Those projections could have resulted in "annual revenue losses of $232,000 to $465,000 from reduced license sales and losses of $207,000 to $414,000 from additional hunter expenditures," according to the document.Game and Fish could not document if the prediction came true, however.
"To date there are no definitive data showing a decrease in hunter harvest or opportunity due to wolf predation on elk or moose in Wyoming," the plan says.
As for livestock losses, from 1995 to 2010, Wyoming lost "at least 478 cattle, 482 sheep, 29 dogs and 15 'other' livestock," the document states.
The plan allows people to kill wolves actively engaged in destruction of property.
Once wolves are removed from Endangered Species Act protection, the state would commit to 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs. Including the Yellowstone and the Wind River Indian Reservation wolves would be managed for 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs.
The document prohibits state officials from managing wolves if the population drops below a point that would require them to again be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Hunters both inside and outside the predator zone would be required to report their wolf kills and provide body parts from the kill within a certain time.
People who wish to comment on the draft Gray Wolf Management Plan can write to Wolf Plan Comments, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 5400 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82006. People can also submit comments by fax to 307-777-4650. Comments are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 9.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Wolves and elk
Much discussion has centered on the effect of wolves on Wyoming's elk herds. The draft state wolf plan and the 2011 Big Game Management Information Summary offer some insight to the debate.
The elk population statewide in 2010 was above objective. Game and Fish figures show a census of 104,912 animals last year, more than 21,200 animals above the objective of 83,640.
The census total does not include eight of the state's 35 herd units for which the department did not have or provide data. The statewide objective of 83,640 is for all 35 herds.
Most herd units meet or exceed population objectives. Nearly 49 percent of elk herd units in the state are above objective, about 23 percent are at objective and about 6 percent are below objective. "At objective" means within 10 percent of the Game and Fish goal. Data is unavailable for about 23 percent of herd units.
Biologists estimate wolves kill about 1 percent of the Jackson Elk Herd a year, according to the document. The herd numbered 11,976 last winter.
However, local wildlife managers are worried about the ratio of calf-to-cow elk in some local herd segments, especially in the Gros Ventre. There, officials say, ratios have dipped below 25, the level needed to sustain the desired population.(desired rather than sustainable for the land--blogger Rick)
. Wildlife managers are particularly worried about the impact of wolves on moose in the Jackson Hole area."Research conducted in other elk-moose-wolf systems suggests that wolf predation may significantly reduce the populations of alternative prey that exist at lower population densities than elk, such as moose and caribou," the document says.
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