Stymied by a legal technicality in it’s effort to manage the overpopulation of wolves the Idaho fish and game department is planning on an aerial cull of the Lolo pack and others as they develop plans suitable for other game management units.
Sarah Palin's support of wolf culling by aircraft in her role as Governor of Alaska drew the ire of animal rights and anti hunting groups during her 08 run for vice president.
Aerial killing of wolves is less controversial amongst wildlife managers where it is seen as a tool to use when use of hunters or other methods aren't effective.
An anathema to many, aerial killing of wolves is usually carried out by people who would rather be watching sports on TV or maybe sipping a cold one, certainly no one wakes up in the morning with a desire to go wipe out a wolf pack.
One time while working in Idaho I fell into a discussion with a helicopter pilot who had taken part in such a cull. He was describing what happened somewhere else, I don’t remember if it was Canada or the Alaska. He was working for Rocky Mountain out of Provo, but I’ve no idea who he was working for at the time of that contract. Pilots back then moved around.
When they located the pack and started shooting individual wolves with buck shot the pack took off down hill through the deep snow with the alpha pair in front, they were high in the mountains. They had the doors off on a Hughes 500, a pretty good aircraft for the mountains and working close to tall trees. He flew sideways down the mountain keeping up with the pack and affording the shooter on his side, shots on the last wolves in the pack, turning the aircraft to the other side when one shooter needed to reload.
The spring snow was deep and the alpha pair was fairly tired by the time they shot them. They were the last ones killed. Said his altimeter was 2000 feet lower than when they started out.
My friend said shooting that pack left him with a pretty bad feeling, especially the lead wolves. It was a couple years after the fact when he told the story and it’s stuck with me all this time. It was more than 25 years ago that he told me and I still remember. My friend was certainly no softy. He was in the war for two tours, flew a Cobra if you can figure out what that entails.
638 headed downhill over Snake River Range Idaho 1982 photo either by Tim D. or Scott L. who probably don't want their name on the net.
So now probably some fish and game employees have to go do the job. Good luck with that. I wouln't think those folks like going out and shooting wolves either.
So how'd we get here?
This week 13 states and 3 Canadian Provinces headed up by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources asked Secretary of the Interior to delist wolves.
In an Op Ed to the LA times today Tom Strickland assistant secretary of the Interior for fish and wildlife and parks said.
"Throughout all of the legal wrangling, one truth has remained constant. The wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountains has flourished, topping even the most optimistic predictions made when the recovery project started. In 2009, the region contained more than 1,700 wolves in 242 packs. In fact, the population has exceeded recovery goals for nine consecutive years, a staggering achievement for conservation and proof that the Endangered Species Act can protect and return populations to health under very difficult conditions. Yet here we are, with the wolf headed back onto the endangered species list."
LA Times
Read the whole thing, one of the best essays on the current state of wolf I've read.
An unamed congressman said,
Years of research, dedicated efforts by land owners and local officials, and the expert opinions of on-the-ground wildlife managers have been given a back seat to profit-motivated environmental groups.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/...
I wouldn't assume to know peoples motivations. But some seem unequal to facing up to the fact that wolves are going to be shot. Populations of all large animals are controlled very carefully by wildlife biologists. There are many tools in the wildlife biologists toolkit, and one of the most accurate for over population is the managed hunt. Wolves simply multiply much too fast for any other method.
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It's often the case that the unborn fetus and the head or nose of the cow are eaten and the rest left. Why, I've no idea. Image off the web
Telephone interview with Idaho deputy directors of Fish and Game. Nice wall hanging behind them. In fairness all Fish and Wildlife offices are usually decorated similarly. In the course of thier work they have many opportunities to get free swag.
Quite the difference from the photos I often see of people exchanging mouth kisses with pet wolves. Yuck! Image off the web
Two more things that asssitant secretary Strickland said really resonated with me. I care about and respect all animals, doglike or not, even with bloody mouths.
Some say keeping all of the Northern Rockies gray wolves on the endangered list is a good thing. However, eternal "protection" of that sort was never the goal of the Endangered Species Act. The continued inclusion of this wolf population on the endangered list diverts our limited resources from other species that are truly endangered.
Keeping the wolf on the list also undermines the credibility of the Endangered Species Act and the trust that the American people have in it. When success has been achieved, we need to honor that success and keep the promise of the act: that the list is a temporary way station on the road to recovery for endangered species, not a final destination.
There might well be a much less loveable species that is seriously endangered, as in, no more in the world. And that species might have unkown benefits to other as yet unendangered species. By diverting huge amounts of resources just to deal with what is at heart a well understood, robustly populated, canine whe might well lose other truly endangered species.
If the endangerd species act is shown to be unworkable in other well publicized instances because of manipulation for political purposes by fringe groups as is so obviously the case here, there might come a time when many decide to abandon the act altogether. I'd hate to see it repealed as a last minute attachment to some "must pass" bill. Will the Defenders of Wildlife become the Defeaters of Wildlife?
LA Times