Repudiation: Montana Wolf Kill Bounty

The mythology of the dangers of wolves is usually focused on the dangers to human beings.  Little Red Riding Hood and other fairy tales warn us of the likelihood that we will be attacked and killed by wolves.  In 2010, for the first time in a century, a human was killed by a wolf in the United States.  We are not prey that wolves prefer.  In fact, wolves are even more afraid of us than we are of them.  Here are some pages on facts about wolves from the Timberwolf Preservation Society and Defenders of Wildlife.

In all fairness, the Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife do not argue that wolves need to be killed to protect humans.  Rather, they are concerned about an imbalance of wolves and deer (including elk and moose).  The imbalance is real.  It is also fair to say that wolves have relatively few predators, notably humans.  Without humans hunting the wolves, nature would see the deer herds reduced further and then the wolf packs would reduce due to starvation.  That is the way of nature.

One might think that this move, to hunt wolves instead of allowing them to eventually starve to death is a laudable and humane response to an imbalance that we, humans, helped create.  There is a little bit more to the story.  The real goal of Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife is to increase sport hunting in Montana.  To be clear, hunting wolves is for sport and trophies, not for food.  The head of the group, Keith Kubista, was interviewed by the Missoulian.

"This contest is one way to encourage folks to get out and harvest wolves," said the organization's president, Keith Kubista of Stevensville.

So far, hunters have killed 110 wolves of the 220 quota set for the state's second wolf hunting season.

Kubista said the group is worried that the quota won't be met this year because hunters aren't focusing their efforts on wolves. Wolves do not have the cultural and resource values that elk, deer and moose have for hunters, he said.

"You have to encourage people to do it," he said. "You can't eat a wolf. There's no food value."

Digging a bit further into the Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife website, one finds a page bemoaning strict regulation of hunting in Montana.  They want to be more like Idaho, where hunters are not required to wear orange, baiting and snaring (a cruel process that can leave animal suffering for extended periods) are allowed, and there are no quotas on killing wolves.

This is a publicity stunt more than aught else.  This is a stunt to free restrictions on hunters.  Disgusting.

Repudiation: Wolf Killers, Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife

This is not a fantasy tale of werewolves or something fun.  There are only fourteen wolves in the state of Oregon.  Those fourteen are about to drop to twelve, including the planned murder of the pack leader.

It is not easy to defend wolves.  Our society has a long history of vilifying the wolf.  The Brothers Grimm always had the wolf as the murderer.  We fear for our pets, our children, and our livestock if there are any wolves in a very wide vicinity.

Let's clear up some of the myths.  Wolves are very good at culling the weak and the elderly from wild herds of deer and other smaller animals.  They do not kill for sport or because an outer garment is a nice shade of red.  Wolves are an endangered species because, in our irrational fear, we have hunted them to near extinction.  Since being placed on the Endangered Species List, wolves have made somewhat of a comeback.  Still, we prefer to bring in sharp shooters to control deer populations than risk living with wolves within a hundred miles of us.  Wolves do not prefer human prey.  As scary as they are, wolves fear us even more than we fear them.  Wolves do not tend to spread diseases.

There are more myths out there.  Learn more about wolves from National Geographic, the International Wolf Center, Western Wolves, and Defenders of Wildlife.  While these are wild and sometimes dangerous animals, we do not have to live in terror of them.

For the moment, the hunt is on hold by court order.  That order may be lifted soon.  The Center for Biological Diversity is seeking help to stop the hunt.

The fewer species that we have on our planet, the thinner the web of life that supports and sustains us.  We need to stop wiping out species.  The latest Department of the Interior Report on Endangered or Threatened Wildlife and Plants in the Federal Register notes on its next to last page the loss of two more species in Florida:

Florida Fairy Shrimp and South Florida Rainbow Snake

Because the information presented by petitioners as well as information in our files suggests that the species are already extinct, they do not meet the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species under the Act (section 3(6) and 3(20), respectively). Therefore, an analysis of the five threat factors was not appropriate.