Rage over a Wyoming wolf’s torment persists. But will it change anything?

TAIPEI – The U.S. 7th Fleet said a Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, a day after U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions.

The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release.

Upset animal lovers descend on Wyoming over wild wolf torture video – claiming the footage has left them with ‘nightmares’ and calling for a boycott of the state

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Exposing the Big Game

Activists from across the US appeared at the Game and Fish Commission
Cody Roberts, 42, paraded the animal around the bar before shooting it
He was only fined $250
READ MORE: Wyoming man is branded ‘evil’ over video of him kissing dying wolf

By JOE HUTCHISON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 12:02 EDT, 18 April 2024 | UPDATED: 13:13 EDT, 18 April 2024

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Animal rights activists have expressed their disgust at the light punishment a Wyoming man received for killed a wolf after parading it around a bar.

The activists from state across the U.S. appeared at the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to share their feelings about the video showing the wolf being tortured before it was killed.

One of the activists, Lorraine Finazzo, said on Wednesday that the video of the wolf had left her unable to sleep

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Finazzo, who according to Cowboy State Daily had travelled from South Carolina for the meeting, told the commission: ‘Those pictures, I couldn’t sleep.’

Roberts, from Daniel, Wyoming, had captured an injured wolf after hitting it with his snowmobile and paraded it around a bar before he killed it.

Wolf is captured and allegedly abused in rural Wyoming

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Roberts, 42, captured an injured wolf after hitting it with his snowmobile and paraded it around a local bar before killing it. He's pictured with the animal

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Roberts, 42, captured an injured wolf after hitting it with his snowmobile and paraded it around a local bar before killing it. He’s pictured with the animal

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Finazzo was allowed two minutes to address the commission along with dozens of others who spoke during the two-hour public comment session.

During her testimony, she said that her family had frequently visited Wyoming, but might not return to the state unless it changes it policies towards wolves.

She added: ‘ The incident [with the wolf] in Wyoming has given me nightmares.

‘Unless there are changes in these laws, we cannot continue to support Wyoming tourism. The laws much change, the world is watching.’

Wyoming native and hunter Jim Laybour told the outlet that the images of the wolf had also affected him.

He said: ‘I can’t get those pictures out of my head’, adding that he wouldn’t ‘give another dime’ to the state until they changed wildlife management laws.

During his testimony he told commissioners: ‘Wyoming hunters will forever be associated with the likes of the wolf torturer in Daniel, and I refuse to be associated with that.’

The outlet reported that many others criticized the practice of hunting animals with snowmobiles or other vehicles.

University of Wyoming professor Donal O’Toole told the meeting he was horrified to hear about the practice via a work colleague.

He said: ‘He told me about chasing coyotes with a snowmobile and running them over. I think we have a cultural problem.’

Video released on Wednesday by Wyoming Game and Fish Department shows the clearly injured animal lying in the corner of the bar while patrons discuss its fate

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Video released on Wednesday by Wyoming Game and Fish Department shows the clearly injured animal lying in the corner of the bar while patrons discuss its fate

During the meeting with the commission on Wednesday, one audience member said the images of the wolf left her unable to sleep

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During the meeting with the commission on Wednesday, one audience member said the images of the wolf left her unable to sleep

Montana resident Dave Stalling, who represents Hunters and Anglers for Wildlife Management Reform, said there is a widespread ‘hated of wolves’ among hunters.

He told the meeting: ‘It’s an irrational hatred of wolves. They talk about ‘shoot, shovel and shut up.’

‘The way we manage wolves isn’t based on science. It’s based on fear, lies, misconception and hate.’

Others noted that the incident could ruin Wyoming’s reputation as a leader in wildlife management.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Brian Nesvik told those in attendance that he had ‘dozens and dozens’ of conversations about the incident.

Nesvik added that he would have discussions with Governor Mark Gordon and the legislature about possible next steps.

Roberts, 42, was fined $250 for being in possession of a live wolf, which caused outrage among animal activists.

Witnesses said Roberts dragged or carried the animal through the Green River Bar as patrons looked on. He was hit with a $250 fine on February 29 for his actions

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Witnesses said Roberts dragged or carried the animal through the Green River Bar as patrons looked on. He was hit with a $250 fine on February 29 for his actions

He was not punished for the death of the year-old animal as it is legal in Wyoming to kill wolves.

Video released on Wednesday by Wyoming Game and Fish shows the clearly injured animal lying in the corner of the bar while patrons discuss its fate.

Animal rights groups are calling for the Sublette County Sheriff and county attorney to file felony animal cruelty charges against him.

Lori Wynn, the CEO of Guardians of Wolves, previously told DailyMail.com: ‘The gray wolf is a misunderstood creature.

‘Wolves are not mindless killers. They balance their own populations by conflicting with other packs,’ she said, adding that they also avoid humans whenever possible

‘The innocent wolf that Cody killed mattered,’ added Wynn. ‘She was vital to our environment.’

The group has produced a calling for Roberts to be punished more harshly. It has garnered more than 100,000 signatures.

Roberts’ social media accounts show how he is an avid hunter who frequently hunts wild animals alongside his kids.

Others, however, conveyed the complete opposite, as the director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department told Cowboy State Daily Monday the agency isn't being secretive about the torment and killing of the wolf

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Others, however, conveyed the complete opposite, as the director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department told Cowboy State Daily Monday the agency isn’t being secretive about the torment and killing of the wolf

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon weighed in on the incident saying on social media, ‘Our office has received considerable communication about the actions of an individual involving a wolf that occurred earlier this winter in Sublette County.

‘I want to make my position in this absolutely clear. Cruelty to any wildlife is absolutely unacceptable. This is not the way anyone should treat any animal.

‘I am outraged by this incident, just like thousands of Wyoming ranchers, farmers, sportsmen and sportswoman, and other around the state,’ added Gordon.

‘I would be disappointed if anyone were to paint Wyoming with a broad brush and suggest the Wyoming citizens condone the reckless, thoughtless and heinous actions of one individual.’

In a statement from the commission, they said: ‘By way of this statement, the Commission denounces the actions that were revealed following the (Game and Fish) Department’s investigation of the incident.

‘The actions of the defendant do not represent the value Wyoming people and our Commission have for our incredible and priceless wildlife resources.

‘This incident perpetrated by one individual does not represent a failure in wildlife policy or management.

‘We wish to be clear: We support the investigation conducted by the Department.

‘We recognize and appreciate the work of the Department and the work of the Wardens involved.

‘We’re satisfied that every tool we have available was used, and used to the best of our ability. The Department has acted with transparency and in compliance with Wyoming law.’

Angry People Travel From All Over Country To Voice Outrage Over Tortured Wolf

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Exposing the Big Game

Angry People Travel From All Over Country To Voice Outrage Over Tortured Wolf

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Posted on April 18, 2024 by Exposing the Big Game

Study: Hunters Die After Consuming CWD-Infected Venison

Wyoming Officials Euthanize First Grizzly Bear to Wander into Bighorn Mountains in a Century

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Exposing the Big Game

The subadult male bruin predated on a cow some 80 miles east of Wyoming’s known grizzly range

By Katie Hill

Posted On Apr 16, 2024 1:04 PM EDT

https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/grizzly-bear-bighorn-mountains

3 Minute Read A grizzly bear walks through snow near a fence.

A grizzly bear navigates snow near a fence. Photograph via Adams / NPS C.J. Adams

On Sunday, officials with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department were called to some private land near Ten Sleep in Washakie County to investigate a case of livestock predation. They determined that a grizzly bear had been roaming around a ranch in the area for a week, eventually predating on a cow and injuring it. The rancher whose property and livestock were impacted remains anonymous to the public.

This wouldn’t have been huge news in other parts of Wyoming, particularly in the western region where the 1,000-plus grizzlies dispersing from Yellowstone National Park run into conflict with livestock producers, hunters, and hikers all the time. But in Ten Sleep, nestled in the southwestern foothills of the Bighorn Mountains where grizzly bears haven’t lived for over a century, it came as a surprise.

Ten Sleep, Wyoming highlighted on a map. — Ten Sleep is on the eastern edge of the Bighorn Basin, on the opposite side of Cody, Lander, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Map via Google Maps.

The subadult male grizzly that attacked the cow had traveled some 80 miles east of the “Demographic Monitoring Area,” WGFD writes in a press release — what they define as “the area considered biologically and socially suitable for grizzly bears.”

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A map showing the grizzly bear demographic monitoring area. — The eastern edge of the Demographic Monitoring Area ends west of Cody and Lander, both of which are across the Bighorn Basin from Ten Sleep. Map via USFWS

After consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, WGFD officials euthanized the bear due to its predation on the cow and how frequently it was wandering near the ranch.

Where exactly this grizzly came from remains a mystery. High concentrations of grizzlies exist in and around Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming and Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana. (The other four grizzly recovery zones are further west, in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.) But other instances of grizzlies dispersing across whole basins is not unheard of. In July 2023, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks was surprised to discover a grizzly had shown up in the Pryor Mountains south of Billings. A migration between the Pryors and the Beartooth Mountains to the west, which are part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, would cover 30 miles and cross at least three state highways. A grizzly traveling from the southern GYE to Ten Sleep would cover more than twice that distance.

Read Next: Where Do All the Problem Bears Go?

But grizzlies are also capable of covering 20 to 40 miles in a day, FWP writes. That means they could make it to the Bighorns from the southern GYE in less than three days if motivated. Seeing as how the Bighorns offer very little in the way of good grizzly habitat, WGFD director Brian Nesvik says there shouldn’t be concerns about a population establishing there.

“Wyoming’s grizzly bear population is managed and monitored where suitable habitat exists as designated by the USFWS and informed by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team,” Nesvik says in the press release. “The Bighorn Mountain Range is not suitable habitat and the department is not interested in allowing grizzly bears to occupy this area. Their expansion into unsuitable habitat leads to increased conflict potential between bears and humans, which impedes the success of grizzly bear conservation.”

Grizzly bears in Wyoming are a federally protected species and are listed as “threatened.” The 2021 population count for the GYE, a large majority of which is in Wyoming, was 1,069 bears.

Pa. hunter enjoys the extra challenge of archery hunting for spring gobblers

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Exposing the Big Game

Pa. hunter enjoys the extra challenge of archery hunting for spring gobblers