Tag Archives: wolves

Wolf by Numbers

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From Nature Notes: 2012 wolf management, by the numbers
During 2012, at least 1,674 gray wolves, in 321 packs, lived in the states of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Going by states, Montana had 625 wolves in 147 packs, Idaho had 683 wolves in 117 packs, Wyoming had 277 incopyrighted wolf in water 43 packs, Washington had 43 in 7 packs, and Oregon had 46 in 7 packs. No packs are known in Utah or Nevada. This population for the Northern Rockies has fallen approximately 7 percent from the 2011 population. “… the wolf population may be stabilizing at some yet undetermined lower equilibrium based on natural carrying capacity in suitable habitat and human social tolerance,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s document “Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2012 Interagency Annual Report” report.

Total confirmed livestock depredations by wolves during 2012 were 194 cattle, 470 sheep, six dogs, three horses and one llama. From 2007 through 2011, an average of 191 cattle depredations occurred each year, while an average of 339 sheep have been killed. These depredations were committed by 99 wolf packs. In livestock control actions, 231 wolves were killed, which is about 9 percent of the minimum number of wolves.

During 2012, Montana hunters and trappers removed 175 wolves, Idaho took 329 and Wyoming took 66 wolves. Idaho’s take amounted to about 30 percent of their wolf population. In total, 861 wolves were killed in human-caused mortality in the Northern Rockies, about 34 percent of the total minimum number of known wolves.

The minimum delisting goal has been to maintain 300 wolves, including 30 breeding pairs in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, for three consecutive years. This has been exceeded in the Northern Rockies since 2002.

During 2012, federal funding amounted to $3,345,618 for wolf monitoring, management, control and research. State and private compensation programs spent $564,558 to compensate livestock producers for depredations.

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This data comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s document “Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2012 Interagency Annual Report” and is the most recent summary available.

A (Wolf) Pack of Lies

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Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics

There is more fallout this week in the wake of the MLive.com investigative series exposing politicians and state officials who made up stories out of whole cloth in order to prompt Michigan’s first wolf hunting season in half a century. A leading booster of the wolf hunt, Sen. Tom Casperson, took to the floor of the state Senate yesterday and apologized to his colleagues and to voters for including a fictional account about wolves at a daycare center in a resolution he authored in 2011.

Wolf2Sen. Casperson acknowledged, “I was mistaken, I am accountable, and I am sorry. Words matter. Accuracy matters. Especially here, with a topic that is so emotional and is so important to so many, especially those whose way of life is being changed in my district. A decision here of whether or not we use sound science to manage wolves, as with all decisions this body makes, should not be based on emotions, agendas or innuendo, but rather on facts.”

The Michigan DNR’s furbearer specialist, Adam Bump, also took an apology tour this week, appearing on Michigan Radio to explain the comments he previously made in May, when he had said that wolves were showing up on people’s porches and staring at them through glass doors. Bump says he misspoke back then, and the scenario didn’t exist.

Lawmakers and agency staff who claim the mantle of “sound science” have been telling tall tales, trying to drum up an irrational fear of wolves as part of the public debate to push through their political agenda. They used heated rhetoric and scare tactics to pass a law designating wolves a game species, and then to pass a second law circumventing the voter referendum process because they didn’t like the fact that citizens gathered more than 250,000 signatures to place the wolf hunting issue on the statewide ballot. The fact is, there has never been a wolf attack on a person in Michigan, it’s already legal to shoot wolves that threaten livestock or public safety, and more than half of all the reported incidents of wolf depredation have come from a single feckless farm that leaves dead cattle out to rot and attract wolves to a free buffet.

It’s one thing for these public officials to own up to their mistakes. But the people of Michigan need more than apologies—they need compensatory action. The first wolf hunting season, set to begin one week from today, is the result of a public policy decision based on false information, and it must be suspended. Wolves have just recently come off the endangered species list and have not been hunted in Michigan for decades. What harm would it do to retain the status quo for another year, and allow a fair and honest debate to play out based on the facts so Michigan voters can hear from both sides and make an informed decision in November 2014?

It’s up to Gov. Rick Snyder to bring some accountability and transparency to state government, by suspending next week’s wolf hunt. This was an abuse of power and an abuse of the process, and the only way to repair some of the damage and restore the public trust is to let the people have a say on whether wolves should be hunted, or not.

copyrighted wolf in river

SPEAK OUT AGAINST DELISTING WOLVES

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Action Alert from Project Coyote:

Wolves need our help! A war continues against endangered wolves across the United States, a war that will gain deadly momentum if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) proposal to remove federal protection for gray wolves is approved.
On October 23rd this depraved photograph was posted on the Facebook page of an anti-wolf group- Sportsmen Against Wolves.

 Wolf killers WY masked hunters

When I saw such brutal violence against our wildlife I had to speak out. I wrote this blog on Huffington Post The War Against Wolves and Wildlife: Time to Stop the Killing to expose this increasing anti-wolf and predator zealotry and to encourage people to speak out for wolves and against delisting. This photograph and the many comments posted supporting such cruel violence make it clear: safeguards for wolves must be maintained and enhanced.
The FWS’ proposal to remove federal protections for wolves has inadequately considered the continued threats posed by poachers and others openly hostile to wolves. Moreover, they have allowed excessive state-sanctioned killings including trophy hunting and fur trapping. Poaching and wolf killing at the behest of livestock interests also threaten to derail wolf recovery.
We must not let this proposal go unchallenged! The FWS’ proposal to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from the remaining gray wolves throughout the lower 48 states is premature and is not based in sound science. Please join me and Project Coyote in speaking out against the delisting proposal and against anti-wolf fanatics to ensure the full recovery of this keystone predator.
From Sacramento to Washington, D.C., Project Coyote representatives are working with allies against the delisting proposal. Read on for important information about upcoming public hearings, how to submit comments to the FWS, and talking points for your personalized letter:
What You Can Do:
The FWS is now accepting comments on the proposed delisting rule. Please write  the FWS today to let them know that you oppose the delisting of gray wolves from the ESA. Please submit your comments no later than December 17th.
The channels for submitting written comments during the proposed regulation public comment period are:

Public Comments Processing Attn: FWS-HW-ES-2013-0073 Division of Policy and Directives Management U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-pdm Arlington, VA 22203

(Please also cc your letters to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and urge her to ensure federal protections for wolves by keeping them listed under the ESA. Send emails to feedback@ios.doi.gov or phone 202-208-3100. Letters can be sent to: Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington DC 20240).<br>Please consider attending and testifying at these<strong> </strong>public meetings<em>; individuals will have from 1-3 min. to speak</em>:

  • November 19th, Denver, CO, from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place
  • November 20th, Albuquerque, NM, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Embassy Suites, Sandia Room, 1000 Woodward Place NE
  • November 22nd, Sacramento, CA, from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, Marriot Courtyard Sacramento Cal Expo, Golden State Ballroom, 1782 Tribute Road
​​Join Project Coyote and our allies for a pre-hearing rally in support of America’s wolves. Marriot Courtyard Sacramento Cal Expo, 1782 Tribute Road Rally will begin at 4:00 pm. (Please plan to arrive by 3:45 pm.)
  • December 3rd, Pinetop, AZ, from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, Hon-Dah Conference Center, 777 Highway 260 (A public information meeting will be held from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm at the Hon-Dah Conference Center.)

Additional information on public hearings can be found here.
Suggested talking points (in addition to points above):

  • The proposal to remove the gray wolf from the list of threatened and endangered species comes at a time when gray wolf recovery is incomplete. Maintaining federal protections under the ESA is critical if gray wolves are to recover throughout their historic range. Their protection should not be abandoned as wolves have only begun to recover in many regions, occupying only a fraction of suitable habitat throughout the United States.
  • As a keystone apex predator, wolves are critical to maintaining the structure and integrity of healthy native ecosystems, providing ecological assets to hundreds of other species. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park has resulted in the regeneration of streamside vegetation following decades of over-browsing by elk, contributing to the return of beavers and many songbirds to the area.
  • The delisting proposal would leave gray wolf management to individual states. The FWS has expressed its confidence in the ability of state wildlife agencies to successfully manage wolf populations, yet state conservation and management plans have proven detrimental in maintaining wolf recovery efforts. Under the management of state wildlife officials who have authorized liberal wolf hunts, wolf numbers have declined significantly.
  • Wildlife policy decisions should be based on the best available, peer-reviewed science. Scientific evidence does not support the claim that federal protection for wolves is no longer necessary, but rather shows that populations have just begun to recover. Currently wolves occupy less than 10% of their historic range and only a third of their suitable habitat. Gray wolves are only beginning to return to suitable habitat in California, Utah, and Colorado.
  • The long-term recovery of wolves, a formerly widely distributed species in the western U.S., depends on wolves being able to successfully disperse between widely-separated populations.

It’s time to speak for wolves and to move from persecution toward a path of recovery and coexistence. Together we can make a difference; for the sake of wolves and for the health of our planet, we must speak.
Please share this Action Alert with others!
For the Wild,
Camilla H. Fox Executive Director
PS- Read this week’s Forbes article about Project Coyote’s work with ranchers to promote tolerance and acceptance of wolves on the landscape, Ranchers Insistence On Cheap Grazing Keeps Wolf Population in the Crosshairs. 

Ranchers Insistence On Cheap Grazing Keeps Wolf Population In The Crosshairs

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One of the six Canadian timber wolves (Canis l...  credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

If the October headlines were any indication, the quickest way for a wolf to make the news is to get shot. The Jackson Hole News and Guide reported the story of a Wyoming hunter who bagged a wolf, strapped him atop his SUV, and paraded his trophy through Town Square. A Montana landowner shot what he thought was a wolf (it turned out to be a dog hybrid) amid concerns that the beast was harassing house cats. The Ecologist speculated that hunters were chasing wolves from Oregon, where hunting them is illegal, into Idaho, where it’s not, before delivering fatal doses of “lead poisoning.”

Predictably, these cases raise the hackles of animal right advocates and conservationists alike. Both groups typically view hunting wolves as a fundamental threat to a wolf population that, after a history of near extermination, is struggling to survive reintegration into the Northern Rockies. According to Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, “Hunting is now taking a significant toll on wolf populations.”

More:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmcwilliams/2013/11/05/ranchers-insistence-on-cheap-grazing-keeps-wolf-population-in-the-crosshairs/

Michigan’s wolf hunt: How half truths, falsehoods and one farmer distorted “reasons” for hunt

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By John Barnes | jbarnes1@mlive.com MLive.com
on November 03, 2013

It is a mythical animal. Inspiring. Feared. Intelligent. Reviled. [It sounds like they’re talking about bigfoot.]

Once on the brink of extinction, the gray wolf’s comeback incopyrighted wolf in water Michigan is remarkable.

And now we will hunt them, a historic first in the state.

But an MLive Media Group investigation found that half-truths, falsehoods and a single farmer have distorted reasons for the hunt. Among them:

• When state lawmakers asked Congress to remove wolf protections, they cited an incident in which three wolves were shot outside an Upper Peninsula daycare center where children had just been let out. That never happened, MLive found.

• A leading state wolf specialist said there are cases where wolves have stared at humans through glass doors, ignoring pounding on windows meant to scare them. That never happened as well. The expert now admits he misspoke.

• The Natural Resources Commission received more than 10,000 emails after seeking public comment, but there is no tally of how many were pro or con. The NRC chairman deleted several thousand, many of them identical, from all over the world. Most of the rest went unopened, a department spokesman said. They said anti-hunt groups launched an email blast so extensive the agency was overwhelmed.

• And while attacks on livestock are cited as a reason to reduce wolf numbers, records show one farmer accounted for more cattle killed and injured than all other farmers in the years the DNR reviewed.

The farmer left dead cattle in the field for days, if not longer, a violation of the law and a smorgasbord that attracts wolves. He was given an electric fence by the state. The fence disappeared.  He was also given three “guard mules.”

Two died. The other had to be removed in January because it was in such poor condition. …

More here: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/michigans_wolf_hunt_how_half_t.html

Identifying and Dealing with the Anti-wolf Forces

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“Cartoon” from Save Western Wildlife’s Facebook page

In late December an “event page” on facebook was attacked.  The page was celebrating a prayer vigil for wolves that was to be held in Salem, Oregon.  And the attackers swooped down electronically the day after the event and filled the page with bloody pictures of wolf kills and fetal deer purported to have been “aborted” by wolves.  The action was disturbing and eerily like the protests held by the Westboro Baptist Church, where they show up where they are not wanted and act in the most offensive and inappropriate manner possible.
The Westboro mob is classified as a hate group and rightfully so.  They—like the anti-wolf folks—are generally overflowing with unbridled faith, strongly held opinions and self-righteousness and somewhat bereft of relevant education, understanding, or any form of tolerance or compassion.  Both groups are classic bigots in that they hold unfounded and yet deep beliefs and will not let facts or reason dissuade them from dishing out broadsides of vitriol towards the object of their scorn whether it be homosexuals, people of color, members of other religions or wolves.
Is Wolf Hatred Gateway Bigotry?
Do I go too far in linking bigotry against wolves with the same attitudes against individuals and sectors of the human population?  I don’t think so.  Studies have conclusively linked animal abuse to child abuse, domestic violence and even serial killing.  The experts assert that these acts are all parts of the same dangerous syndrome.  I strongly suspect that bigotry is a related syndrome and behaves the same way.  And I have seen enough human-directed bigotry—mainly racial, anti-Semitic and life-style directed—on the facebook pages of these anti-wolf actors and their compatriots to think that, once started, predator bigotry translates quite easily across the wildlife-to-human spectrum.

– See more at: http://www.cascwild.org/identifying-and-dealing-with-the-anti-wolf-forces-pg-13/#sthash.fhfrhp9Z.dpuf

Also see: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1052941

Wisconsin’s Wolf Kill Tally Now 181

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In Wisconsin, more wolves have been killed in 16 days than during the entire 2012 hunting and trapping season.

Yes, you read that correctly.

In just over two weeks, hunters and trappers in Wisconsin have killed off more than 181 wolves. This represents a horrible and disturbing trend of accelerated anti-wolf attitudes and killing.

How did this happen?

Reports suggest that the state Wolf Advisory Committee is now overrun by livestock and hunting and trapping interests – and the deck is now completely stacked against wolves.

We have to stop this before it’s too late. Please take action today and demand that balance be restored to the Wisconsin Wolf Advisory Committee!

This committee makes recommendations on quotas, policies and even population goals. But several scientific experts have been removed from the committee, and livestock and hunting and trapping interests have been added on in their place!

No outside scientists are on the committee, and only one pro-wolf group is represented. There are, however, seven livestock, hunting and trapping groups represented!

Demand that the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources stop this blatant anti-wolf bias!

We’ve come so far in our efforts to restore wolves to their historic range in the Great Lakes region. But with anti-wolf forces more aggressive than ever, we’re at a crossroads…

copyrighted Hayden wolf in lodgepoles

Petition: Save Swedish wolves from wolf baiting/dogs

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Save Swedish wolves from wolf baiting by using so called hunting dogs.

This petition is awaiting approval by the Avaaz Community
Save Swedish wolves from wolf baiting by using so called hunting dogs.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Repeal_Hunting_Ordinance_Section_28_with_immediate_effect_to_stop_current_wolf_baiting_by_using_so_called_hunting_dogs/?fbdm

Recently since mid year 2013 already nine wolves were killed with the persons in question claiming the right to kill in terms of the amended Hunting Ordinance Section 28.
This law enables the killing of wolves when pets are attacked or when people are being threatened by the presence of a wolf (self defense). However, this amended law opened the door to wolf baiting, using ‘hunting dogs’ as bait to lure wolves into attack, thus making it legal for the owner of the dog to kill the wolf in terms of this law. To amend this section 28 to make it impossible for dog owners to use. To establish wolf hot spots where dogs may not be unleashed and to police and investigate incidents thoroughly to determine whether a crime was committed by intentionally releasing dogs in known wolf territory to lure and kill wolves.

Sweden’s wolves are under siege from various different sources. Help us to help them.

Sign the Petition here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Repeal_Hunting_Ordinance_Section_28_with_immediate_effect_to_stop_current_wolf_baiting_by_using_so_called_hunting_dogs/?fbdm

The War Against Wolves and Wildlife: Time to Stop the Killing

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[Note: The identities of these wolf-hating villains behind the masks are said to be, from left to right: Former Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, Int. Sec. Sally Jewell, Pres. Barack Obama, Former Pres. G.W. Bush, along with his squad of goons, and Dick Cheney, who tagged along hoping to chalk up another hunting accident.]

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Article by Camilla Fox, Project Coyote

By the time this blog goes live this photo will probably have been pulled from Facebook. The photo, titled “Wyoming is FED up,” is posted on the FB page, Sportsmen Against Wolves.

As of October 26th the photo had 563 likes and 307 shares, after being posted for less than three days. The posted public comments are disturbing:

“Love this!!!!! I fully understand the masks, yer not idiots like those daring you to show yer faces!!!! Keep on killing guys”

“Smoke a pack a day”

“Kill everyone you see boys!”

What is perhaps most disquieting about the photograph is the vigilante feel that echoes a lynch mob — dehumanize, vilify, and murder. Wolves are now reviled and persecuted in a land where they once roamed wild and free prior to European colonization.

While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to remove federal protections for gray wolves through most of their historic range in the lower 48 States, blatant hostility toward wolves, coyotes, bears and other native carnivores has intensified. Like the photo above, the vilification of predators has taken on a new hue: one associated with righteous patriotism. But all true Americans should be concerned about this tenor of violence and hatred toward other living beings. What lessons are we teaching young people when we show such blatant disrespect and denigration of wildlife?…when “we” proudly post photos of men with their bloodied victims on Facebook and Twitter? (see this video posted on Facebook of a reported wolf being shot in Idaho — warning: graphic) and when our own federal government condones this violence and wanton animal abuse in its lethal predator control programs?

Anti-wolf hatred fueled a 2011 Congressional rider that removed federal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes thereby turning management over to the states in these regions. The result: In just seven days of this year’s wolf hunt in Wisconsin, 97 wolves were killed — about twice the pace at which wolves were killed last year, the state’s inaugural and very controversial wolf-hunt season. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources estimates the total state wolf population to be around 800 — and would like trappers and hunters to reduce the population to 350 — a number scientists say is not sustainable.

At least 1,321 wolves have been killed by trophy hunters and commercial and recreational trappers in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho alone. Montana sold over 6,000 wolf-hunting licenses this season; each license — $19 for state residents — allows a person to kill up to five wolves. The current wolf population in Montana is estimated at 625. Wolf watching generates approximately $30 million annually to the towns around Yellowstone; the cost to reintroduce and recover wolves into the Northern Rockies was estimated to be more than $150 million. What is the value of a wolf alive — over the course of his or her lifetime — compared to one-shot dead for a $19 wolf-hunting license? Ethics of recreational killing of wolves aside, economics does not justify this insanity.

Members of Congress, predator friendly ranchers, respected scientists have spoken out publicly against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove federal protections for wolves arguing that delisting is premature and is not scientifically sound. The Service has extended the public comment period regarding their proposal to delist wolves from the ESA and has rescheduled public hearings. If you want to see wolves in the wild please click here, take action, and make your voice heard. Then share this blog post with others. The Service will accept comments through December 17th. Check out Project Coyote’s homepage and Facebook page for more updates.

Follow Camilla Fox on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/projectcoyote