Open Season on Wolves

 

            

           From 1995 to 1997, after decades of absence, Gray Wolves were reintroduced back into the Yellowstone wilderness. From that initial group of fewer than 30 animals a thriving population of around 1,700 has spread throughout Yellowstone and its neighboring states. The reintroduction of wolves has been a resounding success and one of the greatest achievements in the worldwide battle for animal conservation. Not only has it raised the population of an endangered species but also the wolves’ presence has resurrected their entire ecosystem. All of these incredible achievements, however, are about to be erased. The Gray Wolf, under political pressure, was removed from the Endangered Species Act in the spring of 2011 giving state governments the power to reinstitute wolf hunting as they see fit, and reinstitute wolf hunting is exactly what they’ve done. The gains that have been achieved through decades of work and taxpayer dollars are about to be wiped out through the barrels of hunters’ guns. 

            To get the most up to date information on this matter, as a bill is currently being fast tracked through the Wyoming State Congress and the situation is in flux, I attempted to contact the Wyoming U.S Fish and Wildlife Service field office and the lawyers for the Earth Justice Organization’s Northern Rockies local office. The U.S.F.W.S has not returned my call as of yet but I was able to speak to the lawyers at Earth Justice. Earth Justice has been fighting for the Gray Wolf since 2003 and for a detailed explanation of who they are as well as an outline of the Gray Wolf’s inspiring story up until now go here.

Victims

            Earth Justices’ lawyers were able to inform me of the current hunting laws regarding the gray wolf across various states. Currently in Idaho and Montana anyone can kill wolves without hunting tags and there are no quotas as to how many animals that can be taken. This is called open season and the wolves in these states, numbering just under 1,300 individuals at the beginning of 2012, can be slaughtered for any reason and by any means. In just the one season of hunting since the gray wolf was delisted from the ESA 512 of the approximately 1300 animals from these two states were killed by hunters and trappers. That is just under 40% of the population in just one year, and this years hunting season is set to begin in a mere 9 days. The bill that is currently being fast tracked through the Wyoming State Congress, which will be passed this week according to the Associated Press, will grant hunters the same capability to kill as many wolves as they want in an open season format. Once the law is passed it can be instituted 30 days later meaning in Wyoming wolf hunting season will begin right around October 1^st.  Wyoming’s population of wolves numbered only around 343 as of January 1^st, 2012. Those figures account for the major populations of wolves in the Northern Rockies, all population figures are off of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ official website and all harvest data are off the respective State Fish and Wildlife Services of Idaho and Montana.

Massacred

 

            The largest population of wolves in the lower 48 is the Western Great Lakes population spread throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. According to the U.S.F.W.S this population numbered around 4,406 animals on January 1^st, 2012. Over 2,900 of these animals reside in Minnesota and the state is set to begin its first hunting season on November 3^rd. Minnesota will sell 6,000 permits for wolves but once the quota of 400 animals is reached the season will be closed. That is still, however, over 13% of the states population in just one year. Currently in Michigan, whose population is around 700, there is no set wolf hunting season however a bill was just introduced to the state legislature last week and a hunt this fall seems likely. Wisconsin will also have its first wolf hunt since the delisting beginning in October with a quota set at 201 animals. There are only around 782 gray wolves in the state, however, meaning that in just 4 ½ months (the length of the wolf season) over 25% of the states population will be killed. 

            What disgusts me the most about this senseless slaughter are the idiotic reasons behind it. For the most part wolves have been delisted and hunting reinstituted simply because people want to kill them. That’s all; they just want to put a bullet through one of these beautiful animals just to say they could. Ranchers are spreading the lie that wolves are problem animals that take cattle rather than hunt wild game but there is no evidence of this. The truth is that ranchers just don’t want to have to put up fences around their cattle and just let them roam free. Wolves are not the problem; it is man’s misguided sense of entitlement thinking that just because we are here we should be able to treat the land however we want and if an animal gets in the way of that then it’s a pest and we should kill it. Man’s selfishness and greed may once again drive the Gray Wolf to extinction in the lower 48 if nothing is done and done soon. 

            Furthermore I am outright appalled at the methods being used and proposed to eradicate wolves. Ranchers are gassing wolf dens to kill cubs ensuring that there can be no annual population rebound. Trappers are laying jawed traps that either hold the animal by the paw until the hunter arrives to kill it or cuts the paw off so even if the animal does escape the odds are that it will die either of a painful infection or a long, drawn out starvation. Just as despicable is the proposed method currently going through Congress by which dogs can be taken from the pound and staked out in the woods as bait for wolves and when the wolves come in they can be shot. This method is not only cruel to the wolves but the poor strays that are cruelly used as bait. How is this method not illegal under laws preventing animal cruelty?! Then there is also aerial hunting in which people shoot wolves from light aircraft or helicopters. The killing of wolves is nothing more than a heartless cull designed for the sole purpose of once again eradicating them from the lower 48 and must be stopped.

A wolf trap

            The reintroduction of wolves to the Northern Rockies hasn’t just been a success for the wolves; it has literally saved the entire ecosystem. Before the wolves were reintroduced the ecosystem of the Northern Rockies, especially that of Yellowstone National Park, was in dire straights. Decades without the threat of predation led to an elk population that was destroying the ecosystem. Without wolves to keep them on the move the elk were grazing areas bare affecting countless species of plants and wildlife. A great info-graphic to explain the devastation the elk caused and the vast improvement the wolves have caused can be found here. The wolves saved Yellowstone; their presence improved the populations of countless species of plants and animals including beavers, grizzlies, pronghorn, songbirds, aspen, willow, ravens, magpies, and many others. Wolves, quite simply, were the missing link in Yellowstone’s ecosystem. They are unknowing caretakers of Yellowstone’s by keeping other species in check and as such the park is healthier now than at any point since the 1940’s. The Northern Rockies need the Gray Wolf and killing them off is more than ignorant, it is flat out irresponsible. 

            So how can you help? First off you can sign petitions that intend to stop the cull, some can be found here, here, and here as well as countless others on the web. Second you can call or write the congressmen, senators, governors, and U.S.F.W.S members of the states and districts in which wolves are being slaughtered. Third do not but wolf products. Many of these hunters are looking to make money by selling the pelts of the innocent animals they kill, don’t let them. Most importantly the way you can help is by raising your voice. Tell your friends, families, coworkers, tell everybody that these magnificent animals are being killed. Somehow this topic hasn’t hit the national media at all, I only learned of this tragedy through a friend of mine and must admit I was astonished. Raise your voice with us! Lets end the massacre once and for all. 

The resurgence of the Gray Wolf has been one of the greatest achievements in animal conservation. It has taken decades of work, thousands of people, and millions of dollars to save this beautiful species in the lower 48. The fact that those achievements and progress are now being erased is heartbreaking to me. These animals deserve so much more from us and we need to give it to them. Wolves are the most valuable animals to their respective environments. A healthy population of wolves keeps the whole forest healthy. We have seen what the forest looks like without wolves and we cannot allow those days to return. Please raise your voice for these innocent animals; they need us now more than ever.