Another bad week for wolves
It’s official. The Interior Department published the final delisting rule yesterday stripping federal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies. The announcement came just weeks after a provision was tacked on to a must-pass budget deal agreed to by Congress and the Obama administration. All eyes will be one the states as they gear up to hunt wolves once again this fall.
Click here to read Defenders statement regarding the delisting announcement.
On that note, this week Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks proposed killing 220 wolves in the upcoming 2011 wolf hunt to take place this fall. The quota is more than three times higher than the 75 wolves killed during the 2009 wolf hunt. The state wildlife agency will discuss the proposal at its May 12 meeting and will be accepting comments through June 20.
Click here to read the full story in the Helena Independent-Record.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife also announced today that it plans to kill two wolves in response to livestock losses in eastern Oregon. There are two confirmed breeding pairs in Oregon and 23 wolves. The two wolves targeted for removal are sub-adults in the Imnaha pack. According to their press release, ODFW says two head of livestock have been killed in the last week and two cows in February. ODFW also says that the landowners had implemented several nonlethal practices—including electrified fladry and radio-activated guard boxes—in order to deter wolf attacks.
Author
comments
