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AP file
This image provided by the National Park Service shows a gray wolf in the wild. The Obama administration on Wednesday May 4, 2011 announced it was lifting endangered species act protections for gray wolves in eight states in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes.
Long an endangered predator, the northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf is once again the prey.
More than 550 gray wolves have been killed by hunters and trappers in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming this season, the second period in which hunting has been allowed in order to manage the population. For over 30 years the animals were considered endangered.
Add in the number of wolves killed by federal Wildlife Service agents because they are a threat to livestock, as well as those killed by poachers, diseases, collisions with vehicles and other means, and it's not clear that these levels are sustainable, according to conservationists.
Sitting at the top of the food chain in many wild areas, wolves often conjure up frightful images in people's minds, primarily due to fairy tales going back to "Little Red Riding Hood," "Peter and the Wolf" and even horror-film depictions of werewolves.
But in reality, experts say, while wolves are known to sometimes attack livestock such as sheep and cattle, attacks on humans are extremely rare.
Still, wolves were hunted to the point where they were listed as endangered under federal law in 1974. After years of recovery efforts -- and countless lawsuits -- gray wolves were completely taken off the endangered species list in 2012 when Wyoming became the last of the Rocky Mountain states to manage its gray wolf population. Hunting started last season in Idaho and Montana, and in Wyoming in October 2012.
As the hunting season winds down, Montana reported that hunters have killed 225 wolves and Idaho 259. In Wyoming, which hosted its first gray wolf hunt this year, 42 wolves were killed in a controlled trophy hunting area near Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in the northwest part of the state. Another 32 were killed in the rest of the state where gray wolves can legally be shot on sight, Eric Kezler of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department told NBC News.
"Hunters were very cooperative with us in reporting the animals they killed and provide the samples we need to track genetics," Kezler said. "It went extremely well. Based on whatever else is happening in Wyoming, we're confident we can maintain a health population."
Meanwhile the federal government reported that 216 wolves were killed by federal Wildlife Service agents because they were attacking livestock, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Related: Wolves, no longer endangered in Wyoming, now labeled 'predators'
According to the latest federal wolf counts “by every biological measure” the wolf population in the Northern Rockies region, excluding Wyoming, is fully recovered, according to federal experts. As of Dec. 31, 2011, the Rockies contained at least 1,774 wolves in at least 287 packs.
Derek Goldman, with the Endangered Species Coalition, points to gray wolves as an endangered animals success story, though he says his organization, based in Washington, D.C., is still awaiting word on the final population figures of wolf packs for this year.
“We recognize that hunting of wolves while we may not be enthusiastic about it that once a species is no long endangered that oftentimes hunting is going to be a reality,” Goldman told NBC News. “But we definitely want it managed by the best available science and not by politics.”
Marc Cooke of the Wolves of the Rockies conservation group, however, said some legislators in Montana want to make it open season on wolves. One bill, Senate Bill 200, would make it legal to kill a wolf on site on private property. "How is this managing wolves?" he asked.
“These animals can’t take this much more persecution,” Cooke told NBC News. “When you go and kill these wolves, a lot of times you’re killing the teachers, and when you kill the teachers of the pack you get the youngsters who haven’t absorbed the skills that would’ve been passed down over time to them from the elders in the pack. Now you have youngsters who don’t know how to kill things going after the easiest thing to kill, lambs and cattle, which leaves them open to being killed by in control hunts by the federal government.”
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first comment. Humans are the worst thing that has ever happened to this planet.
I couldn't agree with you more, Tony.
If not for our interference, the ecosystem would manage itself properly.
At least the Native Americans knew how to balance out their needs with that of their surroundings, so their hunting was for a purpose, mainly food. Thanks to invaders from other continents, that delicate balance will never resume.
tony-605003
Hmmmm, interesting comment.
Tony, are you and your fellow human-haters or anti-natalists willing to have your own families "weeded out" to protect the delicate balance of nature?
What I mean is, if you're so convinced that humanity is the demonic bogeyman that is destroying the planet, will you allow 10%, 50%, 90% or whatever your convoluted ideology demands, of your family to be eliminated? Which member of your family, mother, father, wife, children or yourself are you willing to be euthenized?
Will it be a system of population control such as in China with their "one-child-per-family" policy, forced sterilization or other methods of eugenics?
And who will be the ultimate arbiter that will decide who will be eliminated around the world to achieve your goal of "balance"?
How will it be enforced globally and what will be the penalty for violating the policy?
Unlike the wolves, the humans have never been an endangered specie. They breed and run wild, ruin the ecology, steal property and resources from the vulnerable ones.
We should have open seasons on the humans. Beginning in DC.
Killing to control the species... They hunt wolves just to kill them.
There is control of the eco-system, and then there is killing just for killing. They don't eat the wolves, they just kill them.
A red-neck gets a gun and he's told it's okay to kill wolves.
That must be too good to be true for the Red-States in the Union...
Too bad they don't have to philibuster before they shoot! Then the GOP would know what it feels like to see the season pass by without anything to show for it!
@WallStFatCat Actually about 70,000 years ago there was a volcano that erupted in Sumatra, where Lake Toba is now, that brought the human species under 2000 in number. So yes, we as humans were once endangered species.
Well then be the "first" to step off, lead by example or shut up.
Wow. Sad. Unbelievable. Human stupidity knows no bounds.
All species accounted for on planet earth, humans are the one that don't belong here, no logical reason..I trap feral cats that multiply so fast it's hard to keep them in check. I turn them over to the human society, if I could, I'd go ahead, give them a human death and bury them on the spot. But nope, I'd get sent to jail. stupid f**kng laws.. European logic, kill everything that should be in Nature, that is suppose to be here and let feral animals destroy the rest.. Same old Euro-trash mind $hit thinking..
To all who feel that humans should be wiped out, start with yourselves. Today.
What a silly thing to say. It's the kind of thing that makes liberals sound like idiots and results in independents moving to the right. I suppose you also think that wild animals die peacefully in their sleep surrounded by all their animal friends, rather than dying slowly of starvation, untreated injuries or diseases, or being eaten alive by predators.
Just as sensible republicans need to disavow the Todd Akins of their party, sensible liberals need to disavow the extremists--like you--on our side. If we don't, your voices will push independents to the other side and provide confirmation to republicans that liberals are idiots.
@ Dave Simpson post 1.5,
Have you seen this? It's just a little history that you need to learn. Your lesson is near the end so make sure you watch it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PJ7qqnkVaI
As an Independent Janet, thank you. I walk in the middle of the road and I can see with my left and right eye.
Irony
Speak for yourself Tony
Yeah. Irony as far as your type goes. Lol!
gm stonepipe
Very well said ...... both of 'em.
how the deer population out there where the wolves were before they just got slaughtered ? East where we have no predators, the deer are like over sized suburban rats. They are everywhere, people are hitting them with cars, bicycles. They eat everything and many are suffering malnutrition because there are so many. Can't be hunted because they are in the suburban neighborhoods. I agree with the scientist. Killing so many of the "teacher" wolves leaves the young and dumbs to figure things out on their own. They'll pick penned up domestic farm stock over wild prey. Causing a new round of slaughter as the genius's out there demand somebody do something. The gubmint managing this is the same one managing the forests out there that burn several million acres every year in out of control wildfires. Same gubmint that lets people build houses with shake shingle roofs in the forest, then have to spend millions to defend the houses from the fires. Same gubmint managing the fish stocks that got wiped out. Same gubmint that permitted BP to deep water drill in the gulf. The wolves look like they are in trouble again if this gubmint is supposed to protect them..
Janet-2539159
Janet, with the results of the last 2 presidential elections, no confirmation is needed.
Present company excluded of course.
At this rate, the wolves will be back on the endangered list in 2 years.
You miss the point, humans should not be wiped out, what I'm saying is, they don't fit in. Everything that came out of Europe was diseased, search and destroy crusades/missions, still is today. America is just another experimental extension of Rome, same difference, Rome never died, it moved to North America. History confirms disease spread wherever Euro-trash went. Europeans never have nor ever will learn to understand the balance of nature. Realist, has nothing to do with a political view.
Euro-Trash? Seriously? The first such "invaders" from the Eurasian continent were the so called "Native" Americans... That being said my paternal grand mother was a "half-breed" so I too have the blood and genes of the first invaders... Fact is that the American Indians spent plenty of time killing and enslaving each other but not to the extent that the later invaders did because they had so much land mass relative to their population... they were just as cruel as any other human... no one people is better than another as a whole... in each group there are good and bad... As for the wolf killers I have but one word... SHAME!
You're a fool. There is ample evidence that some Ice Age animals were completely wiped out to extinction by Asian hunters who migrated to the Americas back then. Nearly all of the nature/wildlife conservation groups and animal welfare groups today came from the Western world. Without the efforts of conservation groups from Europe/America/Australia, there would be no major wildlife left in sub-Saharan Africa or south Asia. You should also look up where modern Ecology originated. To label an entire group of people because of some greedy industrialists or unchecked hunting is really stupid.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Howling-Success.html
The only reason the wolves were killed, then as now, is that predatory humans - ranchers and farmers - have increasingly encroached into the wolves territory, as well as that of most other native wild animals. That these people are doing it with govt. assistance is heartbreaking and it spells permanent doom for the wolf, as well as for many in what is left of a tiny corner of the wild.
Jeff @ 1.6 According to some preachers and politicians the world is only between 5000 & 10000 years old. Jeff you should know those science books your reading are nothing but fiction according to most preachers & some politicians.
Our Earth is struggling under the weight of human, ecological ignorance. We are the only specie on the planet so utterly stupid as to kill our only home, Earth. Humankind is alive because of wild, natural ecosystems, and only native species of plants and animals are the creators and saviors of all ecosystems.
Not only is the wolf a native specie, he is a vital, keystone specie. He carries the entire ecosystem on his little back. The wolf is a vital, strand in the web of all life, mankind's web of life, and the redneck states are wiping out this exceedingly important strand. They are clueless as to how Earth functions and cycles through ecosystems to create and sustain all life.
Top of the day to you Bill, May the sun be on shoulder and a slight breeze to keep you at the desired temp.
You really have to be kidding, right? It's a wolf, it kills livestock just for fun.
They are being thinned out to save the ranchers livestock and to keep them from starving to death.
Tex, do you know how and why you are alive? Earth's natural and wild surface created all life and maintains it right today, scientifically, ecosystems. Native and wild species of animals and plants or biodiversity create and sustain Earth's ecosystems. Bio means "life". Cattle are not biodiversity; Domestic animals are not biodiversity and have genetic alterations by man. Scientists refer to cattle as the hooved locust as they devour ecosystems.
The gray wolf is not only biodiversity, he is a vital keystone specie of bio-diversity, the bricks and mortar of man's only house, Earth. In architecture, the most important beams that support a man-made structure are referred to as "keystone", the structure in a building that supports the entire structure and keeps it from collapsing in on itself.
The wolf is a vital, keystone specie. He holds down two jobs in our ecosystems. He trims the herd, so the herd does not devour Earth, and he is the champion of trees and plants, Earth's lungs, her oxygen and fresh water factories. His second job is to trim the populations of ever-expanding mid-sized predator populations, whose populations have soared because of mankind. These mid-sized predators, including cats and dogs, are wiping out amphibians, reptiles, birds and smaller mammals like bunnies, squirrels and chipmunks, also biodiversity.
The National Academy of Sciences compares the extinctions of biodiversity as a threat to mankind and civilization, up there with, "thermonuclear war." Thus killing wolves, translates to killing all of mankind's lifelines to existence.
There are no wolves in Texas and our ecosystem looks to be just fine. Now if we could just get rid of those pesky coyotes.
What a silly thing to say. One person expresses a personal opinion. Not a political opinion, nor was it evocative of any political bent. But you not only used that opinion to label that individual "liberal" (a person who, for all you know, could be liberal, conservative, independent or completely apolitical), but you also used that one person's non-political opinion as a club to bash all "liberals" as "sounding like idiots".
Do you think you may possibly have a perception problem, regarding the qualities and value of other human beings? Perhaps a little introspection is in order, because when you make presumptive hyperbolic comments like that about a person (or group), they're not the one who sounds like an idiot.
What a shame to see happen to such beautiful creatures. It makes you really wonder who is the animal and who is not! I understand the deer herds have to be reduced to prevent damage to the environment. It's time to get a specialized type of guard dogs that can handle wolves and human guards to watch the herds at night more. Killing wolves should always be a last resort. It makes no sense to bring them back from extinction just to turn around and exterminate them. Absolutely insane science!
nothing to do with science; only the greed of the farmers and the political lobby. The wolves compete with the hunters.....guess who loses ? the hunters are scum and the wolves magnificent animals....something is wrong with this picture.
Right with you Tony.
Speak for yourself gjwriter.
Unless the animals can shoot back, it's not a sport - just some dumb redneck with a gun, killing something he can't otherwise control. Most men around the world who slaughter wild animals aren't doing it for food but for either the money or erectile dysfunction cheap thrills.
so 550 hunting permits were issued then right? so as long as the government doesn't issue more permits than there are wolves we should be good. However dependent on realistic populations numbers and what is needed for a overall balance. Wolves, it was nice knowing you.
Tony, if you really feel that way, why have you allowed yourself to live? Or maybe you should go live in a cave and be at one with nature and not pollute and take up space on the planet in a comfortable home?
Tony, we humans happen to be one of the most successful creatures on the planet (along with rats!). We have been able to adapt and live in any environment. And, unlike other animals when they start to ruin a habitat, we actually try to do something and maintain habitats and balance for other life forms.
I live in an area where deer will overpopulate if not for the hunters. While I would not want to kill an animal myself, human hunters serve the same purpose as animal hunters - to maintain a population balance. Look at what is happening with alligators now. Just too many. So when a species gets low in number, it should be protected. When it gets to high, then hunting should be allowed, which is exactly what we did with wolves.
Tony is right. The problem is, most of mankind are clueless as to how Earth functions and cycles to create and sustain human existence. Earth creates and supports all life through her wild, natural ecosystems, and ecosystems are created, only by their wild, natural, native species, like the gray wolf.
The National Academy of Sciences states, the extinction of native species, is about as safe for mankind as "thermonuclear war".
And, scientifically, the wolf is a vital keystone specie.
We don't have wolves in TX but we do have the next best thing, coyotes. And yes we kill them on sight.
Oh, boy! I guess you don't like to breathe, have fresh water, a stable climate, a life giving atmosphere and biosphere!
The coyote is a stand in the web of all life or biodiversity. His ecological, scientific job is to trim the populations of mid-sized or meso predators that are vastly too immense because of mankind, especially domestic cats, a top agent globally of the extinctions of biodiversity. Coyotes defend the lives of countless strands in the web of all life like birds, frogs, lizards, chipmunks and squirrels, all are biodiversity, in the eco-nomy of life itself on Earth.
Man's opinions of animals are seeded in ignorance and stupidity without regard to Earth's opinion of her animals, the strands in the web of all life. Earth adores and worships wolves and coyotes because they protect and save her life giving, physical body and face, ecosystems, and every reason Earth creates and supports all life.
What is Earth's opinion of her coyote and her wolf? Man's opinions are often only steeped in scientific and ecological ignorance and come from nothing more than whistling in the dark.
"In wildness is the salvation of the Earth and the preservation of all life, long known among wolves, coyotes and mountain [mountain used here as a metaphor for Earth and ecosystem]...but seldom perceived by man."
So, how do you feel about jackrabbits? Because we kill them on site as well. There are millions of the little suckers.
I would think, you are just another, Earth killing idiot and a brainwashed drone. Hey, dude, I'm only six points below Einstein. So, I really feel you don't have the capacity to comprehend, duh, science. Hellooo!
they never should have been reintroduced anyway ... there was a static population allready there and the program is a bogus waste of OUR taxpayer money , first thought wolves killed ? good ... and i grew up in CODY , WYO. so i am well aware of this entire mess from beginning to now . I'm 58 and saw wolves with my own two eyes in sunlight basin when i was 12
Wah, wah, wah.
Really? You saw wolves 46 years ago so now you're an expert? Sure, the population was static. Almost no wolves existed because they were shot on sight. It's hard for a population not to be static when it's zero.
personally i'm an active hunter and shooting the wolves is about as assshole as it gets. and good for you ,you were lucky enough to see a beautiful animal.. did you it any of them? leave them the phukk alone
eat
LOL...you need to do more research...goob Im with ya beekay31...=)
Watchin, I grasp your worldview because you are from one of those states. I hate to tell you, but it is folks like you that are killing Earth and every reason humankind breathes. Scientifically, the wolf is a vital keystone specie of bio-diversity. Bio means "life". Mankind exists only because of Earth's natural and wild ecosystems, not damaged or changed by man or "land-use" changes, i.e., killing the physical body and face of Mother Earth or ecosystems. Earth creates and supports all life because of ecosystems, and an ecosystem is constructed by and with plant and animal biodiversity, just like the wolf. A keystone specie, like the wolf, carries the entire ecosystem on his small back.
Scientists were stunned when they reintroduced the gray wolf to the Yellowstone ecosystem. Trees and plants had quit re-generating, trees not witnessed in 100 years. The immense populations of ungulates had devoured them. Science considers the appearance of plant/tree biodiversity, the most vital evolutionary event. Trees and plants release oxygen, take care of C02 for Earth and anchor the soil for Earth. Trees and plants transpire the climate cooling water cycle and provide food, habitat/homes, shelter, cover and nurseries for all animal biodiversity. Trees are Earth's lungs.
With regeneration of more trees and cover, Yellowstone experienced more birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. The Riparian systems became healthy and life giving once again, and beavers, another keystone specie, re-appeared. The entire ecosystem, with the presence of the gray wolf, grew more stable and more life giving. The wolf is a vital strand in the web of all life and the savior of countless species of bio-diversity.
Watchin, you were lucky to have seen them, most of us never get to. Generations from now won't get the chance because of people like you, entitled people who don't think any other species has merit, unless it makes you money. They are beautiful creatures, and if the ranchers weren't so flippin stingy, they'd buy some sheep dogs to protect their cattle (yes, they can be trained to protect cattle too), and sheep in stead of wanting all the wolves killed. Wolves won't go after cattle if it means a fight. Of course, the ranchers don't want to, because they're a stingy breed, all take, no give.
The wolves should have been taken off the endangered species list years ago. Their populations are out of control in many states. They need to be culled down to a manageable population. Instead of deer feeding families in Wisconsin and Minnesota, wolves are culling the herds down to nothing. Conservationists lie and bend the facts to keep the grant money pouring in.
gee who would have thought that they would breed like wild dogs .... smirk
There is no shortage of deer in MN & WI. There is a runaway overpopulation and has been for quite some time. The WI DNR posts in 2010 the prehunt population was 1.58 million. Posthunt 1.2 million. The DNR's posthunt goal was 800,000. In fact, the deer population increased 17.5% in 2010. People used to make up excuses for killing deer, that they were eating all the farmers' corn. Now you're making excuses that wolves are eating all the deer, which is entirely false. Any excuse to needlessly kill, right? Stick to your excuses for gunning down wolves in CO, Jimcolorado. They don't fly around here.
After the hunt, Wisconsin has about 700 wolves. There were only 800 before the hunt. That is NOT too many! There are over a million deer. Do the math - it would take a very long time for 700 wolves to eat that many deer.
If you can actually count how many there are , then they're endangered. once your over 100,000 I think now it's pure estimating and all is probably well
You obviously have never seen a wolf in person. I agree, Humans are usually not good for the environment, wolves are no better...especially when they don't have a natural predator to keep them in check. I've personally watched wolves attack Moose Cow and Calf, kill them both, and leave them. They kill for sport. No joke. While hunting in N. Idaho, I came across 2 Moose Calves, and 1 Elk Calf, "murdered" and left, not one bite taken out of any of them. I'm a hunter, but I also use what I kill. Wolves are killers, not hunters. And the Moose/Elk/Deer populations in ID/MT/MN/WI/MI have plummeted because of those killers.
While I don't condone culling the population to unsustainable levels, I do condone keeping their populations in check.
What,you never put some extra food in your kitchen for latter?
Totally false. The WI DNR posts the deer population is 400K above their target of 800K. Nearly 1.6 million deer existed prehunt 2010. 1.2 million deer survive posthunt. I guess you could say, just like the wolf, you are not killing for population control, but for sport.
I've seen dead deer with the head cut off for a trophy and the rest left. That's not killing for sport?
Hunters are tools for the DNR to manage populations. Get rid of the hunters and you will have people complaining about deer and the DNR will have to bring sharp shooters ($$$) in to cull the herds. (See Fire Island and Westchester NY). 500+ wolves in the whole United States? I would say the DNR restocking programs are working very well.
You don't mind wolves killing, calves, lambs, fawns and cubs (they gotta eat right) but you don't like hunters killing. You assume it's for sport. What if they hunt to feed their families? You want to take that away from them? Taking the food right out of their mouth. It's alright where you sit but get your arse out and see the world a little bit. You all would be a little less judgmental. I think hunters understand nature better than most. They live it.
amen to everything but killing the wolf
Hey dumb dumb, here in Montana the Elk poulation has not been affected by the wolf. Bad winters and deep snow kill more elk then wolves do. Furthermore, the wolves have pushed the herds into private ranches where as the rancher now need to get a predation permit to kil the elk eating the hay. Oh yeah the rancher now charges out of staters like you $5,000.00 to shoot an elk.
Ranchers gotta eat too. If someone wants to pay that kind of money to shoot any animal.. So what??. Only a very small minority of the "hunters" can afford that. The rest of us try to hunt the home territory and put a wee bit of meat in the freezer.
I am a chicken from the kitchen, and I ain't kiddin' although nothing is written.
so I guess this story is supposed to make the hunters look like the bad guys ( especially if your from the city ) with all the gun ownership BS going on,,
Speaking of the city,, did any of you guys notice yesterday's story about Bloomberg wanting to ban headphones in NYC ?,, it was funny,, Bloomberg had his ass handed to him, and this website deleted the entire story and comments in like five minutes,,,,
The better to shoot you with...my dear.
Jim, to respond to your earlier comment humans have done more damage to the planet than wolves ever have. As for what to do about it no weeding the human race away is not a solution. The best practive would be giving women access to education, effective and ideally free birth control and proper education on how to use birth control. This will eventually lead to humans simply not replacing themselves at the 2.1 TFR which will result in a gradual decline in the number of humans on the planet.
Sammy. Hunters aren't the bad guys though I do wonder why so many of the wolves were killed. They don't taste good from what I hear so unless your killing them because you need the fur or your truly passionate about protecting the livestock I am going to have to assume they are being hunted by a bunch of insecure middle aged white guys who have to prove their man hood by shooting an animal that has almost no chance of fighting back and generally prefers to AVOID humans.
Spot on.
O.K. you got me. I feel totally inadequate without a gun and am so ashamed of being a man. Most women I see say "Are you glad to see me or is that a 1911 in your pocket"? And I say wrongo baby, that is my extended mag.
I wished that I was still a middle aged white guy. Now I'm an old white guy. We don't have wolves here in Texas but you can bet your ass that I shoot every Coyote I see. Let the buzzards have them. I have sat in a deer stand & watched two or three of them tear a new born calf in to pieces as soon as it was born. Kill them all. They breed like rats & if some type of control isn't done, they will kill every calf, colt, sheep or goat in the fields.
A real hunter doesn't bait deer and sit in a stand... That's the common practice here in central Texas and I'm betting that's how you "hunt". How good are you when the prey has an equal chance... and yes... I hunt... with a bow... I'm a 50 something female too...
mach7
When the prey has an equal chance? Do you go hand to hand with them? I hunt with gun, Compound Bow, recurve & in the last couple of years I hunt with a Hickory , laminated , Custom Recurve that I made myself. I hunt all kinds of ways. But I'm not going to lie about it like you do. Your no hunter & you know it.
hey deer hunter...maybe she's like that mexican midget on james bond... you know the guy who's always creeping around with a dagger in his mouth jumping out of no where
mach7
I don't know why you hunt, but I hunt for the meat and all I have to say is "The more the merrier".
Domewars, they are being slaughtered because of ecological ignorance and cattle. I've heard, the government reimburses the ranchers for any cow killed. I've also heard, dogs kill more cattle than wolves, but dogs are good, wolves, bad, bad, like in childhood ancient fairy tales!
Some of this nation's states are so scientifically illiterate and are so backwoods, white trash, element.
okay wow.. let's see, humans in the area, a moose cow down but no bite taken from her... thinking MAYBE the wolves left her because YOU were there? DUH. And wolves DO come back to eat, they don't always eat right away for the very reason I just stated. OTHER dangers in the area.
Now, let me get this straight, I JUST read that the feds say there are around 1500+ wolves in the rockies and that's a HEALTHY number but that 500 were just killed and THey're UNSURE whether or not that's a sustainable number for hunting? DUH... 3 years left to kill them down to endangered again. As for those who think wolves should just die off. So should you. Just die off already. YOU kill COWS TOO! Amazing! but a wolf taking down a cow is a CRIME, humans throwing out the beef they left too long seems to be okay! Morons.
Teacher wolves my azz. I see the left wing democratic tea party is out in full force today. Saying as stupid things today as the Arkansas right wing tea party was saying yesterday. Wolves will always go after the easiest meal and a calve or a lamb is easier than an elk or moose calve. Wolves will kill for the sake of killing, they get into a band of sheep and kill more than they eat. They are decimating the elk herd in Montana and bringing them back was stupid. I have back packed and hunted all over that state and this is where I part company with conservationists. The extremists won't be happy until we live in caves again. You whiny babies in your little apartments in the city have no idea. Marc Cooke is just one more trust fund baby whose parents sent him out to Montana to get him away from them.
DM57, you are the very definition of an idiot wrapped in a moron. Western culture and the Death Cult have clearly brainwashed you. Elk #s have gone UP in Montana since the wolf made its comeback. They elk are now less lazy and lethargic and hunters like you don't realize it.
To all the people telling other people, if they think humans are the problem then they should be the first to leave, CLEARLY do NOT understand the message. What they are saying is, if no humans ever existed on this planet, the planet would be just fine since Nature in her infinite wisdom, instinctively knows what needs to be done and does it.
Humans on the other hand, let their egos direct their actions and Humans interfere with the process. Sadly, when we make mistakes, we then "think" we can fix those mistakes but in truth, we usually make things worse. So those that say, humans are the worst thing that happened to this planet, are in truth correct.
The following link, is very informative...
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2013/02/10/what-real-public-information-about-wolves-looks-like/
I have both family and friends, living in (wolf hating) areas and all have said the same thing, the wolves are NOT the problem...it's the ranchers and hunters that have created this mess and they're just continuing to make things worse. The lies and BS that the ranchers, who are well compensated for their "losses" and the hunting companies that are making huge profits selling guns and ammo along with corrupt politics are the reason wolves have been made targets....again!
As of January 1, 2013 there are approx. 89.3 million cattle in the U.S. As an example, the total number of livestock killed by wolves in just the state of Wyoming from 2001 to 2013 was 853 total..., no kills reported in 2012. When you compile the figures for all states reporting livestock losses due to wolf depredation the total comes to LESS than a quarter of one percent, 0.23% , total! The government’s own data show that the real killers of cattle are not a few endangered wolves or other wildlife — it's illness and weather.
Cattle destroy native vegetation, damage soils and stream banks, and contaminate waterways with fecal waste. After decades of livestock grazing, once-lush streams and riparian forests have been reduced to flat, dry wastelands. It isn’t simply the direct subsidies and federal assistance programs that public lands livestock operators rely on. The federal grazing fee is unreasonably low, creating an "entitlement" subsidy for cattle owners. The western livestock industry would evaporate if it had to pay market rates for the services it acquires free of charge from the federal government.
And I always have to laugh when I hear people say they are afraid of wolves. There are no know cases of wolves attacking humans, with one possible exception in Alaska, still unproven only suspected. And if you ARE afraid, then why live in the wilderness? Move back to the cities and burbs but leave the wild in wilderness. And once wolves are eliminated, whose's next?! Bears? Big cats? When does the insanity stop?!
The wolves and the rest of the wildlife, do not just belong to the states that they inhabit, they are an integral part of this country and even this planet and what you do to one species, ultimately effects everyone and everything and not just in the U.S. And while you may not believe or agree with that statement, take into consideration if you will, every breath that you have taken in, was at some time exhaled by someone or something, someplace, at some other time. The same with our water. We live in an encapsulated bubble, what happens on one side of the planet, ultimately effects the rest us at some point...everything is shared by everyone and everything. What you do to one, you also do to yourself.
Humans were placed here to be the caretakers of this planet, sadly, we have placed very little emphasis on CARE and too much on TAKE.
Lynne, thank you for an intelligent, ecological and scientific commentary. You are with the science, on this issue.
Cattle are the "hooved locust". European settlers imported them from their homeland, so they are not a strand in the web of all life or biodiversity, like the wolf, on this continent. The wolf's scientific jobs are to trim the herd, so the herd does not devour Earth. Wolves also trim the ever-expanding mid-size predator populations that are killing too many of our prey species like amphibians, reptiles, birds and small to mid-sized native mammals.
When they reintroduced the wolf to the Yellowstone ecosystem, science had expected great results, but they were stunned as to all the many species not witnessed in almost a hundred years, returning, like trees, plants, birds, reptiles. Beavers returned! Today, Yellowstone has more species of the strands in the web of all life because of the wolf's return home.
Suggested read: "Where the Wild Things Were" William Stolzenberg
You so called hunters are the lowest life scum on this planet. I just hope there is a place you go when you die that the animals have control - and they rip your nuts off everyday. Very good example of the so called "NRA" mother fkers.
do you eat meat ? maybe your one of those pseudo vegetarians who think fish have roots and its okay to eat them as a vegetarian. why's that, because they die fast or have no feeling ? cattle die instantly . chickens,pigs, sheep as well. but fish , oh no , they have the luxury of slowly drowning in a net, or thrown into the hold of a ship ,where they can suffocate in their own body fluid or get crushed to death under the weight of the other fish on top of them. weeeee horray.....i'm a phukking do good bone head. get life you assshole
cal680-1105121
Spoken like a true queer ,panty waisted , City Boy. Tarzan of your concrete Jungle?
didn't Tarzan swing both ways
and you tell me how are you any different than the Republican Christian Taliban, Teaparty. You are not, that is why I am an independent, it is you whiny little bitches but your women go out west every year and screw anything in a cowboy hat
Yeah, let's all join the animal lubbers, go out and kill some hunters to protect Bambi and the wolves. Then gather at Denny's for a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, steak, catfish, and sausage to celebrate the protection of the animals. Bunch of hypocritical idiots.
Cal, hunters arn't scum, BTW if you have ever eaten beef, poltry or fish you have in effect supported the killing of animals. Like I posted eariler their are a varity of reasons why people are killing the wolves. Granted I have a cynical view on the subject, but simply grouping all hunters as EVIL is stupid.
This is totally SICK! It's those dumbass ranchers in the West that are the problem! Not the Wolves or Buffalo but the Stupidass ranchers!
This really pisses me off to read this and KNOW that it's true!
If these stupidass rancher even had half a brain, first off they'd be raising Buffalo not cattle! As Buffalo are leaner meat with less fat and higher protein! The Buffalo know how to fend off the wolves, where the dumbass cattle just stand there...........
Even Buffalo that exit Yellowstone and cross the none exsistended boundry are SHOT by the dumbass ranchers cause they MIGHT give the cows desease which has never happened!
If YOU were smart, you'd stop eating cows and eat Buffalo! They are better at surviving in the wild on ranges and 0 care on the ranges than cattle! So less care by the ranchers raising them.
Ted Turner has several ranches where he raises Buffalo and Buffalo restaurant's in this country.
So back to the Wolves, they prey on the weak when they need a meal. But there isn't much difference between the Wolves and Coyotes! As they love the birthing season and go after the new born to survive! Besides going after your dog and cats.
These ranchers are complete idiots and should be put down, not the Wolf! Now I dare any of these dumbass ranchers to come on here and debate me on this! Oh you stupid ranchers, there is more meat on the hoof than cows!!!!! Cows weren't made to be in dry area's like the West, they are made to be in moist, damp areas.
Who ever is whacking the Wolves, needs to be whacked! They Wolves are much smarter..............
Well said Wayne Wilkins, however, I would add that we don't need any meat, and we all would be healthier for it. Buffalo are leaner, however the cholesterol is still there ( much more than we need), and given our digestive system is a herbivore one, not a carnivorous one. You may not agree with this, but we do agree the ranchers and sick hunters are the problem not the wolves. But try convincing America of this, when the media is pro rancher and hunters.
regards,
Paul
It's pathetic that people like you spew lies and nonsense on topics you have no background or education in. Have you ever seen a pack of wolves kill your dog/horses/sheep/etc...? It's brutal and they will do so just to kill (not just in "birthing season"). You cannot leave wolf populations unchecked and regulated hunting is needed. You also need to manage for deer/elk/moose populations. Do me a favor and actually research a topic before spewing your hatred.
Furthermore, do you wear shoes? Ever sit in a leather chair, or a leather car seat? How about leather gloves? Do you have a briefcase? Wear a belt?
Oh wait, lemme guess, your shoes are made of Buffalo leather right?
@iowa
/sigh
more people talking about topics they have no education in. Our digestive system is not an herbivore only system. I assume you read somewhere in a vegetarian magazine about the length of our digestive tract. Yes, it is long, but not nearly as long in comparison to other vegetarian creatures such as horses and cattle. Alternatively, it is not as short as many carnivores such as cats and dogs. If you are going off of this comparison, we are omnivores.
I'm not going to argue with you whether or not being a vegetarian is healthier, as there are many benefits to it, but to say we are not suited to eat me is false.
Anyway, look it up, there are a multitude of reasons supporting this.
Ever wear a wolf's hide, Srsly? But, seriously, the deer population in the northern great lakes is unnaturally elevated. Many starve over winter and are laid to waste. Even human hunting doesn't cull the population down to the DNR's target number. Why? Because we kill off all the natural predators.
Deny it all you want, the numbers don't agree with you.
Not much difference between a Wolf and a Coyotes......hehe I can tell you never been out in the west Wayne.....LOL not much difference between a wolf and coyote......LOL ahhhh thats a good one!! Oh and if your worried about dear popultaion back east, wether in the upper mid west...or back there, in what you guys call mountains.....by all means give our good, furry friends (the wolves) a loving home.....that way you easterners can love them and protect them all you want....I unders the andirondacks of New York has alot of room.....have at it!
As an honorary member of the Fukowee Tribe I am giving you a new name and are reborn. Standingdip@!$%#.
We do not go any where any more, when asked who we are, we would proudly proclaim Fukowee! And then they would tell us where we were, and we would say we already knew this. Insults would start flying, then fists. It is easier to stay home.
Wayne,
Why would someone with your level of intelligence possibly want to post their entire name beside their rant? I've heard more logic from second graders. I have to assume you contribute about as much to society as the Grey Wolves.
A lot of the rangers in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming (and I suspect, but don't know it for a fact, Colorado) are raisning Bufallo. I have met several who prefer to raise the Bufallo. But the rancher has to conform to the market.
I personally prefer the Buffalo over the cattle.
BTW, you can get a great Buffalo burger at Stockman's restaurant in Pinedale Wyoming.
So, everybody should just abandon their eating habits and comply with your dumbass opinion, and let the poor, mistreated wolves feast on cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, dogs, and young children at their convenience??? Oh, yeah, the only animals who are not entitled to kill other animals are humans. I forgot...
I believe the animals don't stand a chance in America, where most people worship a fairytale god and insist on having their armory of guns to protect themselves. There is no logic, or very little left in this country. No one cares about facts anymore just getting their own agenda out, and yes myself too but I have facts. The "hunting" rednecks actually shoot the wolves in the abdomen to ensure not only do they die, but die a slow, painful death. I have total contempt for these so called Americans, and will hope their gene pool is not robust enough to continue to successfully procreate. There's not "ethical hunting. All one has to do is imagine the roles reversed and magically if humans are murdered it's a big deal, not so much with helpless animals. Wolves stay away from humans, and there have been less than a handful of attacks on humans by wolves since wolves and man have been in this country. I rank hunters with mass murders, pedophiles and many other disgusting groups of humans that are so far removed from empathy, or anything other than their own desires. In general, the entire Interior Dept. and USDA are here to ensure the mass killing of animals and that there will always be animals to hunt, controlled by Federal and State employees that love to kill and the civilian hunting population who think hunting is noble and needed. Each of these people are sick in some way I have yet to figure out. How were these people raised to have such disregard for life other than their own. This part of our American culture makes me sick and few care as long as their lives are going well.
Paraphrasing here. 'It's not the evil men do that is so harmful, rather good men doing nothing and turning a blind eye to that evil.'
iowa-61,
I assume you are a vegetarian.
and if a vegan, probably eats fish,because as we all know they have roots
Iowa 61, I just assume you are a stupid azz and just one more parasite in this society
Actually, Iowa is promoting science and every reason you are breathing. It's referred to scientifically, as the sciences of ecology and conservation biology. Earth is dying because of human folly and ignorance, displayed glaringly because of some these many posters.
While Iowa is scientifically literate, you remain in your little black caves, whistling in the dark, clueless as to why you are breathing. How sad for you, you know nothing of how Earth functions to create and support all life, including oxygen, water, the atmosphere and every reason you are alive. Shame, shame of ignorance and folly.
Iowa grasps the big picture of why and how Earth supports all life, including white trash and redneck, hee-haws!
For your information, Einsteins, pet dogs kill vastly more humans and cattle every year than wolves, but it is all about ancient, long ago, fairy tales and white trash ignorance. Duh, wolves, unlike cattle, are a strand in the web of all life, including white trash and rednecks.
The human mind is the scariest evolution event to date.
Humans routinely protect non-human animal species and humans also exploit them as well. There is a spectrum of behavior resulting from the most complex structure known in the universe, our brains.
There are plenty of organizations to throw your weight behind depending on the morals you desire for civilization. Be heard.
O.K. You got my attention. Now if you could come up with some inspirational words without taking us into never never land we might really be on to something.
Answer: The Wolves.
It's Pay Back Time, Bitches
Guns again. How sad. These wolves were here before we were. Kill, kill, kill, the American way.
Guns are actually significantly more humane method of killing than what the wolves do to sheep and lambs. You should you tube a pack of wolves kill a prey animal sometime if you don't believe me.
If wolves could carry guns, dinsmo, the deaths of their prey would be quick and relatively painless. But for a canid, their mouths are the closest thing they have to a pair of hands. Good luck trying to wield a gun with your own mouth!
I was assuming it was because they had no thumbs, or maybe just maybe they are impossibly below us on the ladder and will never have the brain power to use guns much less invent them and design them and figure out gunpowder. You see, Wolves haven't even figured out basic communication skills or methods of currency or a lot of very elementary things that come before using firearms. Although, I will give them points for being smarter than a lot of humans since they have figured out meat is better than plants when having a meal so they are smarter than most of the people on this board.
@iowa
Do you realize that Native Americans relied heavily on hunting/fishing for their survival? I'm guessing you know this. This was a form of population management. Fires were often set to drive deer populations for harvesting, which additionally provided good habitat in future years.
Why do you think wildlife population control is not necessary today? Would you rather the population rise to an unsustainable level and watch them starve to death instead? Because this is what would happen. Have you actually seen a deer in mid-winter, ribs showing, with no strength to stand up? Starving. I'm guessing you haven't. It's sad.
Ever hear of the Bluff Point Coastal Reserve overpopulation of deer.
I can understand why people hunt to eat, but I can't understand the why people hunt just to kill. Sick freaks
In Idaho and Montana the wolves have substantially decreased the Elk. The local people get 60 % or more of their meal hunting mostly Elk and Deer. So they are hunting the wolves to preserve the Elk and Deer.
The locals are very supportive of limits on the hunting tags needed to sustain the Elk and Deer herds. If you want demonstration of the just ask one of them what they think of poachers.
Charles, the deer and elk populations may have been reduced SLIGHTLY so that hunters had an easier time finding them to kill for their meat, but I guarantee that they have not been decimated to the point that hunters can not find them to take for the meat.
My husband is a hunter. We live in Virginia where deer are overpopulated. Elk were hunted out here to extinction out here and are slowly being reintroduced. I would WELCOME reintroducing wolves to the Eastern Seaboard.
Cat-1200657,
I don't know about Virginia. I'll take your word for the situation in Virginia.
Where I go fishing in the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho the Elk popluation has been substantially reduced.
Yes, I understand the deer are a big problem in the Eastern Seaboard.
I don't think most people have a problem with shooting something that is taking livestock.
Its the outright slavering over and wanting to kill something so badly that they push and push and push and whine and whine and whine and complain about not being allowed to back when they were undeniably endangered. The ones that extirpated them in the first place. LET US KILL THEM! Most of them aren't even ranchers though that's the excuse they try to use. Genetically hardwired to be unreasonable killing creeps.
The planet needs the Army of the 12 Monkeys!
Population control. Humans should try it.
We do. It's called war.
Humans suck at controlling environmental populations of anything. No hunts, kill the wolves on case by case basis only.
here on our farm we do just that. if a yotey or bobcat ,mink what ever we kill it... we kill because its found a source and it will come back. we shoot it, but we don't go out and kill the whole pack just because one of them screwed up