Female wolf killed in central Idaho after harassing cattle
muleystalker01
4/5/07 1:46pm
KETCHUM, Idaho As Idaho awaits a federal decision to delist its wolves, conflicts between the predators and ranchers in the central part of the state have re-emerged with the coming of spring.
A rancher near Ketchum, Idaho, shot a wolf he says had been harassing livestock on private land. Federal rules allow ranchers to shoot wolves that are disrupting their cattle or sheep.
The rancher killed the wolf, a 90-pound female, on March 19th.
Then on March 27th, federal Wildlife Services agents confirmed other wolves had killed a calf on the same private land near Picabo, Idaho.
They're now trying to remove the wolf or wolves that did it.
A rancher near Ketchum, Idaho, shot a wolf he says had been harassing livestock on private land. Federal rules allow ranchers to shoot wolves that are disrupting their cattle or sheep.
The rancher killed the wolf, a 90-pound female, on March 19th.
Then on March 27th, federal Wildlife Services agents confirmed other wolves had killed a calf on the same private land near Picabo, Idaho.
They're now trying to remove the wolf or wolves that did it.
14,229
I agree to an extent. However, when you introduce a keystone species such as the wolf in an area that has never had to deal with it/has not dealt with it in many many years, it's inevitably going to cause a cascade of negative effects throughout the food web within that ecosystem. In other words, deer and elk populations will be negatively impacted.
Whether or not the re-introduced wolves are Canadian Grey Wolves, North Rocky Mountain Grey Wolves, or Mexican Grey Wolves is irrelevent in my opinion (Not all introduction efforts involve the Canadian Grey). Again, in my opinion, the issue is that the deer and elk have not had to deal with a predator that possesses the smarts that the wolf possesses nor tried to avoid a predator that hunts in packs as well as the wolf.
Without writing a whole paper on this subject and/or my opinions regarding same, please see the attached link. It's a great study on the re-introduction of wolves. Yes, this particular study was written by folks that were concerned with the impact of the reintroduction on hunting and is geared toward such. You can find hundreds of papers written by animal and anti-hunting groups that put a different spin on it. However, there are very few written in this context. For what it's worth, I'm an avid reader and study this sort of stuff all the time and I tend to agree with the attached...regardless of the fact that I am also a hunter.
79Ford, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. Stick to your guns my friend. But please, read the study I posted and ask yourself if the re-introduction is worth the efforts.
To keep it balanced I have attached a link to an interview with Mr. Ed Bangs about his efforts in wolf re-introduction in North America. Again, you can find many, many stories, studies, etc on the web. I would encourage everyone to read as much as they can about this subject and then make up thier OWN minds on whether or not they support these efforts.