Aerial Wolf Gunning in Idaho
Jamie Rappaport Clark, Defenders of Wildlife
In one of its first moves since retaking the reins of wolf management, Idaho officials last week called in Wildlife Services -- the federal government's chief wildlife-killing agency -- to kill wolves in the central part of the state.
Federal marksmen took to the skies in Idaho's Lolo wilderness, targeting up to 60 wolves to help artificially boost game populations in the region.
Please take action now: speak out against Wildlife Services' aerial gunning of wolves in Idaho.
Using radio collars to track down wolf packs in the area, the airborne marksmen only managed to kill five wolves. The mission was quickly abandoned, described as both inefficient and expensive by the Wildlife Services agents themselves.
But that's not stopping Idaho's plan to kill dozens of wolves in the region to artificially boost elk populations. Wildlife Services could continue gunning from the skies and trapping on the ground.
Wildlife Services is a program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Their mission is to "create a balance that allows people and wildlife to coexist peacefully."
But instead, they have become the federal government's de facto wildlife hitmen -- heavily relying on killing wildlife rather than using proven, effective non-lethal methods of control.
Now, it seems, Wildlife Services has gotten into the business of killing wolves to artificially boost elk populations.
Idaho officials claim that wolves are a major cause of elk declines in certain parts of the state. But the science says otherwise: In 23 of 29 elk management zones, populations of these animals are at or above targets. In fact, many of the areas experiencing declines contain few or no wolves.
And the Clearwater National Forest -- an area targeted by Wildlife Services' aerial gunning plan -- was experiencing steep declines in elk numbers in 1988, well before wolves returned to the area.
Science tells us that predator populations are naturally maintained by their prey population levels -- almost never the other way around. But Wildlife Services' plan kills wolves for doing what they do naturally: Preying on elk and fulfilling their ecological role in a natural system.
Together, we can ensure a lasting future for America's wolves.
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For the Wild Ones,
Jamie Rappaport Clark Executive Vice President Defenders |
Stop the Federal Wolf-Killing Program in Idaho
Last week, Idaho officials called in Wildlife Services to kill wolves from the air to artificially boost elk populations.
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May 19, 2011