wolves to be killed with few restrictions in wyoming

[warpedskydiver 0]

Colo. Officers See Possible Wolf on Video
By Associated Press
Fri Mar 3, 7:53 PM

WALDEN, Colo. - State wildlife officers spotted and caught on video what biologists believe was a wolf in northern Colorado, marking what could be the second time a wolf has wandered into the state since their reintroduction to Idaho and Yellowstone National Park in 1995.

Wildlife officers saw the black animal Feb. 16 and 17 near Walden, about 140 miles northwest of Denver and videotaped it loping across the snow mounds.

A landowner called the state Division of Wildlife after seeing the animal 10 miles south of the Wyoming-Colorado border.

Biologists and experts who have seen the video say the animal looks and behaves like a wolf.

"There's really no way to be absolutely sure just by looking at an animal, and even genetic testing isn't 100 percent," said Gary Skiba, a DOW biologist and coordinator of a state wolf management task force.

Rob Edward of Sinapu, a Boulder-based group that advocates reintroduction of wolves, said Friday that he's convinced it's a wolf after watching the video.

"I'd bet my entire set of teeth on it," said Edward, a member of the state wolf task force.

The task force was formed after a dead wolf traced to Yellowstone through its radio collar was found along Interstate 70 west of Denver in 2004. Colorado wildlife managers agree it's just a matter of time until more of the animals roam from the Yellowstone area, so they want to have a management plan in place.

"It clearly demonstrates that wolves are going to be able to make that journey down here from time to time," Edward said.

The wolf management panel released its plan last year, but is still meeting. Members are discussing whether wolves should be restored to Colorado, although there's a wide range of difference of opinion about that.

Wolves were wiped out in Colorado by the 1930s after ranchers, government agents and others shot, trapped and poisoned the predator.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released wolves from Canada in Yellowstone and central Idaho in 1995 to try to rebuild the endangered animal's numbers.

Wolves now number in the hundreds in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The federal government wants to turn over management of the animals to the states and remove them from federal protection, but says Wyoming's failure to draft an acceptable plan is holding that up.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal has said the state will stand by its management plan, which would allow wolves to be killed with few restrictions in much of the state.

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Once again man has decided that some animals don't deserve to live and yet their number in these vast states are only in the hundreds...


I would trade one wild animal for ten politicians any day

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[Nightingale 0]

I love the wolves. I sat in yellowstone every night for two weeks just listening to them howl. I had one look me right in the eye when I watched him through a spotting scope, as if he knew I was watching. They're incredible.

That said, I see both sides of the debate. They kill a lot of livestock and cost ranchers a lot of money. I hate the idea of wolves being killed by ranchers, but I do understand how they feel.

[jumpinfarmer 0]

Not only livestock but they will also go after people if there is a pack of them.

[TomAiello 26]

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They kill a lot of livestock and cost ranchers a lot of money.

Do you have a reference for that?

I don't have any hard numbers, just a suspicion that the impact of wolves may be over-estimated for psychological reasons.

Ever read Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat?

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[MC208B 0]

So what?

[warpedskydiver 0]

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They kill a lot of livestock and cost ranchers a lot of money.

Do you have a reference for that?

I don't have any hard numbers, just a suspicion that the impact of wolves may be over-estimated for psychological reasons.

Ever read Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat?

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

Tom I was waiting for someone to jump on that!

Thanks for seeing the problem.

Also I would dare anyone to show proof that anyone in the US has been attacked by wolves...coyotes yes, but wolves?

PROVE IT!

[SkyDekker 1,465]

There was a case of wolves attacking a human in Canada this year. But it was also noted this may have been a first. It is highly, highly, highly unusual...

[Nightingale 0]

I've never looked up statistics. What I do know is that I was working on a dinosaur dig on a ranch in Wyoming, and while we were there, the rancher lost four bison to wolves (verified wolf kills).

According to wolftrust.org:


Table 1. Verified Wolf Depredation in the USA
State Years Wolves per state Cattle killed Sheep killed Dogs killed Fowl killed
Arizona - New Mexico 1998 22 0 0 1 0
Idaho 1995-2001 261 56 170 10 0
Michigan 1991-1998 245 4 0 1 0
Minnesota 1979-2001 2500 1200 879 173 1251
Montana 1987-2001 84 91 68 10 0
Wisconsin 1976-1998 250 45 11 27 142
Wyoming 1995-2001 218 41 256 23 0


WolfTrust admits that the actual number may be up to six times higher, since the above are only verified wolf kills, and sometimes if a carcass is eaten or decomposed, verification isn't possible.

[warpedskydiver 0]

still you must admit those numbers are very low...given the amount of livestock that lives in those states...
Many times wolves are blamed for coyote kills, especially where smaller animals are taken

Also there are very good reasons the Native Americans revered the Wolf while reviling the Coyote.

The way they were viewed were that of good and evil.

The Wolf was viewed as the epitomy of the hunter spirit, and the coyote was viewed as the lowest of the low, cowardly, deceitful, and much maligned.

These are not my personal views ( though I subscribe to them ) but the views of many of my native friends, most who grew up on or lived on reservations...( not white imposters ) those beliefs were nearly universal even given the diversity of tribal beliefs.

[craddock 0]

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Wisconsin 1976-1998 250 45 11 27 142

WI DNR now claims almost double that number in 2005 and some believe it is higher. Our cabin is in an area with heavy(relativly speaking) Wolf population.

That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

[steve1 5]

There has been a fair amount of livestock killed by wolves here in Montana. I've read several articles in the paper. Ranchers are being reinversed by the government for their losses here. I don't know how fairly this is working though.

I truly enjoy being able to see a wolf or grizzly or to even hear a wolf howl is awesome, but there is no denying the fact that a wolf is a killing machine. If they get used to killing livestock they'll probably return to it.

The places where wolves are being introduced may not be well thought out. I mean we aren't living in the 1800's any more and problems with people will surely arise.

There are a lot of wolves now in the Nine Mile Valley close to Missoula. There are tons of people living in this valley including ranchers, and I'll bet the problems with wolves killing livestock and pets will probably escalate as time goes on. I wish we had more vast areas for these critters to roam around in, but that isn't the case any more. I can see both sides in this argument.

I think they are needed in Yellowstone Park and some other large Wilderness areas. They'll no doubt migrate from there to more populated places. Then problems will arise.

Wolves are very efficient killers of wildlife. Often times if they get an animal down they will start eating it before it is even dead. They are large powerful animals.

It's interesting to note they rarely attack people though. I've read more than one account of even a coyote attacking humans. Bears and mountain lions end up attacking people regularly, but not wolves. I had always been told that there has never been a documented account of a wolf attacking people, but maybe that has changed now. I know this is contrary to what Jack London wrote. I'd like to hear more about the recent wolf attack in Canada.....Steve1

[Nightingale 0]

From what Stan (the rancher) was saying, it doesn't work well at all, because they're only reimbursed for confirmed wolf kills, and often, wolves eat so much of the animal that they have trouble determining for sure what killed it. He'd had some cattle killed too, but the only thing they could confirm was the bison (I'm guessing because bison tend to be a lot bigger, so there was more left).

[jumpinfarmer 0]

A diary that was kept by one of my ancestors tells of how he had to climb a tree one night because he was being pursued by wolves. They stayed under the tree until morning when he finally came down.

Of course this was in 1809 and things have changed a lot since then.