WAR ON WOLVES IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION IN THE UNITED STATES

Wolf killed at Newberry Station (Michigan, USA). Source: UpperMichigansSource.com.

By Gundhramns Hammer
November 2, 2014
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In a world where natural areas are being encroached and "developed" (= messed up) all the time by people, for wolves, happy times are when no humans are around. 

This is quite true and understandable since our species has had a long history of treating, persecuting and killing wolves like vermin.

In countries such as the United States, where the crime of totally exterminating the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was committed not long ago, you would expect that everybody should already have learned the lessons. 

More so now that national libraries are bursting with scientific literature and internet and TV stations carry so many documentaries on nature.

But this is not the case. 

Some people have. True. Thank God for that!

But there are still many people who haven´t. Lots of people still have the colonisers´ predatory, happy-trigger and see-who-kills-the-most mindset in the United States.

Some of these folks would love to see a world where only people would exist.

There are some species that are having a tough time right at this very moment.

This is the case for grey wolves (Canis lupus).

Right now, in the Great Lakes region and other northern states in the United States there is a massacre of wolves going on.

According to Pacelle (2014), here are the numbers  of wolves killed for the years 2012 and 2013 alone:

• Idaho: Of the 606 wolves killed in Idaho, 37 percent were trapped, 63 percent hunted – leaving an estimated current population of 659 
• Minnesota: Of the 650 wolves killed in Minnesota, 54 percent were trapped, 46 percent hunted – leaving an estimated current population of 2400 
• Montana: Of the 453 wolves killed in Montana, 40 percent were trapped, 60 percent hunted – leaving an estimated current population of 627 
• Wisconsin: Of the 374 wolves killed in Wisconsin, 64 percent were trapped, 26 percent hunted and 9 percent hounded– leaving an estimated current population of 658 
• Wyoming: Of the 133 wolves killed in Wyoming, 19 percent were trapped, 81 percent hunted – leaving an estimated current population of 306.

Wolves are killed by humans in North America for various reasons: 

• Sport hunting, 
• Narco-sport hunting, 
• Trophy hunting, 
• Trophy narco-hunting, 
• Pelt hunting, 
• Population control by livestock ranchers, 
• Psychopathic hunting, 
• etc.

As far as livestock ranching is concerned, we must remember that since this human economic activity was introduced in North America, it has had heavy impact and toll on wildlife. 

After all of of the various reasons American bisons (Bison bison) were killed in vast numbers, bringing the species close to extinction, was to make sure cattle had no competition when grazing.

And the war on wildlife in the United States, or anywhere by that matter - for example, there is a war against moles (Talpa europaea) going on right now in the United Kingdom - ain´t finished yet. 

Whether disguised as "sport hunting" or "population control" under the law which sometimes may be no law or a conniving law, this war still continues today.

This kind of war on wildlife moves milions of dollars in the U.S. economy. It is a "tradition". Yeah! 

From the antrhopological point of view, any tradition is learned behaviour. It is part of man´s software since humans are programmable biological robots.

Granted, in some part of the world was and still is, despite the globalisation of food products - for example, Innuits in the Canadian Arctic get all the modern conveniences and allied health problems nowadays - an activity that has to do with survival.

But, despite the excuses, people do hunt like programmed biological robots. Indeed.

In the United States, the hunting industry is a giant amongst giants and is considered an "economic force for conservation". 

Furthermore, it is also backed by a powerful and untouchable hunting lobby. 

Big bucks are behind all of this.

For instance, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation reports that over 13 million people aged 16 (watched over by a parent or guardian) or older (ca. 6% of the U.S. population) went hunting that year 

These hunters spent over US$38 billion on hunting gear, hunting licenses, car and airplane trips, restaurants, hotels, etc. 

So, wildlife (forest too) has it tough anywhere there are humans (Homo insapiens) around. 

And it becomes tougher if humans are into the business of livestock raising, because then any predator that attacks their animals will be eliminated.

Since sooner or later "controlling" predators becomes expensive and most people cannot be 24 hours watching over their animals, in Saskatchewan (Canada), for example, there are sheep ranchers who are now employing Spanish mastiffs or Pyrenean sheepdogs to co-exist with predators with good results (Video 1).

 Video 1. Sheepdogs: Canadian sheep ranchers co-existing with predators.

But let us get back to our point. 

The point without any sapiens point of killing wolves by man which is going on now in northern United States.

Considering that grey wolves are in the endangered list, this wolf massacre has to stop!

Read more about the grey wolf massacre in the United States: Click HERE or go to the references section.

References

Burgos Peñasco J. (2014). El Mastín Español: La Forma Natural para Evitar Ataques del Lobo al Ganado. Blog, Soy Amig@ del lobo. 3 p.

Pacelle W. (2014). We Need to End Our Unprovoked War on Wolves. TheDodo.com, New York, NY, USA. 2 p.