December 16, 2010
I’m shocked and saddened by the article supporting wolf hunting, that appeared in the International Wolf Center (IWC) Winter 2o1o edition.
Unbelievably, the author of the article was Dr. Mech, the renowned wildlife biologist, who founded the IWC and is vice-chair of their Board of Directors.
Not only does Dr. Mech support wolf hunts but he goes into shocking detail on how to carry them out. There is talk of harvesting wolves, killing pregnant females, hunting wolves for their pelts, hunting pups later in the year so they don’t look like pups, leg-hold traps, baiting, calling and hiring bounty hunters. Seriously, if I didn’t know better I would have believed this article was written by a fish and game agency.
Last year, Doug Smith, the Yellowstone wolf biologist, stated wolves should be hunted later in winter when their pelts are thicker. This year we have the pro-wolf hunting article by Dr. Mech.
Why would the IWC publish this when wolf advocates are fighting so hard to save wolves from another Western extermination? Why now when there is an all out attack on the ESA? Why now when Mexican gray wolves are fighting for their very existence, being used for target practice in the Southwest, with six wolves killed this year alone? Something is very wrong here. Read for yourself:
Considerations for Developing Wolf Harvesting Regulations in the Contiguous United States
L. David Mech
http://www.wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/winter2010.pdf
=======
Other equally upsetting articles that appeared in the same IWC issue:
Wolves Meet Their Match In Airborne Predators
(This article discusses hunting wolves with eagles!! WHAT???)
AND
Another Viewpoint: Why Hunting-Trapping Is Best Plan To Manage Gray Wolf Populations
(Trapping? I seem to remember the Feds using trappers to exterminate wolves in the West the first time around. What is the IWC thinking? This is outrageous)
http://www.wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/winter2010.pdf
===
Response To David L. Mech’s “Considerations For “Harvesting” American Wolf Populations
December 9, 2010
The International Wolf Center’s mission to educate the public about wolves has taken an unlikely turn on the road to wolf conservation. Dr. L. David Mech, founder of the IWC, published an article in the Winter 2010 Magazine titled “Considerations for Developing Wolf Harvesting Regulations in the Contiguous United States.” In this article, Dr. Mech argues that the delisting of wolves from the Endangered Species Act is “inevitable.” Perhaps Dr. Mech knows something we don’t. But Dr. Mech’s article goes well beyond merely accepting the “inevitable.” He expresses a clear desire to educate the public concerning the most “efficient” methods of wolf harvesting. Let’s not pretty it up, “harvesting” means killing. Dr. Mech offers elaborate detail on the presumption hunters will not kill sufficient numbers of wolves once the “novelty” wears off. For instance, Dr. Mech suggests killing pregnant females, increasing the “monetary value” of wolf pelts by educating the public about proper ways to skin wolves and designating hunts during times when wolf fur is optimal, “fair chase” as well as “trapping and snaring,” and the use of “professional trappers” who are paid per wolf killed. To further maximize kills, Dr. Mech additionally advises “guided hunts” for persons seeking a “trophy” and seeking ways to “maximize the recreational value” of wolf hunting. To “minimize public animosity” towards wolf hunting, Dr. Mech advises promoting more extensive hunting in areas where wolves threaten livestock.
The idea that there is some need to reduce wolf populations is debatable. Wolves are highly adaptable but they prefer to remain in wilderness areas outside the boundaries of human territories. Wolf populations vary but they are subject to losses due to predation, injury, illness, and other natural circumstances. It is also suggested that wolves adapt their pack size to fit the resources and make other adjustments to accommodate pack numbers.
The notion that hunters will tire of killing wolves defies the urgency with which wolves have been massacred for over 100 years to the point of their near extinction. Killing pregnant females goes well beyond killing the she-wolf and her unborn pups. Wolves form close relations within the pack, and organize themselves by specific roles. Young members are essential and killing a pregnant female can disrupt the functioning of the whole pack.
The concern that wolves threaten livestock populations is more-and-more becoming a non-issue. For example, Montana reports loss of 97 out of a population of 2.6 million cattle to wolf depredation in 2009. These cattle roamed freely on both public and private lands with little or no protection. Non-lethal methods of protecting livestock ((i.e., flag fencing, guard dogs, range riders, noise makers, electric fencing, chemical fencing, repayment for lost livestock, range riders, and good animal supervision) have been tried and proven successful. Though he does not offer any figures, Dr. Mech suggests that harvesting wolves will save the cost of using non-lethal methods of protecting livestock. This ignores the obvious cost to organize and regulate hunts, particularly to monitor use of fair chase practices and seek out and deal with poachers.
Dr. Mech argues that paying professional trappers is not “bounty” hunting because they would be directed to kill specific numbers of wolves in specific locations, rather than permitted to seek out and kill wolves at random. This may be a technical argument but makes little practical difference. Trapping and snaring are less than “fair” and cause unnecessary suffering.
Dr. Mech recommends increases in wolf pelt value, to also improve numbers taken. This reduces the wolf to little more than a commodity, not unlike bludgeoning baby seals for making fur hats or fining live sharks to make soup. Dr. Mech additionally recommends killing wolves for “trophies” and encourages “recreational hunting” of wolves. This clearly places the killing of wolves in the arena of a sport, and not some public service related to necessary thinning wolf populations.
Wolves are of little threat to us, and they serve an invaluable purpose. Without wolves balance is disrupted in wilderness areas, which can ultimately lose the ability to sustain plant and animal species from the top down to the bottom of the food chain. Wolves are known to prey on the old, sick and weak animals, which serves to promote the health of elk, caribou, moose and other species. Wolves, even in the great numbers of their distant past, rarely caused harm to humans. It is believed that cavemen followed wolves to learn to hunt, and wolves continue to play an indispensable role in the environment we depend upon for survival. Dr. Mech’s advice sets us back at least 50 years, and is unconscionable at a time when we have come so close to finding enduring solutions to peaceful cohabitation with wolves.
D. J. Lentine, Ph.D.
Lewes, DE
=======
Please contact the IWC and tell them what you think of this egregious betrayal of wolves.
International Wolf Center
1396 Highway 169
Ely, MN 55731-8129
Phone: (218) 365-4695
Fax: (218) 365-3318
TTY Relay Service – (800) 855-2880
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Minnesota gray wolves
Tags: IWC, wolves in the crossfire, Dr. Mech, wolf hunting, ESA
© 2009-2012 Howling For Justice
Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
Footloose Montana
Friends of the Clearwater
Lockwood Animal Rescue Center
Louise du Toit
LUPUSLAETUS
Mercy For Animals
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA)
Predator Friendly®- Because Wildlife Matters
Project Coyote
Project: Wolf
The Nature Conservancy
The Ravensong Group
WildEarth Guardians
Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife
Wolf And Wildlife Studies: Jay Mallonee (Independent Wolf Biologist)
Wolf Song of Alaska
Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
WWP's Gray Wolf Page
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
Howling For Justice 
I think the paragraph about pups is the worst part of the whole article. Mech basically encourages hunters to gain public acceptance by using trickery and word games. He essentially says, “It’s okay to kill pups as long as they don’t obviously look like pups.” Are you kidding me? Don’t get me wrong, if you’re going to have a hunting season, holding it at a time of year when the pups are grown and no longer dependent on their parents is a good thing (that way they won’t starve if the parents get shot). But delaying the hunting season in order to soothe the public’s emotions and pull wool over their eyes just strikes me as slimy. And I didn’t see any real background on the science of wolf hunting in that article, no justification given for yearly killing of wolves. He just dives in as if it’s a given that they need to be hunted — to the point of saying that hunters need encouragement if they don’t think it’s worthwhile!
I can hear them now: “Hey, even David Mech thinks hunting wolves is okay!” We did NOT need this.
Maybe IWC thinks that supporting limited hunts is the best way to pacify wolf haters and ensure that they don’t get angry enough to destroy the species completely. Who knows. Regardless of what compromises we have to make in the political arena for now, shouldn’t our advocacy and opinions reflect our long-term ideals? Or maybe IWC is trying to be unbiased by showcasing perspectives that the organization in general doesn’t necessarily agree with (though that’s no excuse for Mech himself). Maybe they even had to promise to be more neutral in order to get their big government grant. I suppose they have a right to frame themselves as a completely educational, apolitical organization that doesn’t engage in advocacy, and gives voice to a wide range of opinions, if they want to. But they say they’re trying to promote wolf survival. If that’s what they want, why not go all out? I don’t think people who support wolf hunting need an additional platform to spread their ideas; predator hunting is the status quo just about everywhere in the US, after all, and changing that is going to be an uphill battle. We’re the underdogs in this fight, aren’t we? And what about the people who donated to IWC? IWC claims that you’re going to help the wolves by donating to them. How many donors thought their money was going to be used to publish articles about how to hunt wolves effectively?
Blaaaaaaargh. I’m tired.
LikeLike
Captain Sakonna…the idea the IWC would come out with something like this when wolves are facing the most serious threat to their existence in the lower 48, when the ESA is under attack, is stupefying to me. Why do it? Wolf hunters don’t need tips on ways to kill wolves and by an organization who’s mission statement reads: The IWC advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wild-lands, and the human role in their future.” How does that fit in with killing gravid females, killing older pups, using leghold traps (trap-hunting is what did wolves in the first time, it has horrible connotations), baiting, calling and on and on.
They made a huge blunder.
N.
LikeLike
this is totally fraudulent
LikeLike
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Richard Hurry, Nabeki. Nabeki said: Speechless…..: http://wp.me/pDTDG-2zD […]
LikeLike
Thanks for posting this Nabeki ! I know you will be able to get it out to a large audience. I was truly shocked when i got the IWC newsletter magazine in the mail. I started reading, flipped through it, did some more reading, saw one article was by David Mech, went back to the front cover, read the title, looked at the logo, looked at the mission statement… I could not believe my eyes!
Their mission statement says “The IWC advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands, and the human role in their future.” OH…now i get it; i guess “the human role in their future” is for humans to kill them!?!
LikeLike
Ann, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It just stunned me. Especially one of the other articles in the issue about hunting wolves with eagles. I almost fell over.
The IWC is supposed to be promoting education about wolves, not the best ways to kill them. Waiting until pups are older to kill them, so they don’t look like pups?? So basically it’s ok to kill pups as long as they don’t look like pups. What?
Now we have to battle the anti-wolfers and the biologists? I wonder what Gordon Haber would say about this?
N.
LikeLike
Nabeki, is it really snowing on your site???
Or are my eyes playing tricks on me??!!
LikeLike
LOL Ann, it is snowing on my site. Every winter we get snow on wordpress (-:
N.
LikeLike
Mr.Mech,note I won’t call him doctor, has been that way for some time now,and it isn’t a surprise to me.He rather turned around about the same time Doug Smith did.Hunters do not need pep talks to justify or encourage hunts.Their egos keep most of them going,not to mention,the support from fellow hunters. This is why wolf supporters need to remain strong regardless of how many people that once supported the wolf, have fallen.Remember it is for the wolves and their right to be here.They have a right to co-exist on this earth with us, as any bird that flies,fish that swims and the rest of the animals that roam the earth.
LikeLike
Wow Rita, beautifully put. I wonder what happened to this Dr. Mech:
“If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes.” -L. David Mech
N.
LikeLike
I think now that the wolves have recovered, Mech now wants to focus attention on species that are truly endangered.
LikeLike
Hi wolf moderate,
Not sure where you get your information but wolves are certainly not recovered in the Northern Rockies, or much of anywhere else in the country. They inhabit just 5% of their historic range. Whatever Dr. Mech’s motives were in posting that article in the IWC winter magazine issue, it offended many wolf advocates. Giviing helpful hints on how to hunt wolf pups and pregnant females is not my idea of a good read. Also the inclusiion of the Mongolion practice of hunting wolves with eagles was especially disgusting.
Please read the Center for Biological Diversity’s intent to sue over the lack of a comprehensive scientific wolf recovery plan.
Lawsuit Launched to Recover Wolves Across Country
National Plan Would Focus on Saving Existing Wolf Populations and Returning Wolves to West Coast, New England, Southern Rockies and Great Plains
The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Interior Department for failing to develop a recovery plan for wolves in the lower 48 states. Such a plan is required by the Endangered Species Act, and according to today’s notice should have been developed 30 years ago or more. In July the Center submitted a scientific petition to Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service asking that a national recovery plan be developed, but never received a response.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2010/wolves-12-21-2010.html
N.
LikeLike
wolf moderate,We all should be concerned about the other animals and plants that are slipping away,either from habitat change,climate change or any other causes.I know I care and I am sure that there are others here that care ,too, but this is a wolf blog.I am concerned about the wolves, but like I have said before, I am concerned about all that inhabit this earth .If,your are implying that Mech,wrote this piece in order to tell us or imply that other species are more deserving than the wolf from going extinct ,than he should go and help them and step aside from wolves.If Mech wants to focus on other species,than do it and than write articles as such.
LikeLike
I am merely stating the obvious. Grey wolves are not endangered. Mr Mech, it seems, feels the same way. Why not spend our vauable resources on animals that are in true need of protection. Please stop the law suits and allow the states to manage wolves. No disrespect but you are making a grave mistake.
Most people that matter in the western states want to get rid of the wolves. I do not feel this way. I personally enjoy the howls as it feels more wild to me. Unfortunately most do not feel this way and it’s going to end badly for the wolves. I personally will blame only the people who are insane. That only see ONE side of the equation.
Good luck to you.
LikeLike
“Most people that matter in the western states want to get rid of the wolves.”
So the people that matter are hunters, ranchers and outfitters and the politiicans and state game agencies that cater to them? Good to know. I guess you don’t see any similariteis to the first extermination of wolves and what is happening now? You obviously haven’t been paying attention to the behavior of the wolf hating crowd and the demonization of wolves. That’s why we have the ESA, to protect a species like the wolf, that is so persecuted. I will repeat once more, wolves are not even close to being recovered, since they inhabit just 5% of their historic range.
I personally will blame only the people who are insane.”
That certainly doesn’t describe the one-side wolf hating crowd now does it?
Please don’t bother to post your nonsense here, we’re all too savy to pay attention to your “moderate” talking points.
N.
LikeLike
I view the wolf issue as something of a watershed. How we treat them has implications for how the US treats any endangered species, and all predators for that matter. If we allow politics rather than science to decide when our wolf population is recovered, that could be a grave mistake, and it could spell trouble for other species that *are* truly endangered.
Furthermore, species aren’t the only things that matter. Individuals matter too. I know that there’s a healthy population of thousands of gray wolves up in Canada, but I really couldn’t care less. Each and every wolf that lives is worth protecting, simply because it is a living, sentient being, whether the species is endangered or not.
LikeLike
Very well put captainsakonna. Stripping gray wolves out of the ESA would be a grave mistake. They wouldn’t stop with the wolf. Science should never be influenced by politics. The problem we’re having is one made by the Obama admin. By selecting Salazar for the Interior he has given the haters a voice. Do you imagine for one minute if Parick Kennedy was head of the Interior that Butch Otter would have a platform to stand on? I don’t think so. Obama did this, he created this situation by placing a rancher @ the Interior and now our precious wildlife is paying for it. This is worse than Gayle Norton or even James Watt. It’s a disaster.
N.
LikeLike
You said it Nabeki. “Most people”. What he means is hunters, ranchers, and outfitters want to get rid of wolves. it is misleading to try to paint the picture of all people in wolf states want them gone. Only the hunters/ranchers want wolves gone. Wolves eat elk and deer and this is the main reason why hunters want them gone. Ranchers want them gone because they eat livestock and ranchers do a poorly job protecting and watching over their livestock. Not all of the, but I would say a good number of them. Blame the people who are insane, than blame your ignorant hunting buddies who want wolves eradicated all over again simply because they kill elk and deer IN ORDER TO SURVIVE.
LikeLike
So true Jon. I love the “most people”, as if somehow a small, loud minority is most people. I said it to captain sakonna that the Obama admin is responsible for this. By appointing Salazar as head of the Interior, he gave the haters a voice. There is no way an environmentalist in that same position would be making closed door deals with the three western governors. Or Western Senators and Representatives would be introducing bills to remove gray wolves protections. When Obama delisted the wolves it started the nightmare and it hasn’t stopped. Even George Bush didn’t accomplish that. It’s an absolute shame a Democrat President caused this situation. We should all remember this in 2012.
N.
LikeLike
captain, I agree with you 100%. It does not matter if there were 1 million gray wolves. Each wolf should be given the right to live without being killed by a cowardly and worthless sport hunter. These scumbag hunters have no regard for the animals whose lives they take away from them. They try to justify sport killing by saying well, they aren’t endangered. What these scumbags don’t get is that there are some people out there who value every wolf’s life. That is what separates us from the cold hearted blood thirsty wildlife killing morons we know as hunters. I also find it disgusting how these hunters try to act like they care about wildlife. They will tell you time and time again of how they care about elk and deer. The truth needs to come out. These people don’t care about wildlife in the way that us wolf advocates do. They care about killing wildlife and we try to save wildlife from being killed by cowardly blood thirsty sport hunters. They try to save wildlife from predators so that they can kill it themselves. These people are hypocrites and wildlife killers.
LikeLike
Well said Jon. I hope you are at the negotiating table when it comes time to take the wolves off the ESA. You have such a wonderful way of speaking of others that you do not agree with.
CARRY ON! 🙂
LikeLike
Good Point.
LikeLike
C’mon, wolf moderate. If you were discussing a group of people that you truly thought were practicing something terribly unjust — say rapists or slave traders — do you think you’d be breaking out the sweet talk? Jon is just calling things the way he sees them.
Maybe there are some wolf hunters out there who genuinely think they are doing a good thing, because they’ve been misled into believing that the balance of nature or the safety of mankind requires wolf hunting. But I suspect there are also some who just want to have their fun or their trophy, and wouldn’t care how much evidence that wolf hunting is unnecessary you threw at them. Some people aren’t willing to afford animals any consideration if it would impact their pleasure or convenience in some way. I find the attitudes of such people disgusting, and I won’t apologize for my disgust.
LikeLike
I am not surprised by the Mech article, but I am disappointed. Wolves have enough enemies. Then to top it off we have people making simplistic Bambi references. I don’t know if it’s Mr or Mrs Henry, but some of your comments could be added to the anti-wolf bingo board. ‘Perhaps if you people spent a little time out in the wild country” or “Have any of you people ever taken a course in biological science, wildlife management, or studied ecosystems? Give us a break. Many of us have worked with wolves in the wild for years and don’t need any lectures from a know it all.
LikeLike
I got rid of that comment william…not sure how he slipped through. I think he/she is a bow hunter. I have zero tolerance anymore for those comments, it’s the same talking points over and over.
As for Dr. Mech, I think he made a huge mistake writing that article and then in the same issue they have two more articles by other authors, one on killing wolves by trap-hunting and the other on killing wolves with eagles. What???
N.
LikeLike
I am writing this because I am Just Sick about Hearing this News. I Believe This is Wrong. Our Wolves are a Major Part of Our HERITAGE. How Can These People Justify Extermination of the Wolves. They are a Beautiful Animal That GOD Gave To Us,They area NATURAL Way of keeping the Population’s of Other Wild Animal’s Down. I Consider this As CRULE AND IN-HUMANE.What Is WRONG With These people,Isn’t There Any Way to STOP This from Happening?I Believe There Are Other Way’s The Rancher’s Can Protect Their Animal’s Without Killing the Wolve’s. Wolves Take down the Weakest and The Sick Of Herd’s of Wild Animal’s. The ONLY REASON that Wolve’s would Go after There Animak’s is Because THEY MOVED into Their TERRITORY and Cause The ANIMAL’S they NORMALLY HUNT FOR FOOD. This Is An OUTRAGE,I CAN’T BELIEVE This is HAPPENINg.I know There are Many Like me in AMERICA and ELSEWHERE that DO NOT Want this to Happen.
LikeLike
Very well said anna. We are fighting hard to stop this but we need a real grass roots movement. People must speak out and let the politicians and fish and game know we won’t tolerate this any more. They are destroying America’s wildlife.
N.
LikeLike
Hey, did you ever take the courses that you mentioned ??? I serously doubt it. Did you read the content of this article !!! I serously doubt it. You sound like one of the idiot Wolf Haters!!!!!
LikeLike
There’s a BIG difference between hunting elk or deer and hunting wolves, or any predator. We hunt elk and deer for food; we hunt wolves for fun and profit. Elk and deer are prey animals and are designed to have their numbers regulated by predators; wolves are at the top of the food chain, and can regulate their own numbers. We shouldn’t manage wolves just like any other species of wildlife because they are NOT any other species of wildlife. They do not need “management” (and even if they do, we could sterilize them instead of killing them), nor are they mere resources to be “harvested.” Period. End of discussion. (See, I can be a pompous know-it-all too, if I want.)
LikeLike
I’m against the harvest, but I need to correct you.
You CAN eat wolf. Some people DO eat wolves. Not JUST for fun an profit. Although I dont know why they would want to eat it.
LikeLike
That’s interesting; who eats them? I know you CAN eat them, of course, but most Americans find the idea of eating canines or felines disturbing. I don’t think very many, if any, of the wolves that were killed in the 2009 Montana/Idaho hunts got turned into steaks.
LikeLike
If this is what the IWC has turned to, I will never support them again.
LikeLike
Hi Richard..I understand how you feel. To me this is a betrayal of wolves.
N.
LikeLike
Nabeki, I am not a big fan of 99% of wolf biologists because one day, they will say good things about wolves and other days, they will say that wolves need to be killed. I’m not a fan of Smith or Mech.
LikeLike
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I just put their latest solicitation for membership renewal in my recycling sack.
LikeLike
You’re welcome Mark!!
N.
LikeLike
call them up for a correction
LikeLike
ernie, I updated the link to the 2010 IWC winter edition, since the old link wasn’t working. It’s very sad and disheartening to read it.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
LikeLike
Both Mech and Smith have giant, know-everything, egos.
They see wolves as “their”, radio-collared and numbered, research objects.
Both of them need to retire and shut up.
They are prime examples of the old
adage: “Familiarity Breeds Contempt”.
LikeLike
Common sense words Larry.
N.
LikeLike
I lost all respect for David Mech when I saw him, in a televised special, chasing Musk Oxen out of their defensive huddle, with his 4-wheeler so they could film Artic wolves catching and killing the Musk Ox calves.(On his own time of course)
I Lost all respect for Doug Smith when I purchased a wolf calendar published by his wife. It was full of photos taken by Doug and other wolf biologists from helicopters and airplanes. They published it as “Yellowstone Wolves 2010” and didn’t give any credit on the photos to their employer,the National Park Service.
I contacted a Park Service special investigator about the matter, and Doug isn’t publishing a “Yellowstone Wolves 2011” this year.
LikeLike
Hold on people! Put your pitchforks and torches down. I read the article by Mech and it DOES NOT say that Mech or the wolf center supports wolf hunting. The center has always been a place to go for any kind of wolf info. This is one aspect of wolf info. Don’t you think that you should know ALL the facts about wolf hunting so you are prepared??? That is what those articles are for, to inform people so we can make better arguments for wolf survival rather than sounding like a bunch of bleeding heart liberal tree-huggers. We need to be informed in order to take a stand. PLEASE use your brains!!!
LikeLike
Hello Michelle,
I have to say I completely disagree with your assessment. Especially labeling wolf advocates as “bleeding heart liberal tree-huggers”. Sounds like you have an agenda.
Just to let you know wolf adovcates learned everything we ever wanted to know about wolf hunting, by witnessing the 2009/2010 hunts, thank you very much.
I also noted you were badmouthing this blog on the IWC facebook page today with this statement:
“Howling for Justice’s blog is full of misinformation too. Mech is NOT the president, they don’t have one. He is the vice chair of the board (public info), they didn’t get a million dollar grant (also public info), wolf packs CAN and DO have multiple breeders in one pack (see Yellowstone wolves – multiple packs, multiple years). That blog is FULL of false information on top of his ramblings.”
I can’t answer you directly on IWC’s facebook page because I’m not a member but I will answer you here:
It seems you are nitpicking to get your point across. A slight mistake, which I corrected, that Dr. Mech is the Vice Chair, does not mean my blog is full of false information. One can make the statement that wolves mate for life and not be wrong. Of course there are exceptions. If their mates are killed or if a rival clan takes out one or other of the alphas. You can also say with conviction that most wolf packs have only one breeding female, are there exceptions? Yes, the Hog Heaven Pack, twenty seven members strong had two breeding females but that’s not the norm.
If you are addressing Dr. Lentines letter, those were her thoughts and response to Dr. Mech’s article. I’m waiting for her answer to clarify. If there is a descrepancy about the grant I will be the first to admit it. Putting that aside, the main issue is not if Dr. Mech is chair or vice chair, it’s about what was contained in the article by Dr. Mech, giving tips on wolf hunting: ie; hunting gravid females before they are obviously pregnant, discussing hunting pups around November when they are larger and don’t look like pups, the list goes on and on.. These are the issues that are offensive to many wolf adovcates.
Get a grip.
N.
LikeLike
Michele Eddy writes…”we need to be informed??????”
I don’t know where you reside, Michele, but I’m in Montana in the middle of wolf country. I’d say that I’m pretty well informed, spend many days hiking in wolf country and have seen whole packs wiped out by WS with the approval of over zealous biostitutes who coddle the cow and sheep growers, not to mention the red-neck hunters.
I’ve also worked on sponsoring various wolf education programs.
So before you and your fellow cohorts at the IWC lecture on being informed, I suggest you visit the “war zone” here in the Northern Rockies so you can see first hand the results of Mech, Hammill, etc and their support of special interest groups and the resulting slaughter of our wolves. Oh yes, you folks and Mech call it “harvesting”…..like a field of corn. Guess that sounds better to you.
And NO, I won’t even reconsider my decision to cancel my membership.
Also, since it seems important to you, my copy says Mech is vice chair, not President. Feel Better?
LikeLike
@ Jerry. Well said and I concur. This lady hasn’t a clue!
LikeLike
OK Michelle, I understand your position is that the IWC is defensible for publishing articles that educate the public about the desire to hunt wolves; as if this is somehow NOT already known. But, this is NOT the crux of any of the articles in the Winter 2010 issue. The first feature article presumes hunting is inevitable and offers great detail about how to maximixe kills – and ways to make it more appealing to the public. The second feature article presumes the public is tired of on-again, off-again endangered species status for wolves, and assumes hunting is a good way to settle that debate. Why not publish an article that offers good reasons to make wolf hunting an OFF the table matter once n’ for all! IWC certainly has adequate resources to secure comparison articles that offer counter arguments; and let the public decide. IWC did not even attempt objectivity. It devoted an entire issue to wolf hunting, and I can’t excuse that. IWC took a stance, and is responsible for it. It offered wolf hunting a wide audiance, and put it’s reputation behind the suggestion that killing wolves is the right direction for wolf population control. It did not publish even one reason we may need to control the size of wolf populations; also IWC did not offer even one alternative to wolf hunting to accomplish this goal. Finally, if the IWC just wants to inform the public about these things, why not publish photos of wolves eating off their paws to free themselves from traps? That’s an unfortunate but necessary aspect to any education about wolf trapping. Do you think IWC would have gotten their point across quite as well if they had included a picture of a wolf-head trophy?
Donna
LikeLike
As the Director of Education at the International Wolf Center, I wanted to say thank you all for taking the time and the energy to express your opinions about our latest edition of International Wolf. I can understand the frustration and anger many of you are expressing.
I do think it is important to highlight a few things about this topic.
The International Wolf Center has not received a federal grant in the amount of $1.2 million.
Dr. Mech is not the President of our Board of Directors.
On page two of the magazine it does state that articles within the magazine are not the position of the Center. It might have been a good idea to make that more clear in this case.
As an educational organization we try not to take sides in controversial issues, but present accurate information and allow informed people to make up their own minds.
The methods discussed in the article are considerations, not proclamations of support. Nor does Dr. Mech suggest using the methods, only the realities behind the use of the various methods of wolf harvest. Although the topic of wolf hunting is extremely emotional and controversial, it is essential that the public is aware of what is considered, discussed and weighed when wildlife managers explore using these types of management practices. Dr. Mech wrote the article as part of his job as a wildlife biologist for the federal government, not for the Center. The article does not suggest that wolves should be harvested, but only that if they are, these are the considerations that wildlife managers should make. It was previously printed in another publication and therefore available to the public.
Again, I understand why people who care deeply about wolves might be upset about the content of the magazine and particularly this article, but it is important for all of us to continue to learn about this extremely important and ever-changing topic.
To those of you who have supported the International Wolf Center in the past–and who continue to do so–we greatly appreciate that and apologize for any misunderstanding that has happened.
Jerritt
LikeLike
Hello Jerritt,
Thank you for your response. I corrected Dr. Mech as the vice-chair of the Board. Dr. Lentine issued an updated version of her letter and addressed the issues you brought to her attention.
Wolf hunting is a very upsetting subject for many people. Wolf advocates are in the middle of a fierce battle to prevent Congress from gutting the ESA and stripping gray wolves of their protections. The scapegoating and demonizing of wolves has reached new heights since Judge Molloy relisted them. There is an anti-wolf website that talks about poisoning wolves with the artificial sweetener, Xylitol and suggests hunters are lacing gut piles with Xylitol, which is highly poisonous to all canines, not just wolves.
The atmosphere in the Northern Rockies is toxic concerning wolves. The secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, has been holding behind closed-door meetings with the three western governors, Butch Otter (Idaho), Brian Schweitzer (Montana) and Dave Freudenthal (Wyoming), to push the delisting of wolves.
House Bill 6028 and others seeks to strip all gray wolves from the ESA now and forever, which would also include the highly endangered Mexican gray wolf, who is under siege in the Southwest. Tampering with the ESA to delist a species for political reasons, opens the door to threaten any listed animal.
Into this highly charged situation the IWC makes a decision to discuss in detail the topic of wolf hunting, which in my opinion only escalates the tension and gives fodder to the anti-wolf crowd.
In his piece Dr. Mech talks about trapping, baiting, the use of leg hold traps, snares, hunting wolves on snowmobiles and horseback:
“Use of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and horseback to track down and shoot wolves might be useful in more open areas for short periods before wind obscures tracks in snow.”
He also discusses hunting gravid females before March 1, so they won’t look obviously pregnant.
“A similar consideration that can be made toward the end of any annual hunting or trapping season would be to end the season before fetuses in gravid females are obvious. In most northern states that would be by 1 March, which also coincides with when wolf fur has lost its prime. Allowing harvest through February, however, would assist with wolf control by increasing chances that gravid wolves would be taken.”
There is also talk of hunting wolf pups in or around November, so they don’t look like pups.
“The primary consideration is to open the season only after most pups have reached adult size and are no longer readily identifiable as pups, usually about November.Killing animals that are obviously pups will invite much revulsion, even by sportsmen. Referring to these grown pups as young-of-the-year would help, and not opening the season until November would minimize possible harvest of obvious pups.” ?
What wolf advocate wouldn’t be offended by these suggestions?
Those are just a few of the things in the article that I and many others find offensive. What’s next “taxidermy tips” for your next wolf kill?
This statement was an editor’s note prefacing Dr. Mech’s article: “Thus in this issue International Wolf presents three articles discussing these important and controversial subjects and and no doubt will carry more in the future.” Is this the kind of thing that IWC supporters have to look forward to?
There are two other disturbing articles that also appear in the Winter issue. One dealing with the Mongolian custom of hunting wolves with eagles and another piece on trap-hunting wolves. Why would the IWC, whose mission states: “The IWC advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wild lands, and the human role in their future.” feel compelled to give hunters tips on how to kill wolves more efficiently? Or to describe ways to minimize public revulsion of wolf hunts? Believe me wolf hunters don’t need pep talks to kill wolves. Thousands and thousands of tags were sold in both Montana and Idaho for a chance to kill a little over two hundred wolves.
As for the IWC magazine article. “not necessarily reflecting the viewpoint of the IWC or its Board of Directors” what kind of organization writes, publishes and distributes articles they don’t agree with or want to further the cause of?
In conclusion, I and others do not understand the motivation behind these articles. The IWC would have to know this information would give fodder to the anti-wolf crowd, who are only too happy to quote Dr. Mech and use his advice as a way to justify wolf hunts.
For all these reasons I believe it was a miscalculation on the part of IWC to think advancing this “advice” would somehow be received by wolf advocates as an unbiased, educational tool. To me it was like throwing hot coals on an already blazing fire.
I’m very disappointed the IWC choose this course.
Thank you for your time.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
LikeLike
Nabeki, as always your knowledge, passion and grasp of the “facts” is such a benefit for all Wolf Advocates. I have to say I think this in your comment sums it up: “As for the IWC magazine article. “not necessarily reflecting the viewpoint of the IWC or its Board of Directors” what kind of organization writes, publishes and distributes articles they don’t agree with or want to further the cause of?”
Indeed, if this man, or any other person sits on a Board and publishes papers on an organizations website, then what other conclusion can be draw other than the Organization and their Board of Directors agree with such opinions.
Again, this qualifying posturing and positioning are an insult as are Mr. Meah’s comments/opinions in the first place are.
LikeLike
@ Jarret. Thanks for taking the time to set your position straight.
You mention that “On page two of the magazine it does state that articles within the magazine are not the position of the Center”.
May I suggest to you that perhaps in the future you look at the over all situation of wolves before allowing such an article to go to the press.
By allowing this type of materiel you (IWC)… whether by design or not have subliminally shown your support for a wolf hunt. You may be able to avoid responsibility of the content of the article but being the director you cant avoid the responsibility of the type of article that is printed in your magazine.
In other words. Bin Laden didn’t fly the planes but he sure as hell supported the actions of his cohorts.
Its obvious to me you are out of touch with what is going on in the Montana Rockies.
LikeLike
Jerritt-
I think I explained when I left you the email message that there is a time and a place for everything. This article is inapropriate at a time when wolves are under seige from hunters and political forces that view the wolf and the ESA as a symbol of liberal left wing environmental extremism, complete with misinformation and a hatred that I find offensive. Nabeki outlined very well all the points that many of us find offensive. How can you advocate for wolves on one hand and on the other offer suggestions on how to kill wolves more efficiently?
LikeLike
Most of us in the pro-wolf community feel that wolf hunting is un neccessary- period.
LikeLike
Well said william and we don’t appreciate a wolf organization who seeks to educate people on wolves, giving tips on how to kill them.
N.
LikeLike
Dear Nabeki the worst people who cause the most damage to Wolfs is this people i cant call him a dr. because his not for me this is outrageous all this kind of biologists is the worst nightmare for the safety of any Wolf same just same… Is Just INSANE
LikeLike
It really seems that way Vasileios, it really does.
N.
LikeLike
I guess Speechless, Shocked and Sad is what I am feeling. You can also add Anger, Frustration and Incredulous to the range of emotions. How on earth can anyone who claims to be a Wolf Advocate suggest killing them? And doing it in winter when their pelts are thicker, and killing pregnant females, killing when pups are older so, you know, they don’t look like pups. But then he suggests getting around that little problem by calling them “young of the year”. I am sorry this man completely insults my intelligence!! And I am tired of being referred to as “certain segments of the public” because I find all of this reprehensible!
I am sick to the teeth of the words “harvest” and “manage” and “management”. You don’t harvest or manage wolves, you are killing them. So let’s just call this what it is Wolf Murder.
After doing a little research on the IWC website, well surprise, surprise, Dave is a senior research scientist for the Department of the Interior. Oh that’s just what is needed to encourage Ken Slaughterzar even more.
Finally, Dr. Mech recommends killing wolves for “trophies” and encourages “recreational hunting” of wolves; sports which grossly diminish the wolves value and purpose. I suggest Mech go to work for the International Safari Crowd and get paid for his efforts. He certainly is advancing their cause and not those of Wolf and Wildlife Advocates.
Needless to say I intend to write the IWC.
LikeLike
SCWG…I’m still shocked by it. Not sure why they would think this was something that wolf advocates wouldn’t be upset about? Why doesn’t the IWC get it? Did they think wolf hunters needed tips on how to kill wolves because Mech’s article wasn’t aimed at wolfadvocates. Why would we want to hear any of that? Who were the articles directed at? That’s what I would like to know. I’m sure they are hearing from their membership on this.
N.
LikeLike
mech??? do you mean meach,DEAR NABEKI??? Who wrote : “The Arctic Wolf,Ten Years With The Pack”??? it was my first book about wolves!he began crazy or what??? PLEASE,somebody can to close mech in the mental hospital??? mech??? do you mean mech??? who “loved” wolves??? i think the sky fell on my head! i sent email to the CBI, they contact me every week for donation or for by somethings….i sent email to mech via CBI. i’m so shoking,upset,my GOD,mech,mech wrote this horrible article??? i’m so worry for WOLVES,in this moment we didn’t need mech’s article….
LikeLike
Everyone is as shocked as you Agnes…I don’t understnad it. As you said wolves don’t need anymore trouble. Enough has been heaped upon them. It’s very upsetting.
N.
LikeLike
I’m happy now a little bit,because i never made donation for CBI,and never to mech here: “dmech@giftsforconservation.org”….WHICH CONSERVATION, MY GOD,WHICH CONSERVATION…WOLVES HUNTERS CONSERVATION?????
LikeLike
Mech, if you google yourself and read this, I respected your work. You note only wrote the books on what we know of wolves, you re-wrote it too. That’s a damn fine achievement. You probably know wolves better than anyone alive. You know their intelligence, their behaviour, their needs. You more than anyone else should be above seeing an intelligent, socially sophisticated apex predator as something more than a commodity. As someone with the contact time, experience and knowledge that you have with these fellow living creature, that you can advocate their systeamtic mass-murder in order to harvest their skin to use as fashion accessories, concerns me. I am forced to question not your research, but your ability to function as normal human being. Such a disconnect and utter lack of ability to empathise with other living creatures leads me question you most basic humanity.
The Wolf Center aims to teach people about wolves. What can it teach them through paranoia, murder and commodification of wolves than humans haven’t already learned in the decades we have already practised such mass slaughter?
I am glad I borrowed your books from uni and did not purchase them. I am not in the habit of giving money to people who advocate the killing or abuse of canids, as much of my own spare time is dedicated to the protection of those they seek to harm.
LikeLike
DEAR NABEKI! last year i found video “hunting wolves with golden eagle in mongolia”….i was sick and cried lot of…some american hunters comments of this video was favourable to use in USA….i don’t want send the link, everybody can to find on youtube….
LikeLike
That is so horrible Agnes. I tried watching the video a while ago and it made me sick, I’m just not able to watch it.
N.
LikeLike
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/janfeb04/mech.html
Karlyn Atkinson-Berg, a wolf advocate for several organizations, acknowledged Mech’s contributions to science, but, like many activists, faulted his willingness to sanction hunting and trapping.
LikeLike
I can’t believe he has a 200 mink trap-line, that explains a lot Jon.
N.
LikeLike
Hello Neb
I agree with everything you said – I wonder now if David Mech just claimed that Mowatt Farley was a “freud” or not – Maybe Mech just wanted to be the “foremost” top guy so-to-speak concerning wovles – In any event, I really do think Mech must be a very sick man – How could anyone who has had the privledge of being near and around wovles for nearly 65 years, and knowing all that we know about these majestic animals really apply that knowledge to best wolf hunting practices?! What manner of bloodlust or ego-need or what led him down this road??? But, all I can say is – we can no longer follow his lead as concerns wolves!
Donna
LikeLike
Agnes and Nabeki…..on page 16 of the International Wolf Center Newsletter is the four page story of wolves being “harvested” by the golden eagles in Mongolia. Graphic description of how they kill the wolves.
1.2 million went to this center?!! Shocking!!!!
LikeLike
AHAH! This is exactly what we (and the wolves) needed. Dr. Mech writing about ways to inhumanely kill wolves!
After seeing images of the completely destroyed leg of a trapped coyote in PredatorDefense.org, I´ve developed an incurable hate to trapping and snaring. I mean, just imagine the kind of torture it must be to have your leg jammed in a steel trap with sharp teeth piercing through your skin. Predators actually chew their legs off in a desperate attempt to free themselves. My head hurts just by writing this.
And now, the man I greatly admired has now come up with ways to shoot wolf pups, trap wolves and feed the anti-wolf rhetoric.
WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT?! Now, were not even supported by the organization who´s purpose is to teach and support wolves, not fall in anti-wolf traps.
Now, they are too seeking the easiest way to support hate-based wolf hunting.
This is simply incredible…
LikeLike
Right now I’m de-suscribing from their e-newsletter. Incredible, incredible, incredible…Like all of us here, I’m speechless…
LikeLike
I agree, leg traps are some of the most inhumane ways of killing predator canids. Whoever advocates such a “solution” whilst knowing the effects they have (and Mech undoubtedly does) is very sick indeed. If mass slaughter of wolves is “inevitable” (and there is nothing inevitable about it. It is not a law of nature, like gravity, it is a concious human decision that we are free to carry out, or not, at will) then there are any number of more humane options.
However, in reality Mech knows full well that if left alone, the wolf population density will not increase forever, and that “harvesting” serves not an ecological purpose, but a human one, the desire to profit off the back of wolves, and in the most literal sense of the term – by stripping the skin off their backs and selling it.
IDEAS ON WHAT CAN BE DONE:
This is somewhat a stream of conciousness, but feel free to pick on any nuggets of usefulness.
1) The anti-fur organisations need to have attention drawn to the trade in wolf pelts. A lot of people (especially in Europe) are not even aware wolf pelts are traded. Mech points out the trade is barely profitable. Therefore, it shouldn’t take too much downward pressure on demand to make it unviable commercially. We need to work with the anti-fur organisations to highlight the use of wolf pelts. We need to do research to find out which companies are buying these pelts, what products they are going into, and who and where the retail and end-user market is strongest. If the price of wolves skin can be made to collapse then it will achieve two things – firstly, it will reduce the number of people willing to do the government’s dirty work, as there will be no profit in it. Secondly, it will undermine Mech’s argument that a wolf slaughter-fest is a viable and legitimate “free market” activity.
2)Let’s not allow this BS to pass under the eyes of the public by using nice words and “big scary wolves” rather than pups. The language needs to be exposed, and the wider animal welfare and environmental orgs need to be alerted to a plan of slaughter that is no less disturbing than the Canadian seal hunt.
3)Current hunting is infrasturcutre intensive and is often done from aircraft. Now I’d wager that most hunters don’t happen to have a Cessna or a helicopter lying in their garage on the off chance they get a permit to go and murder wolves. These aircraft are most likely hired from a charter operator. These operators could be exposed as supporting such practices (along with details of what such practices are all about) to bring pressure on them to refuse to do business with hunters. It is unlikely that every operator could be persuaded, but enough could be done to make life hard for those who harm wolves, and also push prices up, again making the “legitimate profit making” aspect unviable. Ideally doing business with wolf skin traders would become a “toxic” enterprise.
4) Petitioning politicians to back off on their hunting message is unlikely to be effective. Lobbyist dollars win over wolf blood every time. I genuinely think more good could be done switching from seeking to appeal to the better side of politicians (they don’t have one) and instead name and shame shame shame those who do during their re-election campaigns. Kissing babies doesn’t work quite so well if it is well known and very, very widely publicised that the hands he holds babies with are coated in the blood of pups.
LikeLike
Yes, trapping is an inhumane method of killing any animal. Last year, Footloose Montana attempted to ban trapping on public lands within the State. It barely missed qualifying for the ballot…..they needed 24,000 signatures and got 23,000. They’re chances in 2012 are excellent. http://footloosemontana.org/
Trapping is indiscriminate and kills not just the target species, but others including some listed as endangered and threatened including lynx, wolverine, fisher and wolves. If one reads the weekly Montana Wolf Report, it’s noted that many wolves are caught in coyote traps and those are only the ones that a very few honest trappers report.
Thirty miles east of my home, a wolf spent 5 days caught in a coyote trap, was released, but died shortly after of stress.
Anyone advocating trapping of wolves, or any other animal. IS a sick individual.
LikeLike
Thank you Neb, very well thought out post on what can be done if we once again go down that dark road of wolf hunts. The idea that wolf trap-hunting wolves is so abhorrent to me. Trapping has evil connotations, especially concerning the wolf. That was the method the feds used to wipe wolves out in the west, during the first extermination. The fact it’s being discussed now shows we’re learned absolutely nothing. Idaho was going to include baiting, trapping and calling in their cancelled hunt. Montana wanted a wolf archery and back country rifle season. These are the people that are in charge of wolves, no empathy for these animals whatsover.
Here’s the late Gordon Haber on trapping:
Top Female of Denali National Park’s Famed Toklat/East Fork
Family (1) Group of Wolves Is Trapped
Gordon Haber / February 18, 2005
http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/news/Alaska_current_events_1137.htm
N.
LikeLike
Jerry, I commend you for your efforts and you are correct in everything you say about trapping. There is one fact that trappers cannot deny and that is their traps will trap ANY animal. Trapping is inhumane and barbaric and should have no place in 2012. Trapping animals for their fur is disgusting and should be a thing of the past. I am getting sick of these trappers talking about how trapping is their heritage. Trapping should be banned and I believe it will soon in some states. I hope in 2012 trapping is banned for good in your state Jerry. Keep fighting and letting others know from your state how barbaric and inhumane trapping is.
LikeLike
Jon….that anti-trapping initiative would have made it on the ballot if Defenders of Wildlife would have supported it, but they didn’t even alert their Montana members to support the initiative.
Ironically, they are one of the parties who were pushing for wolverines to be listed. Wolverine researchers agree that the main source of mortality for wolverines is trapping, yet Defenders refused to support a trapping ban on public lands.
LikeLike
This is the UGLY, UGLY face of trap-wolf hunting!!
=======
Board should stop wolf loss near park line
By KAREN DEATHERAGE
Published: March 3rd, 2010 06:09 PM
Last Modified: March 3rd, 2010 06:10 PM
I’ll never forget seeing the black alpha male and small gray female of the East Fork wolves in Denali National Park that day.
I was walking up the road near Polychrome Pass and looked behind me to see three wolves coming my way. It was a hot day, their heads hung low as they plodded along the dusty road. While they simply looked out of the corner of their eyes, seemingly uninterested in my presence, it was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had in Denali. Little did I know it would be the last time I would ever see these wolves.
The wolves in Denali are believed to be the first and longest-studied group of wild wolves in the world. Until more recent years in Yellowstone National Park, they were also the most viewed wolves, seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors. Often they are seen loping along the park road, sometimes carrying a snowshoe hare or caribou leg. If you are lucky, you may get to see a moose or caribou kill. These extraordinary viewing experiences are threatened by a handful of trappers who set gauntlets of traps just along the border of the park. Denali’s wolves are especially vulnerable to trapping and hunting due to their tolerance of human presence. As a result, the history of several wolf families seen along the park road is a history of loss.
In the 1980s, Denali’s Savage pack was wiped out by a hunter. In 1995, the sole survivor of the Headquarters pack, a pregnant alpha female, was illegally snared less than 300 feet outside the park boundary. In 1997-98, the East Fork wolves declined from 12 to two; heavy trapping was the suspected cause. In 1998, the Sanctuary wolves declined from 15 to eight members; one year later, three pups from this pack were snared less than a mile outside the park.
In 2000, five pups from Denali’s Pinto pack were shot by a hunter. In 2002, the sole survivor of the Sanctuary pack was trapped and killed, her radio collar signal going off in a local trapper’s house. The Margaret wolves moved into the territory but suffered the loss of their alpha male to trapping, and only two wolves remain today. A wolf with a snare caught around his neck moved into the Margaret territory. The wound was so severe his head was grossly swelled, prompting the Park Service to capture him and remove the snare. After his mate was killed he was never seen again. That same spring, another wolf was seen with a leghold attached but disappeared shortly thereafter.
There has been no more tragic loss, however, than that experienced by Denali’s East Fork wolves. Denning some 30 miles into the park, many believe they are descendants of the wolves Adolph Murie studied back in the late 1930s. The book “The Wolves of Mt. McKinley” is based on Murie’s research and is still sold in bookstores today. In 2005, the small gray East Fork female I had seen on the road was trapped by a recreational trapper near the Stampede Trail. The late Dr. Gordon Haber, an independent wolf biologist, and others observed her mate and pups around the trap area for many days, perhaps bewildered by her capture in both a leghold and snare. The trapper eventually shot her and carried her out on a sled pulled by a snowmachine. Biologists reported she had been alive for 10 to 14 days in the trap. The necropsy revealed she had broken teeth from eating rocks. Not too long after her death, the alpha black male was shot in the back by a hunter in the Cantwell area.
This week, the Board of Game has an opportunity to stop this history of loss and extend protection to these wolves for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of visitors to Denali National Park. Countless letters of support, along with hundreds of signatures from local residents and Alaskans are calling on the board to do the right thing.
http://www.adn.com/2010/03/03/1166518/board-should-stop-wolf-loss-near.html#ixzz18RJG7XuV
N.
LikeLike
I cant quite believe what I have just read! Mech recommending snaring and trapping (hideously cruel), killing pups when they do not look like pups to make it more acceptible to the public, killing during Feb to increase the chances of taking pregnant females – WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? This is outrageous, have emailed the IWC to vent my anger and disappointment. I am also peeved by the dressing up of language such as ‘harvesting’ and ‘gravid’. As if wolves dont have enough problems without a renowned wolf biologist suggesting these cruel and underhand methods.
Karen
LikeLike
Shocking isn’t it Karen? And yet the IWC doesn’t seem to think there is anything wrong with thiis, when we are literally battling for wolves lives here in the Northern Rockies and they publish somehthing like this, it has a profound effect on people. I couldn’t believe what I was reading either, I thought it had been published by a fish and game agency. I can’t stand the words they use for killing as in harvest or manage. The world has turned upside down. But this must have been what it was like when wolves were targeted for extermination the first time around.
N.
LikeLike
I also read the link that Jon put up earlier in the thread, seemingly Mech is an advocate of trapping, and does it himself. I cant understand this at all, to leave an animal in terrible pain and distress for days is horrendous and unbelievably cruel. I used to respect Mech for the work and publications regarding wolves, but he obviously is totally detatched and lacks compassion to be able to practice such barbaric acts. The whole hunting thing does my head in, theres one thing someone killing an animal quickly and humanely for food (I dont eat meat myself) but killing for pleasure, just makes me dispair for our species. The thing that is suppose to seperate us from the other animals on our planet is supposed to be our ability to reason, our self awareness and understanding the consequences of our actions which makes this type of practice even more abhhorant. What is wrong with these people, do they have no empathy or compassion. I am a great believer in Kharma, I truly hope that these people reap what they sow. If it wasn’t for like minded people here I think I would give up on the human race altogether. Keep up the good work.
Karen
LikeLike
Hi Karen,
I seriously don’t get it Karen. It just seems to get more unbelievable by the day. It’s not just happening with wolves. The big cats are disappearing, there are only 25,000 lions left in the wild down from 450,000 in thirty years. Trophy hunting is a serious evil all around the world.
N.
LikeLike
For those from the IWC who are now following this blog, the following will give you some idea of what the wolves of the Northern Rockies are facing with the coming legislative session in Montana.
The “welfare ranchers” and the hunting advocates control our politics and there’s no distinction between republicans and democrats in our state. Not ONE politician has the guts to offer any type of support for wolves.
Provide for control of wolves
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2011/lchtml/LC0459.htm
Provide for monitoring of wolf diseases
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2011/lchtml/LC0458.htm
Resolution urging federal legislation removing wolf from Endangered Species list
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2011/billhtml/HJ0001.htm
LikeLike
You are so right Jerry, we have virtually no support for wolves in either Idaho or Montana in the state government or federal representatives. We have nobody to turn to. We’re on our own.
N.
LikeLike
Nabeki,You are not alone.We,along with my fellow wolf advocates, maybe seperated by miles of mountains,plains,rivers, and streams,but we are here to support the wolves and their right to be here. I thank everyone here for the continuous work for the benefit of the wolves and you,Nabeki,for your site and you love for the Wild Ones.
LikeLike
Thank you so much Rita, we have become a family standing together for wolves. I really appreciate you and all the wolf advocates here that care so much and are willing to give their time and energy to this struggle. I think we’ve started something that is only going to continue to grow!!
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
LikeLike
I think trapping is undeniably inhumane and cruel.
I can’t believe in this day and age there are still people that think there is nothing wrong with it! However, Idaho Fish & Game commission approved the use of snares and leghold traps as a way to hunt wolves in July, 2010.
LikeLike
L. David Mech turned his back on wolves a long time ago. Traitor.
LikeLike
So true John. Did you read the article jon posted?
N.
LikeLike
Have just finished reading it now.
And now there’s another word, or a few in fact…
LikeLike
I can understand the desires of the IWC wanting to establish Wolf Hunting and Trapping Season regulations so that if (and when) they are established, the seasons are based on science (not the anti-wolf agenda) and that they do not threaten the long-term survival of wolf populations. However, I do not agree with many of Dr. Mech’s proposals. Seriously, killing pups later on in the year (so that they don’t look like the little pups of spring and summer that everybody is familiar with) to make it more acceptable?! It doesn’t matter what they look like, they are still pups as they are under the age of one year! And killing pregnant females?! That will only ensure that the wolf population decreases! (populations can only stay stable/increase if females can have offspring and the birth rate exceeds the death rate) I do not feel that these are the best proposals to ensure the long-term survival of wolf populations. I feel that the IWC should create their own (different) regulations (ones that actually will ensure long-term wolf survival, such as limited seasons and limited quotas that take no more then a certain percentage of the population), and that any Wolf Hunting and/or Trapping Season that is established will follow these regulations, and hopefully will not be like what we are currently seeing in Idaho and Montana (which threaten long-term wolf survival in the Northern Rocky Mountains). And I feel that Wolf Hunting and Trapping should not even be considered until the wolf population has recovered country-wide (which certainly won’t be in the near future, unfortunately [“unfortuately” being in reference to how it won’t be soon that the species is recovered nation-wide]).
Now, with that said, let me make one thing clear: I WILL ALWAYS BE AGAINST WOLF HUNTING AND TRAPPING NO MATTER WHAT THE SIZE OF THE POPULATION IS AND WHAT THE REGULATIONS ARE! And I will always be against all non-survival hunting in general. When I become a Wildlife Biologist, you can bet your hats (as the saying goes) that I will be proposing non-lethal methods of managing the populations of wolves and other wildlife! Two of my favorite methods (not necessarily in use at this time) are (in order from most preferable to less preferable): encouraging the population to expand into unoccupied, former territory (such as with the wolves of the Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes), or, in places where all suitable habitat is occupied, encouraging the recolonization of natural predators (if they exist for the particular species), or sterilization/abortion (but that should only be used if a particular species is overpopulated), preferably through some sort of baiting as opposed to capturing and surgery/injection (kinda like what is done with poisoning, but, instead of killing the animal, it only prevents it from reproducing – like what was done with the Great Gerbil [Rhombomys opimus] in China), and the drug used should be specific for the species being managed (and not indiscriminate like poison is), and it should be stopped once the species is not overpopulated anymore. Do you think those are good proposals? I’m still trying to decide on what the best non-lethal management techniques are, and those are what I thought up of so far, and I really want to know what everybody thinks about them.
LikeLike
Please let me know how i can help stop the massacre
LikeLike
Kirsten…Tell your friends and have them spread the word to their friends. We need to get this story out of the Northern Rockies and into the mainstream media. That’s what will make a difference. As long as this stays a local story the wolves will continue to suffer. We need outside PRESSURE on the wolf states or nothing will change. Also write to your politicians and demand wolves be relisted, especially the US Senators who voted to delist them. They should be held accountable for what they’ve done. They need to right this wrong before it’s too late.
N.
LikeLike