We hunt predators but we can’t say why
The New West / By Todd Wilkinson | Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 1:15 pm
Consider this loaded question: Should grizzly bears, wolves and cougars be hunted for sport? Worldwide, given their rarity and declining numbers, should lions, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars and tigers?
If so, why?
Across North America we find ourselves in another big game hunting season. For many the harvest is as much about putting meat in the freezer — a form of modern subsistence — as it is about the profoundly personal act of communing with nature.
From an early age, a lot of us were taught two guiding ethical principles: Don’t take the life of an animal unless you intend to eat it, and, if you do kill, there ought to be a good reason.
As states sanction hunts of iconic predators (grizzlies and black bears, wolves, mountain…
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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 
It is inappropriate, unethical and violation of the public trust mandate to be hunting wolves, killing predators (lions, wolves, bears, coyotes), and manipulating normal prey-predator relationships, established through millenniums of time to follow the unethical and mythological hunter myth of bolstering ungulate populations for hunters to kill. This amounts to game farming in the wilderness and is a violation of the trust put in state and federal wildlife agencies to protect the natural balance of wild places, which is basically to leave them alone and protect them from humans. Wildlife viewing is usually much more remunerative than wildlife killing. The American public pays for wilderness, wildlife, preserves and national parks much more than hunters and trappers. Nationally, hunters only represent 6% of the population and fishermen 15%. It may be higher in Alaska, as it is in a couple of western states, but not that much higher. Wolf viewing alone in Yellowstone brings in $35 million to the states surrounding Yellowstone. It is my understanding that the Denali wolf packs have already been diminished by hunters outside the park, indicating that there should be a buffer zone around Denali as there should be around Yellowstone, Glacier and other national parks, game preserves, and sanctuaries. We are losing wildlife to encroachment on a large scale. Hunting is a form of encroachment. People come to states that still have significant wilderness to see wilderness and the wildlife that should not be diminished by an unholy alliance between hunters, trappers, their fees and sports game targets and wildlife agencies. The role of wildlife agencies: wilderness.
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I cannot find the words to express my feelings toward hunters who find this a “sport”. The anger I feel toward those who try to get the biggest, most ferocious to show off their hunting prowess and display the remains of what was once a living creature cannot be put down in words. I also feel the same disgust/anger toward those who hunt prey animals to mount their heads with their antlers/horns on walls. They are contributing to the decline of those animals by killing off the top males that could pass on their genes to strengthen the herds. Would a farmer/rancher kill his best hog/bull/etc.for food…I don’t think they do that. They breed them to continue to pass on the best qualities and healthiest animals. Trophy hunters are doing the opposite when they go after the largest and best of a species.
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There is no logical reason to trophy hunt, period. I wish we could jail those people and let the inmates sexually assault them.
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I am sick to death of these jerks – why not establish a hunting season for these idiots – they could issue “tags” and use dogs to chase down – should be easy since they are stupid and most likely fat!
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politicians are to blame for all of this – they kiss the asses of special interest groups, i.e deer /moose/elk/wolves hunters, trappers, ranchers, and atv groups, they are destroying this land and country by taking bribes to pass these abusive laws, and we sit here and let them get away with it..
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Because humans are insane apes with a superiority complex?
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EXACTLY!
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Nabeki, I’d appreciate your insight if you have time. I was talking with someone who said that wolves had attacked a woman in Alaska. I asked for the link because everything I’ve read indicates that wolves don’t attack people. Here’s the link he sent: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/news/pdfs/wolfattackfatality.pdf
For all we’ve done to them, wolves would certainly have good reason to attack us but continue to try to avoid us, also for good reason. It looks like the victim probably startled the wolves then ran, acting like prey.
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Hi Tena….Two controversial fatal wolf attacks have been reported in North America in the last 100 years. In Saskatchewan, Canada, 2005, the body of Kenton Carnegie was found in the woods. There has been dispute over whether this was a wolf or bear attack. In 2010 a teacher in Alaska was believed to be killed by wolves, which relates to the link you attached. I believe this case has not been fully explained, there are many things about it we will never know. Even though the incidents are tragic, neither are conclusive. Still, wolves have shown such incredible restraint when it comes to humans, especially the way humans have treated wolves. To put this in perspective, domestic dogs kill on average about 30 people a year and bite 3 to 4 million more people annually. Hunters in the US and Canada kill almost a 1000 people a year in hunting accidents. “According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are about 1 million car accidents with deer each year that kill 200 Americans, cause more than 10,000 personal injuries, and result in $1 billion in vehicle damage.”..USA TODAY.
Almost everything is deadlier to humans, including humans, than wolves but you wouldn’t know it by the terrible press they get. Hope that answers your question.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Thank you, Nabeki, for the quick response and perspective on this which I will pass on.
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You’re welcome Tena. Howls to you!
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Killing is NOT a sport. It is taking the life of a living person or animal who has the right to live on this planet regardless of their race, species, breed, color, size, or location. Killing is the result of suppressed anger or violence. Killing is never the answer in a CIVILIZED society. Which means that the U.S. is not completely civilized and I think it has a very long way to go.
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Indeed. And it is not just the United States.
Disassociation and devaluing of life: fertile ground for the growth of psychopathic tendencies. They start teaching very young because children instinctively don’t question their elders, conditioning carries over into adulthood and thus they teach their children because that is what their parents taught them to do, so the cycle just continues. It isn’t seen as someting negative because it was never taught to be anything but something worthy of praise. Child psychological abuse, plain and simple.
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Totally agree John!
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Killing for sport, killing to ‘balance the population’, killing for pleasure……it is just ALL WRONG!
Another sad reminder of how inhumane most humans really are.
My thoughts and prayers for our precious wolves.
And my strongest appreciation and support for wolf supporters like you!
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