The decades-long hunter v. wolves battle continues!
Biologists with the state Department of Fish and Game say wolves are the primary cause of death among a shrinking population of cow elk in northern Idaho.
The agency estimates cow elk in a remote area designated as the Lolo Hunting Zone have dwindled by as much as 13 percent each year. A recent study of radio-collared cow elk indicates that for the most part, wolves are to blame, Fish and Game says.
State wildlife managers unsuccessfully requested permission in 1996 to allow federal trappers to kill more than 40 wolves in the region and now they want to allow hunters to take care of the predators.
"I just think it's generally more acceptable with folks to manage populations through hunting than any other way," Fish and Game Deputy Director Jim Unsworth told the Lewiston Tribune.
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I believe the date mentioned ,1996, should be 2006:”State wildlife managers unsuccessfully requested permission in 1996 to allow federal trappers to kill more than 40 wolves in the region and now they want to allow hunters to take care of the predators.” Wolves were reintroduced into the Frank Church Wilderness in 1995 and 1996. In 1996 where would have been very few or no wolves in the Lolo. The study which Idaho F&G used to make the request was printed in April 2006.
http://fwcb.cfans.umn.edu/courses/FW5603/Idaho_...
USFW found the study did not meet their requirements, for one the sample was very small (the number of cow elk killed was 9) and therefore denied the request.
Thanks for the information.
Do you work with a conservation
service or something similar?