Thursday, December 25, 2014

WI’s Wolves are Finally Free from Reckless Trophy Hunts: It’s time to examine the facts and to dispell the myths about wolves…

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Winter landscape Douglas county WI (Photograph by Rachel Tilseth)

Federal Judge Howell ordered Great Lakes wolves back on the Endangered Species Read previous blog here: http://wolvesofdouglascountywisconsin.com/2014/12/20/recreational-hunting-of-great-lakes-wolves-is-stopped-wolves-are-back-on-the-federal-endangered-species-list-immediately/
It’s time to take down the fences, start a dialog, and bring back WI’s reputation as an environmental leader.

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Aldo Leopold and land ethic, A Sand County Almanac

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Wolves have a important role in the health of earth’s ecosystems.
http://youtu.be/ysa5OBhXz-Q. How Wolves Change Rivers

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Human hunting is the leading cause in deer mortality not wolves…

Study sheds light on top causes of deer mortality
“…How much higher is the deer kill from human hunting than the other four causes? Answer: More than four times higher than any other source. In fact, human hunting was responsible for about twice as much deer mortality in northern Wisconsin than the other four causes combined. The rates of mortality were human hunting 43%, starvation 9%, coyote 7%, wolf 6% and roadkill 6%. If you added poaching (8%) the human kill gets even more significant.” http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/study-sheds-light-on-top-causes-of-deer-mortality-b99190938z1-241992741.html?ipad=y

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Depredations by wolves on livestock are going down…

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2013 There were 19 confirmed wolf depredation with 9 farms/ranches considered chronic which could mean human neglect or not practicing methods in predator friendly ranching and farming methods. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/wolf/documents/2013_WolfDepredationReport.pdf
Has WI lost its moral compass? Fridge hunters use unethical methods to hunt wolves in WI.
Out of all the states that hunt wolves, only Wisconsin allows hound hunters to use unleashed packs of dogs to hunt wolves. Wisconsin, quite literally, throws “dogs to the wolves.”

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Hound hunters traditionally train their dogs to focus on specific prey by releasing their dogs to surround, attack and terrorize a prey animal…At this point it remains disturbingly unclear as to how hound hunters will train their dogs to pursue wolves instead of other animals—will it be by capturing wolves and allowing their dogs to attack them in barrels and pens? How isn’t this worse than illegal dog fighting? http://wolvesofdouglascountywisconsin.com/2014/08/13/wodcw-faq-sheet-on-wolf-hound-hunting/

A question of why would anyone want to harm “brother wolf.”

“I feel that the only reason a person would hunt a wolf is bragging rights,” said Nigaanigiizhig (Jim St. Arnold), Ojibwe elder and the Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK) coordinator for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission in Odanah, Wisconsin. “They can’t eat the meat of a wolf, they can only have a trophy.” Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/12/05/wisconsin-closes-wolf-hunt-three-months-early-quota-exceeded-158150

Why does man hunt wolves?

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“In Wisconsin about 80 percent of the wolves taken are by trapping. There is no limit on the number of traps set, but a trapper can only kill one wolf.”

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/12/05/wisconsin-closes-wolf-hunt-three-months-early-quota-exceeded-158150

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Can Dogs Teach Us Why Some People Kill Wolves? “I have commented several times since starting this blog on the absurdity of “saving” an animal from extinction in order to start killing it again. That is what is being done with the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies and Western Great Lakes and it is making a deadly mockery of the Endangered Species Act….Of the 6 states where wolves have been delisted, Idaho explicitly wants to reduce its wolf population to the minimum number set in the species recovery plan prepared when wolves were given protection or fewer—down to zero. Montana and Wyoming would also rather kill than nurture. Wisconsin wanted to add a wrinkle of hunting wolves with hounds. Minnesota seems largely to want to be part of the killing in order to avert conflicts between wolves and humans. Only Michigan has resisted pressure from wolf haters to legitimize their fear with a hunting season.” http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dogs-best-friend/201211/can-dogs-teach-us-why-some-people-kill-wolves

Great Lakes wolves are now protected under the Endangered Species Act and even if that that decision is challenged it will be a few years.

Let’s hope in the meantime wolf recovery can make gains in educating the general public about the value of wolves role on our ecosystems…

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