Wolf packs also chase health adult animals and kill them.
Posted on 04/14/2007 7:32:16 PM PDT by george76
There are now at least 1,300 wolves prowling Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, far more than anyone imagined when the species was reintroduced in the Northern Rockies 12 years ago.
The wolf population has, on average, grown by about 26 percent a year for the past decade. The latest estimates, which summarize counts completed at the end of 2006, show they aren't slowing down.
"I keep thinking we're at the top end of the bubble," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "I can't see that there's room for any more, but we'll see."
As the wolf population has grown, so have the reports of cattle, sheep and other livestock being killed...
It's no surprise that wolves are thriving following reintroduction in 1995 and 1996 in Yellowstone National Park and in central Idaho. Wolves are skilled predators, fast breeders and able to live in different environments.
The fastest-growing area for wolves last year was in Wyoming outside Yellowstone National Park. The number of wolves jumped by 31 percent...
With that increase, 123 cattle were reportedly killed by wolves, more than has ever been recorded in Wyoming since the reintroduction...
In Montana, the number of wolves grew by 19 percent...
The number of elk, which are wolves' primary winter prey, has declined 50 percent in the area since 1995...
The Fish and Wildlife Service said the wolf population has, for seven years, met basic recovery goals of 30 breeding pairs distributed across Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
The agency has recommended removing wolves from the endangered species list. But the process has become mired in a conflict between the federal government and the state of Wyoming.
(Excerpt) Read more at casperstartribune.net ...
Here in the East, Bambi lovers are very upset at thinning the herds of dear that are causing large numbers of auto accidents, and eating up all the shrubbery. Now that there is a rapidly growing amount of Lymes Disease in the area, the fight for reasonable amount of kills is gaining support. There have been deer entering McDonalds, and posh stores in recent years. Very eclectic tastes.
In a related note, there are now coyotes in Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC. Significant numbers in Maryland as well. They are enjoying eating small pets as well as wild food. Perhaps when a few congresspeople have their pets eating they will wake up to the need for rational wildlife management which includes both protection and hunting.
A few years ago I bought land in West Virginia. In the eight miles before reaching this land, I would count from 20 to 35 deer near the road. Then we had a winter with 42” of snow on the ground. Since then I only see 5 to 10 animals along the same stretch of road. What man won’t fix, nature frequently does.
lol
That is very good.
“Welcome to Wyoming - now take a wolf and go home.”
From most all evidence presently available, the only clear beneficiary of the wolf “reintroduction” programs turns out to be wolf program personnel.
We neither surprised nor amused.
I don't give the report any credibility. The "university" put a cell phone near a hive and bees "refused" to return. There are no controls. No replications of the "experiment". No investigation of possible alternatives. Until I see that level of professionalism and scientific method, I treat the "report" as a flim flam anecdote.
Let me add that I am a molecular biologist and radio engineer. I understand both sides of the issue. It's a weak correlation, no proof of causation and no explanation or theory offered to explain the observations.
The number of elk, which are wolves’ primary winter prey, has declined 50 percent in the area since 1995...
You can’t blame them. Elk are tasty!
Wolf packs also chase health adult animals and kill them.
Sorry. Colorado has lots of Aspen trees and not lots of wolves ( yet ).
Elk prefer to eat grass and not tree bark. We have been watching elk herds for many decades. Some one is misleading you about ‘tree eating elk.’
There are things that do kill Aspen trees, but elk are not eating whole forests of Aspen trees.
” I got the impression that there were a few areas where the aspen survived and are now regrowing since the wolves are discouraging the elk from eating them.”
The report I saw was not about elk eating all the aspen, but rather the aspen along the streams. This was causing erosion and damage to life in the stream, including the ever popular trout. Now they are not doing that and the fishing is supposed to have improved.
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