Free Republic

Washington state wildlife biologists who conducted a "howling survey" believe a gray wolf pack may be living in western Okanogan County. Washington state wildlife biologists who conducted a "howling survey" believe a gray wolf pack may be living in western Okanogan County. Biologists conducted the survey in the area on July 7. They made wolf-like howls in several areas, and heard both adult and juvenile howls in response. The Department of Fish and Wildlife says that if confirmed, it would be Washington's first known resident wolf pack since the species disappeared from the state in the 1930s. While individual wolves...

KALISPELL (AP) — A man hunting black bear shot and killed a wolf near Olney, northwest of Whitefish. Zachary Harms of Kalispell was driving his truck up a forest road Tuesday when he saw movement. He walked along the road with his rifle, thinking he may have seen a black bear. Two wolves then ran out from the side of the road. One ran across the road and up the hillside. The other ran down the road towards Harms. The wolf closed to approximately 10 feet and Harms fired, hitting the female wolf in the front of the head. The...

Conservationists who oppose the removal of wolves from under federal protection - and who call the delisting unlawful - sought an emergency injunction Thursday to stop the animals' killing. Last month, a coalition of 11 environmental groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in an effort to keep gray wolves in the Northern Rockies region on the endangered species list. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director H. Dale Hall announced the delisting decision in February, and it took effect March 28, divesting the gray wolf of its Endangered Species Act protections. Without those protections, environmentalists say, the gray wolf...

In a jointly issued statement, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev condemned the United States’ plans to set up an anti-missile defense system as “offensive.” “By seeking to defend itself from a sneak attack, the U.S. is sending a bad message,” Hu said. “It’s like they’re saying they don’t trust us. How do you think that makes us feel? We have no defense against sneak attack. Why do the Americans think they need one?” Medvedev echoed his Chinese counterpart’s thoughts and offered an analogy to help make his point. “Among wolves, deadly hostilities are avoided when one...

Bringing the wolves back to the Rockies has been a huge success story. So why are we allowed to gun them down?May. 27, 2008 | In Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley, the return of gray wolves has turned the wild canines into celebrities. At dusk, scope-toting wildlife watchers and photographers stake out the valley to observe the crepuscular predators. One of the most popular wolves in the valley, known to wildlife biologists as 253M, won the affectionate nickname Limpy, because of a pronounced limp from an injury. Born to the Druid Peak pack, Limpy was wounded in a fierce fight...

Montana’s wolf population increased 34 percent over the past year, to an estimated 422 wolves in 73 packs... The wolves are nearly equally distributed between northern and southern Montana...although the bulk of the population growth was in northwestern and far western Montana... Wolves are still listed under the Endangered Species Act. Delisting was set for late March, but lawsuits are expected to delay that. As for conflicts with ranchers, the FWP reported an increase in the number of confirmed cattle deaths due to wolves, from 32 to 75, and an increase in the number of sheep deaths, from four to...

The reintroduction of Canadian gray wolves into Idaho, Wyoming and Montana is arguably one of the most successful projects of its kind ever undertaken. In just over 12 years, these incredibly efficient predators multiplied over 15 times the number reintroduced, far exceeding what the top federal biologists predicted. In spite of the fact that the top federal wolf biologists agree the population is recovered, 11 environmental groups are mounting a logic-defying legal challenge, arguing the wolf population is not yet sustainable. This lawsuit could stall the delisting process for several months or even years, while the wolf population continues to...

When more than a dozen lambs and sheep were slaughtered on a Shelburne farm last fall, wildlife officials suspected either a wolf that had escaped from captivity or a rogue mutt on a hungry rampage. But after the culprit animal was killed and examined, they found themselves with a bigger mystery: How did a wild eastern gray wolf, an endangered species absent from the state for more than a century, find its way to western Massachusetts? Thomas J. Healy, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast regional office, said Tuesday recent DNA tests at the agency's Oregon labs...

Belgian invents 'Holocaust' tale A Belgian woman whose tale of survival with a pack of wolves in Nazi-occupied Europe became a hit film has revealed that she invented the story. Monique De Wael, who adopted the pseudonym Misha Defonseca, also admitted that she was not Jewish. Her revelations came in an interview with the Belgian daily Le Soir, which said more than six million people had already seen Surviving With Wolves. "It's not actual reality, but it was my reality," she told Le Soir. "It was my way of surviving... I seek forgiveness from those who feel betrayed, but I...

Wolves in Salmon, Idaho Decimate Elk Hunting This is something I received from an Idaho outfitter regarding the impact on elk in the Salmon, Idaho area. Although it is about Idaho, the same things hold true for Wyoming. There are some in the G&F who like wolves and will go out of their way to skew their studies to let the wolves off the hook. On the other hand, there are some in our Wyoming G&F who hate the wolves for what they are doing to our big game herds. Name withheld.

The removal of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act is behing hailed by Idaho agricultural interests. "Wolves have been a major, major fundraiser for the environmentalists over the years. They hate to let it go. They want to keep the issue alive," said Stan Boyd, executive director of the Idaho Wool Growers Association. "Idaho met the 10 breeding pair standard many, many years ago, and so did our neighboring states. Technically, this delisting could have come three or four years ago." Livestock producers recognize the wolf is back and here to stay, Boyd said. "It's time...

The Popo Agie Ranch, just four miles south of town, has a 70-acre hay meadow which rises from an aspen- and cottonwood-sheltered river basin, rolling east and empty into the foot of Table Mountain. The meadow, and the adjacent 4,000-acre pasture, was once used for a modest but profitable cow-calf operation. Today, if visitors roll over the wooden platform bridge across the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River, they'll notice a few corralled llamas, a handful of horses, but no cows. When wolves moved into the area, rancher Dave Vaughan got out of the cow-calf business... "As soon as...

A jackrabbit found throughout much of the West has disappeared from the Yellowstone area, although the reason why remains a mystery, a new study concludes. Whatever the cause, the study suggests the white-tailed jackrabbit's disappearance has wrought major changes to Yellowstone's food chain. Coyotes and wolves, which could have depended on the rabbit as a significant food source, apparently turned their attention instead to larger prey including young elk, pronghorn antelope -- even domestic livestock. However, because the rabbit's decline went relatively unnoticed until now, quantifying that shift is virtually impossible, said the study's lead author, Joel Berger with the...

Interior Department Removes Northern Rocky Mountain Wolves from Endangered Species List Contacts Ed Bangs (406) 449-5225, x 204 Joan Jewett (503) 231-6211 Sharon Rose (303) 236-4580 Joshua Winchell (703) 358-2279 The gray wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountains is thriving and no longer requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett announced today. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will remove the species from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. "The wolf population in the Northern Rockies has far exceeded its recovery goal and continues to expand...

A sled dog tour operator in the Interior village of Bettles said wolves have killed and eaten two of his sled dogs in the past two weeks, continuing what has been a statewide trend this winter. “They drug them right out of their collars,” Max Hanst said by phone Tuesday from the village 180 miles north of Fairbanks. “The most recent one was three nights ago. I lost another one six days before that.” Three days prior to the first attack, Hanst said he shot and killed an old, emaciated wolf trying to dig its way into a puppy pen....

<p>I have told hunters for 12 years that the goal of the wolf re introduction had nothing to do with saving the Eco-system and everything to do with closing hunting down. Here is proof right from the insane Eco -cult.</p>

Warning graphic pictures of animals killed by wolves. Here is the truth with what living with wolves is really like. If you have a weak stomach don't view some very brutal pictures.

WINNIPEG, Canada – Like many Americans, I grew weary of the city life some time ago. I lost my taste for being a number. I don't want to be "controlled" by government. I don't relish being herded like cattle. I want to breathe clean air, shoot my guns when I feel like it and take care of myself and my family.

Residents along the Kuskokwim River want state game managers to allow them to kill wolf pups in their dens. Wolf numbers seem to be rising in the wilderness around Aniak, McGrath and other villages, and the task once carried out by young Native men should be employed again to help moose populations recover, said Greg Roczicka, natural resources director with Orutsaramuit Native Council in Bethel. < > "We're fervently opposed to it," said John Toppenberg, director with Alaska Wildlife Alliance. "It's been illegal in Alaska for a long time and deservedly so. It's a Stone Age concept of wildlife management...

The wolf affair is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, OUTRAGEOUS, AND A MORTAL WOUND TO NOT ONLY RURAL AMERICA BUT THE RULE OF LAW AND FREEDOM. The problem is THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, it must be dramatically rewritten or repealed (like Prohibition). So Ex-Congressman Pombo tried the teensiest amendment and was condemned by (guess who?) THE DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE. Not only was he characterized as an extremist, the DOW et al spent millions to defeat him by such tactics as accusing him of supporting abortion (a lie) and homosexual marriage (also a lie) on papers placed on windshields in Church parking lots (a violation...

A Flathead Valley houndsman reports that wolves killed one of his hounds and severely wounded another on a recent mountain lion hunt west of Kalispell. Joe Kerney said he was on a hunt Dec. 31, when he released two grown hounds and a pup on a mountain lion track in the Rogers Lake area. After a chase of less than a mile, the hounds were baying. “They went up this draw and it sounded like they had a cat treed,” said Kerney, who was pursuing not far behind. “All of a sudden, I heard a dog fight going on,” he...

<p>Where, oh where, are the humaniacs when our companion animals need them?</p> <p>This has not been a good winter to be a dog in Alaska.</p> <p>Aside from the frighteningly "normal'' dangers for domestic canines ...</p> <p>Dogs attacked and eaten by wolves.</p>

Day of tobogganing almost ends in tragedy as wolves stalk children. In the dusky northern light three days before Christmas, two Fort Nelson families came dangerously close to two hungry wolves, until the family dog, Shadow, narrowly averted disaster. The wolves appeared quietly at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 22, as darkness was creeping in on the winter wonderland 100 kilometres east of Fort Nelson, where the families were tobogganing. About 30 metres away, a sleighful of three children -- one aged four and the others aged three -- were being happily towed along the base of a hill by...

Rocky Mountain National Park officials say a recent report of a possible wolf sighting is credible, but it's difficult to be sure without more evidence. Ranger Jack Dinsmoor said Friday that two experienced park volunteers reported seeing what looked like a wolf on Dec. 4. They didn't get a photo, but large canine paw prints were later found in the area. Dinsmoor said park officials don't know if the animal was a wolf, a wolf-dog hybrid or ... Baskfield said the division did confirm that a large black animal caught on video by wildlife officers last February in northern Colorado...

'They were not afraid of us,' woman says. Neither the three women nor their dogs heard the pack of wolves creeping up behind them as they jogged on Artillery Road in the frigid morning air. One minute it was peaceful. Then she glanced back and saw the pack of about eight wolves spanning the road, only a few feet behind. A melee ensued, accompanied by screaming, snarling, blood and pepper spray. "It was the most terrifying thing I've ever been through."... The increasingly emboldened Elmendorf wolf pack is blamed for killing one dog and wounding another in Eagle River this...

Wolves are on the minds of many Idahoans following this week's unveiling of the state's plan to manage the species if it's delisted from federal protection early next year. But wolves are in the hearts of the Idaho Anti-wolf Coalition, a group that passionately wants all wolves removed from Idaho. The group, led by Stanley outfitter Ron Gillette, doesn't trust the federal or state government to manage wolves, which they say are wiping out elk populations. The coalition is circulating a petition to back Idaho out of the recently released management plan and to refuse cooperation with the federal government....

Wolves roaming the outskirts of Fairbanks are making pet owners nervous... What the story calls a “pack of bold, hungry” animals made lunch of two dogs recently - one in North Pole and one about 20 miles out Chena Hot Springs Road. A number of callers to the Department of Fish and Game have reported spotting the pack. Cathie Harms, a spokesperson with the state Department of Fish and Game. “Everybody is used to seeing moose on the road, but not everybody is used to seeing wolves in their yard.”

More endangered Mexican gray wolves have been targeted for removal from the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ... The wolf reintroduction program requires the permanent removal of any wolf linked to three livestock killings a year ... Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown says the Aspen Pack has killed a horse and five cows since the beginning of the year.

PRAY - For rancher Randy Petrich, the removal of gray wolves from the endangered-species list - a move that would open up the animals to hunting in the Northern Rockies for the first time in decades - couldn't come soon enough. Petrich has seen fresh wolf tracks almost every morning this fall - close enough to threaten his cattle. "I believe that any wolf on any given night, if there happens to be a calf there, they will kill it," ... Just 12 years since the wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park ... federal officials say the sharp rise...

The father of an Ontario man killed in a wolf attack in northern Saskatchewan says it's a relief to finally have the truth come out. A coroner's jury in Prince Albert ruled Thursday that wolves killed Kenton Carnegie in November 2005. The 22-year-old University of Waterloo engineering student had been on a work-term ... An expert, who prepared a report for the coroner's office, said it was more likely a bear killed Carnegie. But in the end, the jury dismissed that notion, declaring it a wolf attack. "Kenton was an honest man," he said. "His life was honest, we didn't...

A pack of wolves killed and ate a dog in a residential subdivision in North Pole early Wednesday morning. The dog, a 15-year-old black Lab mix named Shilo, evidently ran into the wolves while it was out taking care of its morning business, said owner Ed Lesage, who lives off Mavencamp Court in North Pole, a subdivision at the end of Hurst Road on the edge of Chena Lake and the Chena Lakes Recreation Area...

MARSHALL: Dogs not vaccinated for disease should be euthanized. A wolf killed during an attack on sled dogs in the Yukon River village of Marshall last week has tested positive for rabies, and state officials Wednesday night said unvaccinated dogs in the village should be euthanized. The wolf was part of a pack that killed a half-dozen dogs the night of Oct. 24 before villagers chased them out, killing the one wolf and wounding others. Tests returned late Wednesday showed that animal had rabies, and the state's wildlife veterinarian said it's possible other wolves in the pack also have the...

A pack of wolves killed about a half-dozen sled dogs from three teams in Marshall on Wednesday night before residents of the Yukon River village chased them out of town, according to village officials and Alaska State Troopers. The wolves killed three adult dogs, including a female with pups, several villagers said. About three of the pups were also killed and several other dogs injured. "They were running through the whole town here," said Dewayne Cooper, the housing improvement officer for the Native Village of Marshall. "They're not just hanging out by the dog teams. I don't know what they're...

Wolf Awareness Week ended yesterday-according to the National Wildlife Federation. They neglected,however, to mention Werewolf Awareness Week-which begins tomorrow and which ends on Hallowe'en.

Last week, the body of 22-year-old Kenton Joel Carnegie was found near Wollaston Lake in Northern Saskatchewan mauled to death by what is suspected to have been wolves. "All of the injuries discovered in the autopsy are consistent with animal bites. But you can't completely rule everything out until the investigation is complete," Heather Russel, spokesperson for the RCMP told CBC. Although the type of animal bite has not been confirmed, suspicions run high that they were that of wolves. Tracks were found near the body, and locals have been reporting a growing number of close encounters with wolves. Carnegie...

(CNSNews.com) - A Montana rancher killed a wolf to protect his cattle herd, and now federal officials say he violated the Endangered Species Act. This apparently extreme instance led one conservative analyst to claim that the act is doing more harm than good, because it forces landowners to "shoot, shovel and shut up." Roger Lang is a California entrepreneur who owns the 18,000-acre Sun Ranch, south of Ennis, Mont. Over the last 10 years he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help ensure that his ranch is set up and operates legally, especially in conformity with the Endangered...

The mystery surrounding a 92-pound canine animal that was shot in Troy, Vermont on October 1, 2006, has finally begun to unravel. In a press release issued by the Agency of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife Department in Vermont, DNA results have determined that the mystery animal was mostly from wolf ancestry. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's forensics laboratory in Ashland, Oregon performed the DNA tests. The lab results show that the animal's ancestry consisted mainly of two different types of wolf populations that are separated by geography. There are no known cases of these two types...

Local news announcement: ========================== Islamic Community is inviting local political and religious leaders as well as the general public to a special Mosque Open Doors program from 5 to 8pm Saturday, Sept. 29, during the upcoming Ramadan season. The program, which is co-sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is part of an effort since Sept. 11 to acquaint the public with Islamic practices. The event will highlight talks by representatives of Muslim organizations and by dignitaries. Special invitations are being extended to clergy and their congregations. The evening will include question-and-answer time about an exhibit of plans for the...

Locals and tourists came to Alpine Park Saturday to pet, admire, and kiss seven wolves and wolf/dogs. The animals were visiting from the WolfWood Refuge and Adoption Center, a state-licensed non-profit refuge for wolves and wolf/dogs in Ignacio. Paula Watson, who owns WolfWood with her husband, Craig, said children "are going to vote someday, so educating them about animal care is important." Watson pointed out that wolves are on the endangered species list and that, whether they remain there or not, their protection will often depend on the voters. Watson said children and adults who visited Alpine Park Saturday were...

A kayaker's life-and-death struggle with a hungry wolf on B.C.'s remote north coast... has prompted a conservation officer to warn against taking wolf encounters too lightly. "This was a predatory wolf attack," conservation officer James Zucchelli confirmed in an interview from his Bella Coola Valley office. "That fellow was perceived as a prey source. He was attacked with intent to eat. The wolf saw him and took off running at him." the attack reinforces the fact that wolves are predators and capable of attacking humans under certain circumstances... The fit, 31-year-old Port Moody kayaker was setting up his tent on...

Tourists scrambled over a fence to escape a wolf enclosure in northern Idaho after two wolves they had come to see with no barriers separating them chased down and killed a deer that had wandered in through an open gate. The four visitors from Charlotte, N.C., were in the 5-acre "picture pen" at Wolf People along with a 5-year-old female wolf, a 1-year-old male wolf, and two 12-week-old pups. Visitors pay to enter the enclosure with a wolf handler so they can have unobstructed views of the wolves and take photos at close range. But a deer ran by the...

Thousands of vacationers in the West will likely see wolves in the wild for the first time this summer, often from the road but sometimes while camping or hiking. The federal government and state agencies that manage wolves have concise rules on what is legal in these encounters, and experts who study wolf behavior offer advice on how to handle what is likely to be an unforgettable experience. "Wolves don't turn and run away immediately like we're used to with other animals," said Carolyn Sime, gray wolf program coordinator with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department. "The other thing...

Animals mauled neighbor’s dog in December. Jacqueline Harris, who faces eight criminal charges in connection with the attack and other complaints about the animals, said she’ll keep her 16 animals ... On Dec. 29, several of her animals escaped from their enclosure and attacked neighbor Brad Boardman’s German shepherd... County planning officials said she should have had a permit to keep so many animals in a residential zone, but they never pursued it ... She also should have had a state kennel license from the Colorado Department of Agriculture, which requires anyone with more than 15 dogs to have one....

A Bitterroot Valley, Mont., rancher who lost several calves to wolves spent the night in his car to guard his herd, and shot a wolf as it moved among his cattle. "There were all these black shapes, cows running everywhere," said Ed Cummings, who was awakened at 4:30 a.m. on June 5 by his dog's growling. "And right in the middle of them, just sort of trotting around, is this wolf." Cummings lost his shoe while trying to get out of the compact car, keep an eye on the wolf and grab the rifle he'd borrowed. "I didn't make a...

Five-year-old Brayden Gazette was crossing a neighbor's lawn near his Monmouth County home last month when a coyote burst out of the pine woods and bit him on the head. Twenty-month-old Liam Sadler was in a relative's backyard in April when a coyote grabbed him by the neck and tried to drag him off. The rare daylight coyote attacks on humans were interrupted before the yellow-eyed beasts could kill. Nevertheless, brazen coyotes have rattled residents across North Jersey's Monmouth and Bergen Counties, where scores of sightings have been reported and where numerous pets have been killed or mauled this spring....

Catron County Manager Bill Aymar says officials only want to prevent problems by asking the federal government to remove a pregnant female Mexican gray wolf released on the county's border after it killed two cows elsewhere. But Victoria Fox, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says the agency has no reason to remove the wolf. The dispute over the animal -- designated F924 -- began as soon as it was released April 25 in southwestern New Mexico. The next day, the county demanded it be removed as an "imminent danger." Fish and Wildlife rejected the demand last...

The "Shadow Wolves" lead a 2½ ton pot bust on the Tohono O'odham Nation, worth an estimated $2 million. The Native American trackers spotted vehicle tracks leading off a road. The found two trucks concealed by tarps.

You're not just seeing more wolves, there are more wolves Winter wolf count tops 590, lawsuit filed to return animal to endangered status A Deparment of Natural Resources preliminary count showing the gray wolf population rose to as many as 590 over the winter is not news to property owners and animal lovers in Northern Wisconsin. It’s a terrible reality for a Tomahawk family, which lost their 11-year-old female German shorthair to a wolf April 7. According to DNR reports, Scott Daenicke took his four bird dogs out for training on a trail east of Otter Lake in Harrison Township....

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 official kill program is far behind in its effort to protect moose and other prey. State game managers will pay people to kill wolves in an effort to boost Alaska's predator- control program. The 180 volunteer pilots and aerial gunners who are the backbone of the program can get $150 in cash for turning in legs of freshly killed wolves, Gov. Sarah Palin's office announced Tuesday. Previously, the only reward was a wolf pelt they could sell, usually for somewhere between $200 and $300, said Bruce Bartley, Department of Fish and Game spokesman. The state created its current wolf-kill...