Free Republic

Wolf Kill Has Ranchers Demanding Re-introduced Wolves Removed By Jon Hanian Burgdorf, ID - The aftermath of a wolf pack attack that occurred last month north of McCall near Burgdorf has left 55 sheep dead and more than dozen maimed. The attacked, which has been confirmed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, has also galvanized groups opposed to the federal government's efforts to re-establish grey wolves in the state. Ron Gillett heads up the Anti Wolf Coalition of Central Idaho. Gillett says a band of 100 sheep were attacked on September 18th by that wolf pack. "Where they...

GAMONAL, Spain (Reuters) - On a hill outside Gamonal in central Spain, a cross marks the spot where a young boy was believed to be eaten by wolves about 90 years ago. Folklore or not, hatred of the wolf and its status as vermin caused Spain's Iberian wolf population to plunge to about 400 by the late 1960s. But a 1970 hunting law, human exodus from the countryside and greater ecological awareness among Spaniards have helped boost the wolf population today to between 1,500 and 2,500 -- the biggest in Western Europe. "There were no signs of the wolf here...

Rancher accuses federal wolf agent of trespassing By the Associated Press with staff reports Saturday, February 28, 2004 CODY -- A western Wyoming ranch is accusing the federal government of trespassing earlier this month to collar four wolves. Larsen Ranch Co. owners are considering asking Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric to file criminal trespass charges against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the alleged violation. "It's aggravating and upsetting," said Randy Kruger, a ranch stockholder and employee. "It's causing me loss of sleep. It's a matter of terrorism." He made his comments to the Cody Enterprise. Wolf biologist Mike...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration violated the Endangered Species Act when it relaxed protections on many of the nation's gray wolves. The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones in Portland rescinds a rule change that allowed ranchers to shoot wolves on sight if they were attacking livestock, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. In April 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service divided the wolves' range into three areas and reclassified the Eastern and Western populations as threatened instead of endangered. The Eastern segment...

Next week, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton are expected to sign an agreement that would place management of an estimated 500 grey wolves into state, rather than federal, hands. The agreement would give ranchers permission to eliminate wolves that harass livestock. It also would empower state wildlife managers to pick off wolf packs that make a dent in the state's deer and elk populations. The wolf's revival in Idaho started a decade ago when officials released 35 wolves into central Idaho. Their numbers have grown steadily since then. Federal rules have carefully prescribed when ranchers...

Residents Warned To Watch Their Pets Coyotes have been spotted in and around the Fallsgrove community in Rockville, Md... Adcock said despite its docile appearance, it's part of a pack made up of some of the largest and most aggressive such animals he's every dealt with. "The pack is too big," Adcock said. "I mean any place else in Maryland you get two or three animals from a job and its pretty much over with." So far he's trapped 12 animals and his job is not yet finished. The trapper told News4 he took a picture of a large male...

Some ranchers say the wolves in the Madison Valley have grown increasingly brazen and are apparently unafraid of people. State wildlife officials say such behavior is to be expected, given the federal protection the predators have had in the decade since being reintroduced in the Yellowstone National Park. Jack Atcheson Jr. said he was spooked on a recent hunting trip, when three men and three mules got within 47 yards of a wolf that was staring right at them. The Butte hunting outfitter, who books international trips, said he had never seen wolves in Alaska, Asia or other places act...

Gnawing leisurely on the remains of a moose carcass, the wolf pack's alpha male seemed unaware that mortal danger was coming ever closer. Suddenly the eight-member rival pack burst into view. The alpha scrambled to his feet, but too late. Howling and barking, the enemy chased him down and mercilessly attacked, killing the hapless victim within a couple of minutes. It's not unusual for the gray wolves on Isle Royale National Park to target each other, said John Vucetich, a Michigan Tech University wildlife biologist who witnessed the carnage from an airplane in January. But the rival pack's brazen invasion...

killed by her pet hybrid wolves that she kept in a pen in her back yard. The county coroner said 50-year-old Sandra Piovesan, of Salem Township, Ore., was alive when she was attacked and she bled to death. Officials said most of the animals weighed 70 to 100 pounds and some were 7 to 8 years old. Humane agents said they had warned Piovesan about the animals.

Owning a slice of paradise isn't what it used to be. Generations of ranchers on the rural fringes of Yellowstone National Park passed their land to offspring or sold it to like-minded people. "only 26 percent of buyers were "traditional ranchers"... The largest category, at 39 percent, were "amenity buyers," ... The new buyers often arrive with a different set of values from those who have family ties stretching back generations... Contrary to what some might think, developers bought only 6 percent... The study area, though, didn't include fast-developing areas in Gallatin County, Mont., and Jackson Hole. In many cases,...

The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday his agency will start removing federal protection from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho by January, regardless of whether Wyoming has submitted an acceptable plan to manage its own wolves by then. Wyoming's plan is tied up in lawsuits, and Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall said his agency is moving ahead with Idaho and Montana, where management plans are already in place. ( Canadian ) Wolves were reintroduced to the northern Rocky Mountains a decade ago after being hunted to near-extinction, and now number more than 1,200 in...

Residents in Bingham County have started a local chapter of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, which is collecting signatures to once again try to get an initiative to ban gray wolves from Idaho on the ballot. The group failed to gather enough signatures to get a similar initiative on the ballot last year. Coalition Chairman Ron Gillett of Stanley said the group's new goal is to gather 100,000 signatures. He also has instructed petition carriers to make certain that everyone who signs is a registered voter. In 2006, the group collected more than 40,000 signatures in six weeks before running out...

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...

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....

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...

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...

'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 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.”

The US Fish and Wildlife Service says a pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves has killed a horse belonging to a Catron County family. Mark Miller and his family returned to their homestead on the Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico about three weeks ago to find the remains of their horse. Tracks show the wolves apparently chased the horse from a pasture into a corral and killed it. Miller says his family has tried yelling at the wolves, throwing rocks and installing noisemakers, but he says the pack continues to be a problem.

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.