Kill the wolf?

[Daves762]

It would be stupid to think the wolves can exist without the great herds of bison. Without a check and balance the wolves eat themselves out of food. Why are elk populations falling in wolf areas? I would not trust a biologist , they are paid by the people wanting the wolves. To introduce a WOLF that never existed in this area? The big greys they brought from Canada and Alaska never lived in a lot of the areas they transplanted them into, it was a smaller redwolf. So how to correct the problem? You can have only 1 apex preditor. If you sell elk tags and deer tags to people then the people are the apex preditor, but if you want the wolves to be the apex preditor then all hunting as we know it will end. And ranching will suffer, not just in BLM lands but every where the greys migrate. So what becomes more important the sustainable income of the people or the bunny huggers who never live in these areas. Wolves will always be a problem without bison. The whole story about reintroduction of the wolf is a JOKE always has been. Can they exist in parks? That is even questionable.

If wolves primarily fed on bison, they would not decimate the deer and elk herds.

 

[William Norholm]

Sounds like you like to think independently from time to time (euphemism).

Most definitely! I'm scared shirtless of what happens when wolves are introduced in CO. The electorate here has turned to the dark side. In CO I'm not sure common sense can win the day. Wolf introduction is going on the 2020 ballot, just like bear baiting did in 1993. The result was no more baiting and no more spring bear hunt. Bears have exploded since.

 

[Oldschool280]

how often do you guy's see a wolf?
An can they be mistaken for a coyote by old eyes? Bang, ooops

 

[sil9mm]

how often do you guy's see a wolf?
An can they be mistaken for a coyote by old eyes?

That's like asking can my old eyes tell the difference between a domestic cat to a mature mountain lion? Really???

 

[William Norholm]

I don't know if your question was directed at me? I do know that a wolf was shot in Kremmling a few years back. It was mistaken for a coyote. That wolf originated in the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and traveled to CO. There have been wolf sightings here in CO from dispersing packs up north. There are no known breeding packs in CO.

 

[Ranger Rick]

I didn't say not to shoot them, I said that eradication should not be a goal.

chickm1, You should know better than to cite a CDA article that talks about I'd F&G. 20,000 head is not close to overpopulation in that area of Idaho. Reintroduction has been a failure. That is why F'nG claims good number but then shortens archery and rifle elk seasons. Compare the reproductive rate of one cow elk to one female wolf!!!

 

[Richard Crain]

At 20K, it sounds like you were over-populated. Biologists in Idaho say that wolves account for less than 1% of the total predation of Idaho elk. While cougars account for the largest predation, at only 2%. Life mortality accounts for the biggest loss, as cow elk have achieved a longer life span, and it has come of age.
https://www.cdapress.com/outdoors/20181122/increasing_idahos_elk_numbers_is_predator_management_goal

https://idfg.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/seasons-rules-big-game-elk-2017-2018.pdf

Check the elk herds in Yellowstone since wolfs were introduced.

 

[AK Jamin]

I hear all sides of this. If you listen to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the wolves are the epitome of a threat to the whole ecosystem. Western sheep and cattle ranchers will pretty much back that up. We must maintain a balance in the population, or we stand a chance to have another animal go extinct. That cannot happen. I seriously doubt the wolves in the west, will get to the problems caused by feral hogs and coyotes in Texas.

You poor mos guided soul. One should Not regulate wildlife through political feelings . But should through sound environmental impact and each state should have control of that without outside interference ! The wolves will as they always have Decimate the prey within their region. Trust me you don't want the wolves !

 

[Richard Crain]

This from Forbes

33,715 views|May 6, 2016,12:29 pm
Why Wolves Are The Unsung Heroes Of Healthy Ecosystems
QuoraContributor
Consumer Tech

This article is more than 2 years old.

What should everyone know about wolves in the wild?

Answer by Oliver Starr, wolf handler and wilds advocate, on Quora:

Wolves are critical to healthy ecosystems – we need wolves more than wolves need us! Please watch this amazing video that helps put in perspective the role wolves play in restoring a damaging ecosystem back to health.

Unlike human trophy hunters, wolves take targets of opportunity – the young, the sick, the injured, the invisibly genetically inferior – in so doing they maintain the health of their prey species. Human hunters kill the fittest animals because they can – wolves improve the strength of their prey, humans consistently diminish it.

Wolves are considered both an apex predator and a keystone species. This means they are at the top of the food chain with no natural other animals that prey upon them for food.

Their reputation as dangerous animals or creatures that kill for enjoyment is simply inaccurate. As predators, wolves consume the flesh of other creatures. Unlike humans, their biology dictates a diet that consists almost entirely of meat. Wolves are the largest of all wild canids and they typically require large prey or a very high density of smaller prey to maintain their presence in an area.

Wolves have been known to eat moose, elk, deer, caribou, bison, musk ox, and virtually every other ungulate species that shares their range. Wolves will also eat smaller animals such as beavers, rabbits, squirrels, mice and, unfortunately, sometimes domestic livestock and pets.

Some people claim that wolves "decimate" they populations of the species they prey upon; however the facts do not bear this out. In the United States we've been documenting wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies for 25 years. We've also been documenting ungulate populations, particularly elk, for even longer.

While it is true that there are a few management units across the whole of the wolf recovery area that do show some reductions in elk numbers, by and large the presence of wolves has resulted in increases in elk populations nearly everywhere they've returned.

Wolves form very close social bonds. Wolf "packs" are actually families that typically consist of one or more breeding pairs, siblings of the breeders, and the offspring from one or more previous litters.

Lone wolves –perhaps the worst of all the mischaracterizations and vilifications heaped upon wolves is the idea that "lone wolves" are particularly killers or out to cause harm.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Lone wolves are technically known as dispersers and they're not looking for trouble, they're looking for love!

Not all wolves have the makeup to leave their natal group and set off on their own. It's a tremendously risky undertaking that very often results in the dispersing wolf dying in his or her effort to find a mate and start a family of their own.

I think this article contains a lot of BS

 

[68formalGT]

Don't believe the propaganda from the "professionals". First of all, the fools introduced a non-native species on the ruse that they would control the exploding Yellowstone bison herd. Just like many theories from academics, that didn't happen. Bison group up and effectively defend themselves. However, in the first year after reintroduction of the non-native Canadian wolf species, the northern Yellowstone elk herd dropped from an average of 80 calves/100 cows to 11 calves/ 100 cows. In short order the herd dropped from 18000 head to around 2000 head. Migrations used re-stock elk herds across Montana. Now, that doesn't happen. In addition Montana wildlife biologists are puzzled by the reduction in moose population across the State. They'll probably milk that for a couple million in tax dollars to study the issue. I guarantee you that they will find no connection between wolf pack numbers and loss of moose population. News flash, people, wolves kill for sport. They ravage elk calving grounds and wipe out calf crop. Settlers annihilated wolves for good reason once. And actually, all of we Montana natives heard wolf call and saw wolf sign before the great wolf reintroduction experiment was thrust upon us by non-residents and liberal politicians. Now they're out of control again. Yes, shoot the wolves!!!

Anti-hunting groups figured out a way to keep hunting out of Yellowstone and by not using sterilized and collared wolves we now have a problem outside the park. Now the anti-hunters are trying to do it to Colorado because the elk population in Rocky Mountain Park needs to be controlled.

 

[William Norholm]

I think this article contains a lot of BS

If you're an evolutionist and literally believe we came from monkey's then you might be foolish enough to believe anything. Which is why it could be easy to believe an article written with a slanted view. That's like saying my cat only kills weak mice. If it has four legs and twitches my cat will kill it, but won't necessarily eat it!

 

[littlewhaler]

Any of the big predators that get way out of balance will cause big problems in time. Lions in many areas are out of balance imho. Not sure which is biggest problem In areas I hunt elk, mule deer and antelope in Montana, Idaho and parts of Wyoming but probly wolves are bigger problem today.

 

[68formalGT]

I can't for the life of me understand how people think the same agencies who mishandled this whole deal could somehow correct it??? Name ONE agency on any level whom you would trust to make, produce or govern your life yet we keep doing it ad nauseam!! Of course I live in NY...was hoping one day to move west, we'll pray tonight there will be some semblance left when we do.

How do you figure they mishandled it, the state wildlife people tried their best to start management of the wolves way before the numbers got out of hand but them and the govenor was blocked by federal lawsuits from the anti-hunters.

 

[68formalGT]

I can't keep up with how fast this thread is going, so someone may have said this already.

You folks is CO don't have to worry about a vote. The wolves in WY are on their way no matter what you do.

True and the DOW has said for years that when they arrive they will be managing the numbers. The vote is anti-hunters trying to block that train of thought and put that control in their hands.