Posted on 03/11/2006 11:00:51 AM PST by george76
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 of another's territory was a sign — the wolves are hungry.
The reason is a steady decline of moose, now at their lowest ebb in the 48 years ...
The moose population at 450 this winter, down from 540 last year.
Only four years ago, they totaled an abundant 1,100 in the national park...
Presently, there are about 15 moose for every wolf. The normal ratio is 40 to 50 moose per wolf.
Wolves feast mostly on calves and elderly moose, both of which are in short supply...
The moose's historic low ...
"One-third of the kills this winter were calves," Peterson said. "The wolves need to go down to give more calves a chance of reaching adulthood."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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I can think of a few thousand libs and Dems that would do.
They've only been there a half century or so. My understanding is that per the management plan if they become extinct on the island, that's it. Till move wolves, or coyotes, walk across the ice in winter and forget to walk back.
Four years ago Isle Royale was worried about the overpopulation in moose destroying various species of browse on the island. Sounds like the wolves solved that problem. On Isyle Royale, whether it's wolves, moose, or beaver, there are always either too few or too many of they. They just can't please the humans who are watching.
You can fish there.
Make coats for the homeless located north of the Mason-Dixon line?!
Oh, I thought this was going to be an article about freepers.....
Moose certainly tastes better than "dog". Although I have never eaten dog, I have eaten it's close cousin the bear.
I agree. Here in southern Montana, just north of Yellowstone Park, the animal wackos re-introduced wolves 11 yrs ago to the Park. Their population has gone higher than predicted, and guess what, elk and deer numbers are down. Ranchers aren't happy as they get their livestock. Who's happy? A few dozen tourists who are lucky enough to see them each year.
Oh but PETA, the HSUS, or dozens of other animal rights groups will raise millions using cuddly wolves, seals, etc., so you'd think they could use some of those millions to RESTORE moose herds decimated by the wolves they want to save.
They could use some of their funds to STOCK more moose, like HUNTERS did with deer/wild turkey using the Pittman/Robertson money they raise.
But you won't see that happen. All they do is TALK about saving animals by outlawing hunting, eating meat, medical research, wearing leather, while more than half of the HSUS board of directors make above $50,000 annually (The HSUS president makes more than half a million plus lucrative perks).
These AR groups' records on saving wildlife is worse than it is in saving domestic cats and dogs from euthanasia, by funding spaying/neutering programs and local shelters.
Right, they'll see Nancy or catch a whiff of Teddy, and become vegetarians. John fn' Kerry will chase after them demanding to know if they know who he is. Lol!
That's the problem when you mess with Mother Nature. Things seemed to even themselves out. Now the humans are trying to micromanage wildlife.
At one time you couldn't fish there, they were sued over that.
There are still many restrictions beyond Michigan law on the limited fishing.
I've come to the conclusion that PETA and the others are not genuinely interested in the environment. They are truly domestic terrorists. Remember the minks they let loose? That was a mess, and so were the houses that were torched, and the brand new SUVs that were set on fire, and vandalized. All those terrorist acts did was to mess up air quality.
Hunters and fishermen definitely do more for wildlife, because they actually know something about wildlife preservation.
There were also Grizzly bears roaming around in my area as late as the 1860's but I dare any green group to try to get them reintroduced.
As far as wolves, some have been seen for the first time in years in certain areas of the Sierra Nevada and while the Forest Service and various animal groups are trying to minimize it, many think the wolves (some have collars) are from the Yellowstone Packs released over a thousand miles away.
The deer herd in the SN has not only taken a continued hit from the bush spraying done in the 70's with resultant loss of forage, it must now deal with this menance. There are very few elk herds and other large herbavores in this area so deer, and bear (and unsuspecting humans) WILL be the fodder.
Lake Superior I assume, not the inland lakes.
I wasn't stating that someone should shoot them all. I've never been hunting, although I do enjoy fishing. I'm sure you do have a much better understanding than I do about how dangerous wolves are. They don't exist here, but coyotes, mountain lions and bears do. Food is plentiful up here right now, so we don't foresee a problem. Years ago, they were coming down off the mountains and right into town!
When I mentioned Commies, I meant groups like PETA and ELF. See my post to girlangler above.
They seem to try to leave things alone there, other than letting humans tramp around. About a decade ago they thought they were going to lose the wolves due to parvo virus, which they thought came over on a tourists shoe.
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