U.S. Wolf Hunts May Kill Hundreds -- Spurs Demand, Ire

nationalgeographic ^ | August 24, 2009 | John Roach

[JoeProBono]

Starting today, hunters can walk into any license vendor in Idaho and buy a tag to kill a gray wolf.

Vendors such as Daniel Stephenson, owner of River of No Return Taxidermy in Salmon, Idaho, expect robust demand.

"In our area, there're lots of [wolves] and they're not a real popular thing for deer and elk hunters," Stephenson said. "So everybody wants a chance to go get one."

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved a plan August 17 to allow up to 220 wolves to be killed by the public this coming fall and winter. Licensed hunters will be allowed to kill wolves starting September 1. Most hunting will be finished by December 31.

Montana, another state with a growing wolf population, already approved a 75-animal quota for its wolf hunt, which gets underway September 15 and lasts until November 29.

Both hunts come just months after the predators were removed from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.

(Related: "N. Rockies Gray Wolf Removed From U.S. Endangered List.")

Isolated

But there's still a chance wolf season won't open this year.

A coalition of environmental groups, including the Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a motion August 20 in a federal district court to block the wolf hunts, pending the outcome of a lawsuit seeking to restore federal protections for the wolves.

A hearing on the motion is set for August 31....

[JoeProBono]

[Vigilanteman]

If the libtards love wolves so much, let them put them in the woods (or what’s left of them) in states like Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey.

[nina0113]

Are the dead ones good for anything? I’m thinking a wolfskin coat would basically smell like wet dog. They’re mammals, so theoretically edible, but predators, so nasty-tasting.

[Cold Heart]

Properly tanned hides will have no dog odor.
The hides are very functional as parka trim in very cold climates.

[VeniVidiVici]

Here's an excerpt of the email I got from Defenders of Wildlife. (A "thoughtful" relative made a donation in my name several years ago and I have yet to shake them loose. )

================
Late yesterday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game made a tragic announcement:

Starting Monday, the department will begin selling an estimated 70,000 permits to hunt and kill wolves in Idaho. That's 70 guns for each wolf mother, father and pup in Idaho!

Please help us STOP THE DEADLY WOLF HUNT. Donate online now at:

http://we'rechockfullofnuts.borg*

This could be the worst wolf massacre in the Lower 48 United States since the 1930s. Hundreds of defenseless wolves will be shot, with many surviving wolf pups left to starve to death. Unless we stop it.

We've won the fight for wolves in court before, and we can do it again. Last year,Defenders of Wildlife and our allies convinced a federal judge to stop wolf killing in Wyoming and secured a reprieve for wolves in the Northern Rockies. Now we need your help to win again for our wolves.

*good guess. It's a fake url I put there.

[Pessimist]

Is that “The Nuge”?

[JoeProBono]

[nina0113]

Well, as long as they’re not being wasted...the pups are super cute, though. Hopefully the official season will be either pre-birth or post-weaning. If the liberals really can’t endure to have them shot, maybe they can start a Trap-Neuter-Release program like some locales do for feral cats to keep the population down. At their own expense, not the taxpayers’ of course.