ABC NEWS
ORIGINAL REPORT
June
10, 2004
Wolf
Attack
States,
Feds Feuding Over How to Handle Resurgent Wolf
Watch This
Video
Wolves Have
Been Reintroduced To
of
ecological changes
(ABCNEWS.com)
It's the wrangling over what to do now that wolves have re-established
themselves.
Since the
gray wolf was reintroduced to
Both
The state
has announced it is suing the federal government over the rejection, but for
federal wildlife officials, the proposal remains unacceptable.
"It
would be legal to have me get in a helicopter, search out wolf packs, kill them
all, then search out the cubs in their dens and kill them," said Ed Bangs,
coordinator of the FWS gray wolf recovery program.
The state,
though, says the wolf deserves to retain its predator status, because the
rising population has caused "severe damage" to other wildlife
species, such as elk, deer, buffalo, bighorn sheep and antelope, as well as to
livestock, according to the letter from Gov. Dave Freudenthal
and Attorney General Patrick Crank to officials at the U.S. Department of the
Interior announcing the intention to file suit.
To
ranchers, the designation of predator fits the wolf.
"I do
not believe that livestock and wolves can coexist," said Albert Sommers, a rancher and president of the Upper Green River
Cattleman's Association. "Every time a wolf pack has come into contact
with livestock, they depredate livestock. It's nothing against wolves, it's
just that cattle or sheep are slower than deer or elk
or other game."
The claims
of "severe damage" to the elk population are at odds with what federal
and state wildlife officials say has occurred, but it isn't surprising that
there should be such differences of opinion about the effect of the wolf's
return. Throughout history and around the world wolves seem to have always
evoked strong emotions, either for or against.
In
mythology and folklore, wolves have appeared either as forces for good raising orphaned
human children or aiding humans in seemingly impossible quests or as the embodiment of evil.
That kind
of sharp split holds for too many people, biologists say.
"The
whole wolf issue has nothing to do with reality, it has everything to do with
symbols," Bangs said. "If you're a big cycle person and believe that
everything works together, you tend to like wolves. If you believe people are
on top of everything, you tend not to like wolves."
Sommers
said that doesn't reflect his thinking. He doesn't think wolves are evil, it's just that they kill his livestock.
"A
wolf is a wolf, it's not a sinister animal," he said. "It just does
what it does."
A
Keystone Predator
There is no
doubt, though, that wolves have had a broad effect on the ecology of the
northern
Elk
populations have declined, but Reg Rothwell, supervisor of biological services for the Wyoming
Game and Fish Department, said that the growing populations of grizzly and
black bears and mountain lions, as well as drought conditions in recent years,
could be as much to blame as wolves.
In any
case, that was expected. Wolves hunt elk, and do it quite well, Bangs said.
But the
ripple effect extends far beyond the elk.
For one
thing, elk had to change their way of eating and that has affected not only
plant life, but erosion patterns. Before the reintroduction of the wolf, elk in
With wolves
on the prowl, elk realized they could not safely eat along the banks of the
winding rivers where they could not see a long way.
The trees
are growing for the first time in 70 years, and that has provided habitat for
songbirds and encouraged a resurgence in the beaver
population in the park.
Wolves, by
regularly killing elk and deer and leaving the remains when they have eaten
their fill, provide food for a host of animals such as lynx, bald eagles,
golden eagles and others from grizzly bears to dung beetles that feast on
carcasses.
"If
you're a scavenger, wolves are the best thing since sliced bread," Bangs
said.
On the
other hand, as the wolves have thrived, coyote numbers have dropped. That has
allowed the fox to flourish, which has not been good for ground nesting birds,
a prime source of food for foxes.
But with
fewer coyotes, there is less pressure on pronghorn antelopes, and their numbers
have risen.
"Wolves
serve a function in those biological communities where they live," said
Nina Fascione, vice president for species at Defenders
of Wildlife, an environmental group that was instrumental in bringing wolves
back to the northern
The
argument over wolves has focused on their effect on big game animals such as
deer and elk, and on livestock, and dispute over the extent of that effect and
what to do about it is what has divided hunters and ranchers from the
biologists, especially in
Bangs and
Mike Jimenez, the FWS head wolf biologist for Wyoming, both said they believe
the job of managing wolves should be the states', because they have more staff
to deal with the situation and likely have a close relationship with ranchers
and others affected by the wolves.
Ranchers'
losses to predators have increased since wolves were brought back. Among the 16
members of the Upper Green River Cattleman's Association, for instance, annual
cattle losses to predators rose from less than 1.6 percent in 1990-94 to 3.6
percent annually in 1995-99 as the grizzly bear population grew and the
reintroduced wolf gained a foothold, and then to 5.2 percent annually 2000-02
as wolf numbers grew rapidly, Sommers said.
The FWS
also tracks losses and releases both annual and monthly reports on the interaction
between wolves and humans. According to FWS figures, a total of three cattle
and no sheep were killed by wolves in the northern
Some of
those losses have been compensated by payments totalling
$300,000 to ranchers from the Bailey Wildlife Foundation Wolf Compensation
Trust, administered by Defenders of Wildlife. The fund pays not only for
livestock, but also for guard dogs or work animals lost to wolves.
Sommers
said the compensation is more public relations for the wolf supporters than
real help to ranchers, because so few of the livestock killed by wolves can
ever be confirmed. He pointed to a state study done in
"It's
not always clear what killed what," he said. "The forensics get a little iffy and a lot of the carcasses get all ate up
and you don't have any idea what did it."
The U.S.
Sportsmen's
"People
see far less elk than they used to, and that has to have an effect on tourism
in
The ratio
of elk calves to cows is one of the triggers that would allow either relocation
or hunting of wolves, according to the management plans drawn up by
"It is
our perception that the delisting of the wolf is a long time coming,"
Sexton said. "They've been set up separately from the way that we normally
manage wildlife."
At
Defenders of Wildlife, the feeling is that separation ought to continue a while
longer.
"Wolves
are clearly doing better now in the northern Rockies and they are clearly on
the way to being recovered, but in our opinion it is not yet time for them to
be down-listed," Fascione said.
Bangs noted
that there is a little irony in the FWS being responsible for bringing the wolf
back to the
But
somebody needs to protect wolves, he said.
"They
do everything magnificently in their lives except avoid getting killed by
humans," he said.
***
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http://abcnews.go.com/sections/US/SciTech/wolves_040609-1.html
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