Story at a glance:
- One third of Wisconsin’s gray wolf population most likely died from human activity in a matter of months.
- Researchers caution that removing federal protections on the species “opens the door for antagonists to kill large numbers in short periods.”
- Michigan and Minnesota legislators are weighing whether to open their states up to wolf hunting.
In the months since the federal government removed protections for gray wolves in January this year — shortly before then-President Trump left office — at least one third of Wisconsin’s gray wolves have died as a result of human activity, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have been monitoring the wolf population since protections were lifted, and say that poaching and a February hunt that drastically exceeded the legal limit on hunting were mainly responsible for the decline in wolves, The Guardian reported.
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Adrian Treves, an environmental studies professor, says that the study’s findings are not unique to Wisconsin and the data should serve as a cautionary tale for jurisdictions around the world that are considering hunting and animal protections.
“Federal governments in both [the U.S and E.U.] should recognize that loosening protections for predators, and perhaps other controversial species, opens the door for antagonists to kill large numbers in short periods, legally and illegally. The history of political scapegoating of wolves may repeat itself,” said Treves and fellow researchers Francisco Santiago Ávila and Karann Putrevu.
Researchers say more than half of the deaths were due to “cryptic poaching,” illegal killing in which perpetrators conceal evidence. While researchers say most deaths were largely from hunting and poaching, other deaths may also have been caused by automobile strikes and government-approved controls for protecting livestock, according to The Guardian.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed gray wolves in the lower 48 states from its list of endangered and threatened species.
The Trump administration said at the time that it would return management and protection of gray wolves to states and tribes following the species’ successful recovery. The wolves were on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for more than 45 years.
Environmental and animal rights groups are asking the Biden administration to reverse the decision, saying it was made prematurely since wolves have not returned to most of their historical range, The Guardian reports.
In Wisconsin, the department of natural resources (DNR) pushed its hunting season up from November to February after a pro-hunting organization won a court order, according to The Guardian. The state issued enough permits for people to legally kill 119 wolves. Hunters blew past the number, killing 218 wolves, according to the study.
Ed Bangs, a retired US Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator, told The Guardian that Wiscon’s hunting season was a “killing spree” that violated hunting ethics. He said it’s too early to make broad assumptions just based on this data.
Researchers also estimate that 95 to 105 wolves died in Wisconsin between November 3, when the plan to lift protections was announced, and mid-April, according to The Guardian.
There are now between 695 and 751 wolves in Wisconsin, a decline from at least 1,034, according to the study.
Wildlife managers in Michigan and Minnesota are currently considering opening the state to wolf hunts, The Guardian reports. Republican legislators in western states are pushing aggressive measures to allow hunting methods such as night-time hunts, bounty-like payments and shooting from motorized parachutes, ATVs or snow machines.
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