Anybody want to save wolves in Alaska from being hunted down??

Question

The Alaska Board of Game just lifted the wolves protection, and are now letting hunters chase them to exhaustion and then kill them, or shoot them in airplanes. In Whyoming and Idaho, wolves are no longer protected and are preparing for a mass killing, the worse one ever since the '50's. We can't let this happen. Wolf pups and even pregnant mothers are allowed to be killed. Anybody who cares, please go to www.savewolves.org to either donate to the wolves or send a message to these reckless people killing off wolves. Please help the wolves, I don't know if I'm allowed to post this on here, but if it will save the wolves I'll do it. Once your at the site, try and get the word out to as many people as possible. Help save the wolves.

Answer 1

We were lobbying hard to keep the protection in place, and are disappointed it was lifted. It's also allows the practice to chase the wolf down to the point of exhaustion and then kill it.

I can't understand why people get a 'kick' out of killing any animal, whether it's considered a sport or otherwise. Ironically, it's 99% men so I guess testosterone plays a big part?

If you want to keep in touch with animal issues, join Care2Connect; it's a great, free forum where your voice can be heard.

I live in Ohio which has a huge white-tailed deer population. We have 2 hunting seasons since 'they have no natural predators' here to cull the herds. Well, coyote keep moving into the area and quess what? They get trapped and trasported out of here; God forbid people won't be able to 'bag' as many deer if natural predators are allowed to move in.......

Answer 2

It sounds like proper wildlife management to me.

If you have a problem with chasing an animal to exhaustion and then killing it then it would seem that you have a problem with wolves.

Obviously, you don't live in an area where wolves have made a comeback.  Who are YOU to tell these people that they have to let the wolves prosper in their midst?

Answer 3

Mr. Faulty Cortex, it is indeed...Find me ONE documented, proven case of a healthy wild wolf killing a human being on the North American Continent in recorded history and I will eat every book I own while washing them down with Tabasco Sauce...

Mt. Zion-  I live around black bears.  LOTS of them.  I have to lock down all my garbage in a huge $300 bear proof container.  I have to keep my cats indoors.  Do I think we should shoot bears from airplanes?   Of course not!  It's disgusting, cruel, and by the way, ILLEGAL.  The Airborne Hunting Act was designed to protect  animals from this abuse.  The only reason Alaska gets away with it is because it's ALASKA and almost impossible to police such a big area.  Get your facts straight along with the other guy...

Back to the question.   Defenders of Wildlife and the National Resources Defense Council are probably the two strongest agencies involved in this issue.  What we, the public, can do to help is to encourage their efforts through reasonable donations and membership (both orgs. are legit with the Better Business Bureau and use their membership monies very accordingly) and to protest the actions directly by writing or calling our Congressmen and urging them to pass legislation returning this 'management' to a federal level.  Writing or calling the Governors of the subject states may be effective if the volume of complaints are large enough (as in "I won't spend ONE LOUSY DOLLAR to vacation in your state if you do this!" ) but generally the state government has already made up its mind due to the overwhelming pressure from hunting or ranching lobbyists.

I agree that wolves are predators and will eat livestock or pets given no natural foods to select, but there are very efficient programs in place (also by Defenders) which reimburse anyone who loses a cow, sheep, or horse to ANY protected predator. (Wolf, Grizzly, Mountain Lion.)  Also, although it sickens me to think of someone killing a wolf for the 'sport'  (What-they're gonna EAT it?)  in some places, the population of wolves can sustain reasonable and regulated hunting practices.  The best example of this would be the wonderful state of Minnesota, with the largest population of wolves south of Canada, and the least amount of interaction/management problems.  Minnesota kills wolves, legally, through a specific hunting season that does not reduce the population beyond the recovery level, like what Alaska, Wyoming, and Idaho are proposing.  Minnesota also kills wolves, legally, that repeatedly prey on livestock.

As to 'hunters' who are so concerned about there being too much competition from predators on their treasured game species, in Alaska, the always fluctuating size of the Caribou and Moose populations depends almost entirely on weather.  There simply aren't enough predators to have the kind of impact on Alaska's 1.5 MILLION caribou that the hunting lobbyists are suggesting.

And for all those who think life would be better without 'competitve' predators, I invite you to come here to New Jersey, where the  #1  ultimate  he-man predator is the AUTOMOBILE and dead deer on the roadsides are as common as signs on the roadsides.  Dozens of people in NJ DIE every year in fatal deer/auto collisions.  Not to even mention the ridiculous cost of auto insurance, of which deer are a huge factor in this state.  I hit a deer 14 years ago in May in a borough with 10,000 people in it and I was the 417th deer/auto accident in that borough to that point. This is what happens when you offset the balance of nature- too many people and not enough land for the wildlife.

To the asker of this question:   Your heart is in the right place and your concern is so touching.  I have felt your fascination with wolves, and I feel your frustration.  This has been going on in Alaska for almost 20 years.  16 years ago, my friend and I distributed a hand-written petition here in NJ to stop Alaskan Governor Walter Hickel from doing the same exact thing.  It went on for 3 months.  Then a scientist named Gordon Haber (who lived in Denali Nat'l park and studied the wolves there for 20 years ) filmed a 6 month old puppy who had been snared and chewed off most of his leg trying to escape.  He died on the 7 o'clock news while people watched in horror.  This is what stops the slaughter.  EXPOSURE TO THE TRUTH!

I respect and admire your determination.  You're welcome to write me anytime.

Answer 4

Wolves are killers of livestock and small humans. They can peacefully exist in areas away from population and agriculture. Any rancher that's got a problem with wolves killing livestock is justified in solving the problem. Providing for the rancher's family is a higher priority than allowing wolves to cause fear and destruction.

Answer 5

i signed all the petitions and made my friends sign them too. It's horrible, they have no reason to hunt the wolves down, they were there first.

Answer 6

Its funny seeing morons trying to manage our s h i t up here. get a freakin life. We eat the mangy freakin things and you will not stop it. Some of us dont shop in stores we live free and know how to survive unlike you planet killers. How many gallons of gas have you burned this year in a car? me O none, not one freakin drop and this putor is being run by solar and hydro. Go away and dont come here.

Answer 7

I believe that they should be saved! Also, i believe in fair chase hunting, shooting from airplanes and running them to exhaustion is NOT fair chase! This needs to be stopped!!!!!

Answer 8

That is dangerous and you can kill yourselve while doing that.

Answer 9

This is shocking to me! How can anybody do this?! To me, that's like killing off humans. That's how I see it. To be chased from the skies by a thing you don't recognize... imagine if aliens came right now and chased us until we couldn't run and then killed us all? Everyone would be horrified. It's like that for the wolves, after all. That's horrible, and merciless. The wolves stand no chance against a hunter like that. It's unnatural -- no, it's downright wrong -- when they are simply slaughtered that way.

Wolves are not livestock killers. Humans are livestock killers. Hence steak and chicken strips. But nobody complains then, do they? And the wolf, who can't go to the store and buy a TV dinner, is begrudged even a single meal from the human who will eats food every day. I'm not saying anyone should sacrifice their livestock to the wolves, but it's just wrong to go and slaughter them over a few very rare incidents.

I know I am ranting and not really helping, but I feel strongly about this... wolves are important. And again, to me, killing them for sport is like killing people for fun.

Answer 10

I agree with you,we have to do all we can to save all wild life. Especially the wolves of Alaska,one of " GODS " creatures, a very beautiful animal.