From the Missoula Current:
The Montana House defeated some bills that would have allowed more wolf trapping and bear hunting in grizzly bear habitat. But other carnivore bills are moving forward that might affect grizzly delisting.
Late Thursday, the House defeated three bills sponsored by Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, that would have possibly threatened grizzly bears in western Montana. But the bills probably would have passed had not the Governor’s Office raised objections.
From DutchNews.NL:
A wolf has died after being struck by a car in Brabant, bringing the total number killed on the roads so far this year to three. The collision happened on the A2 motorway by the Bleijendijk estate, near Vught, at around 6.45am on Friday morning. The driver, who was unhurt, stopped and alerted police.
Read more at DutchNews.nl:
From The Intercept:
IF YOU EVER plan to dart a wild wolf sprinting over a snow-covered mountain from a low-flying helicopter, there are a few things you need to know. The wolf should be running away, and you should be aiming for the back or butt. Never take a shot at a wolf that’s facing you. The risk of injuring the animal with a dart to the face is too high.
From The Daily Mining Gazette in Michigan:
You’re operating a farm or ranch. What do you do when wolves are killing your livestock or pet dogs? Trap them and shoot them, right? That’s what farmers and ranchers — and government agencies — have been doing for decades.
Now there are new, nonlethal alternatives. Even better, these solutions are more permanent than lethal methods. Kill a wolf, and there’s another wolf behind him, eager to attack. Keep a wolf away, and the rest of his pack will stay away too. They may even help keep other packs away.
From The Lewiston Tribune in Idaho:
SPOKANE — A wolf pack in northeastern Washington state has killed another calf, forcing the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to determine whether to cull the pack, officials said.
The Togo pack of wolves has attacked three calves over the past 30 days, surpassing the threshold of livestock kills for the department to consider killing one or two wolves to curb the livestock killing, The Capital Press reported.
From phys.org:
From sports to pop culture, there are few themes more appealing than a good comeback. They happen in nature, too. Even with the Earth losing species at a historic rate, some animals have defied the trend toward extinction and started refilling their old ecological niches.
I’m a philosopher based in Montana and specialize in environmental ethics. For my new book, “Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think About Animals,” I spent three years looking at wildlife comebacks across North America and Europe and considering the lessons they offer.
From Scientific American:
If you’ve ever heard the term “alpha wolf,” you might imagine snapping fangs and fights to the death for dominance. The idea that wolf packs are led by a merciless dictator is pervasive, lending itself to a shorthand for a kind of dominant masculinity.
But it turns out that this is a myth, and in recent years wildlife biologists have largely dropped the term “alpha.” In the wild, researchers have found that most wolf packs are simply families, led by a breeding pair, and bloody duels for supremacy are rare.
From the Capital Press:
SALEM — Environmental groups are calling on Oregon lawmakers to reform how the state compensates ranchers for livestock lost to wolves.
Under the Wolf Depredation Compensation and Financial Assistance Block Grant Program, counties can apply to reimburse producers for confirmed wolf attacks on livestock and to help pay for non-lethal deterrents such as range riders.
Click here for the full story.
From Red Lake Nation News:
(St. Paul, Minn.) – Today a bill removing wolf hunting and trapping from Minnesota statute was introduced in the Minnesota State Senate with bipartisan co-authors. Senate File 2062 is chief authored by Senator Mary Kunesh and co-authored by Senators Hawj, Abler, Marty, and Dibble. It was referred to the Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee.
The House companion bill, House File 2144, was introduced last week and is chief authored by Representative Peter Fischer and co-authored by Representatives Becker-Finn, Jordan, and Hornstein.
From The Lewiston Tribune:
BOISE — State officials on Wednesday requested $392,000 from the general fund to kill wolves in Idaho, and with other revenue sources will have just more than $1 million for that purpose starting this summer.
The Wolf Depredation Control Board made the request to the Legislature’s powerful budget setting committee.
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.