From the Jackson Hole News & Guide:
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Two conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana and its wildlife management agency alleging it illegally set hunting and trapping policies and quotas intended to reduce the gray wolf population by making it easier to kill the predators.
WildEarth Guardians and Project Coyote filed the lawsuit Thursday in District Court in Helena asking for the new laws and resulting increased quotas to be overturned.
From CoastalReview.org:
KILL DEVIL HILLS — Pete Benjamin has almost 10 years of hands-on experience supervising the red wolf recovery plan at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Benjamin, Fish and Wildlife Service Raleigh office field supervisor for ecological services, was keynote speaker Saturday for the 2022 Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival, telling attendees he was optimistic about the species’ recovery. But he also acknowledged the process had been a difficult series of twists and turns.
From CPR.org:
Colorado wildlife officers are working with their Wyoming counterparts to follow up on a report of wolves killed near the state border.
The inquiry appears focused on a heavily monitored wolf pack living in Colorado’s North Park region. On Wednesday, The Coloradoan of Fort Collins published a story saying it had received reports of three wolves being shot “just over the border in Wyoming.” No source was cited by the paper.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
This week the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the poaching death of another wolf, the fifth illegal wolf slaying in the state so far this year.
OR-88 was the breeding female of the beleaguered Lookout Mountain Pack of northeast Oregon. In the photo announcing her death, she’s on her side, a gaping, dark red wound on her right shoulder.
From TheCenterSquare.com in Washington:
(The Center Square) – The Northeast Washington Wildlife Group is concerned growing wolf and cougar populations in Northeastern Washington are decimating deer, elk and moose herds.
“We have a predator problem, and it continues to get worse with each passing year,” said Dale Magart, secretary of the nonprofit group that has written a position paper on the issue.
From GlobalNews.ca in Canada:
A Freedom of Information request obtained by the environmental charity Pacific Wild Alliance reveals military-style assault rifles and high-capacity 30-round prohibited military-grade magazines are being used to shoot wolves in British Columbia, as part of the provincial wolf culling program.
Bryce Casavant, director of conservation intelligence at Pacific Alliance Canada, told Global News hundreds of wolves have been killed by aerial gunning since the cull was first put in place in 2015.
From Nature World News:
According to new research, black wolves seem to be more likely to withstand canine distemper virus outbreaks (CDV).
To improve the fitness of their offspring, Yellowstone Natural Park wolves prefer to mate with animals of the opposite color in areas where CDV outbreaks occur.
From the Mail Tribune:
Biologists with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife say it’s unlikely OR-103 — a lone wolf that has killed three cattle in the Doak Mountain area near Klamath Falls in recent months — was seriously injured earlier this year when caught in a coyote leg-hold trap.
Arran Robertson, communications manager for Oregon Wild, an environmental organization, has questioned the use of traps with wolves. In an email, Robertson said OR-103 “was substantially injured in a coyote leghold trap, and that’s when he was fitted with a radio collar.”
From SierraClub.org:
The return of wolves across the American West has raised howls from ranchers worried about their livestock, and hunters worried that wolves will make deer and elk more scarce during hunting season. Wolf boosters counter those arguments with data on how wolves improve the health of ecosystems by preventing overgrazing and overpopulation. But some scientists studying one of the worst scourges to afflict deer in North America—chronic wasting disease (CWD)—think wolves could have another benefit. It’s possible that the predators could help to chase down the disease and reduce its impact.
