From ozy.com:
On Nov. 20, residents of Gya village in northern India’s Ladakh region woke up to a devastating loss — 16 yaks on one of their high-altitude pasture lands, nearly 16,000 feet above sea level, had been killed. They belonged to Phuntsog Tserinng Choksar, a yakzi (yak herder). “It could have been either a snow leopard or a pack of wolves that attacked the yaks,” says Karma Sonam, a local wildlife conservationist.
For the seminomadic pastoral communities that span Ladakh and the Tibetan Trans-Himalaya region in China, yaks are a source of livelihood and symbols of wealth. Yet these pastoralists share this rugged, mountainous terrain with snow leopards and Himalayan wolves that routinely target their livestock, setting up what for centuries has been a classic man-versus-animal conflict.
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Montana: ‘Reimbursement’ or ‘bounty’
From Montana Free Press:
The Montana Legislature is debating aggressive measures to reduce the state’s wolf population, marking an inflection point in the state’s management of wolves, which has become a lightning rod for rhetoric.
This week the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee heard testimony on two bills that passed out of the Senate earlier this month with near-unanimous Republican support. Senate Bill 267 would allow for the “reimbursement for receipts of costs incurred relating to the hunting or trapping of wolves.” Another measure, Senate Bill 314, would remove bag limits, authorize hunting with bait and legalize nighttime wolf hunting (a practice known as spotlighting) on private land.
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Rio Blanco County takes steps affirming Colorado wolf reintroduction opposition
From The Fence Post:
On Tuesday March 16, 2021, the Rio Blanco County Board of County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to reaffirm the county’s opposition to wolf reintroduction to become a Wolf Reintroduction Sanctuary County. Rio Blanco County is the first in the state to adopt a Wolf Reintroduction Sanctuary Resolution since Proposition 114 passed on November 3, 2020.
Through the resolution, the commissioners stated the county would allow for the natural migration and repopulation of Gray Wolves, but would not allow for artificially introduced wolves. Further stating that “designated lands” for artificial reintroduction must not include Rio Blanco County or any other county in the state that adopts the Sanctuary County Resolution.
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Depiction of wolves in new Fortnite release is inaccurate, irresponsible and could have lasting consequences
Mexican wolf: Rarest subspecies of wolf in North America sees population almost double in five years
From The Guardian in the UK:
Once on the verge of extinction, the rarest subspecies of grey wolf in North America has seen its population nearly double over the last five years, with more gains being reported in 2020.
The results of the latest annual survey show there are at least 186 Mexican grey wolves in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona, US wildlife managers said on Friday. That marks the fifth straight year that the endangered species has increased its numbers, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Never Cry Wolf: Was it a work of fiction or non-fiction?
Wolf collared in Banff killed in U.S. after sudden 500-kilometre migration to Montana
From CTV News in Canada:
CALGARY — A lone male wolf from Banff’s Bow Valley pack journeyed nearly 500 kilometres from Alberta to Montana in just five days, before being legally killed in northwestern Montana on Monday.
The collared two-year-old wolf, known to researchers as Wolf 2001, had journeyed 480 kilometres before being legally killed by a hunter on Monday.
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French Official Fined $12,000 In Wolf Tail Gift Case
From urdupoint.com:
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 12th March, 2021) Jean-Marie Bernard, the chairman of the southeastern French Hautes-Alpes department, has been sentenced to a fine of 10,000 Euros (nearly $12,000) for an attempt to give a wolf tail to a regional prefect as a gift, media reported on Friday.
According to the France Bleu news outlet, the controversy occurred over a year ago, when Bernard offered a wolf tail as a gift to former regional prefect Cecile Bigot-Dekeyzer on the occasion of her departure. While the official described the gift as a political act in defense of sheep and sheep breeders, associations supporting wolves as protected species brought a civil action against Bernard.
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Wolf management bills move through Montana Senate
From NBCMontana.com:
KALISPELL, Mont. — Wildlife officials say there are approximately 900 to 1,100 wolves roaming in Montana. The state Senate recently passed two bills that would change how wolves are managed.
Senate Bill 314, introduced by State Sen. Bob Brown (R-Thompson Falls), aims to change laws related to hunting wolves.
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Can red wolves come back from the brink of extinction again?
From The Guardian:
There are perhaps no more than 10 red wolves left in the wild, and they are all in just one place: North Carolina.
It is an astonishing statistic for a species once hailed as undergoing the most successful reintroduction programme in the US, providing the blueprint for Yellowstone national park’s much-lauded grey wolf rewilding project.
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India: Where shepherds save wolves thanks to Buddhism
From ozy.com:
On Nov. 20, residents of Gya village in northern India’s Ladakh region woke up to a devastating loss — 16 yaks on one of their high-altitude pasture lands, nearly 16,000 feet above sea level, had been killed. They belonged to Phuntsog Tserinng Choksar, a yakzi (yak herder). “It could have been either a snow leopard or a pack of wolves that attacked the yaks,” says Karma Sonam, a local wildlife conservationist.
For the seminomadic pastoral communities that span Ladakh and the Tibetan Trans-Himalaya region in China, yaks are a source of livelihood and symbols of wealth. Yet these pastoralists share this rugged, mountainous terrain with snow leopards and Himalayan wolves that routinely target their livestock, setting up what for centuries has been a classic man-versus-animal conflict.
Click here for the full story.