Denali wolves wearing snares. Animals are roaming free with devices caught on necks. By Mary Pemberton. Associated Press.
Under Wyoming’s wolf plan this could happen inside Yellowstone Park because most of the packs leave the Park from time to time.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He has been a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and also its President. For many years he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
I have a background in wildlife biology and believe that allowing recreational/commercial trapping of animals for their pelts is disgusting. It is an inhumane act no matter how people want to spin it. A trapper catches a wolf (or other animal), then walks up to it and clubs it to death (by crushing its skull) or shoots it in the trap. If people have the moral capacity to do things right it would be to end commercial trapping and not allow any furs to be sold. It is completely unneeded and produces the results that the article discusses.
Even in Massachusetts, I describe in my book (Suburban Howls) a similar thing likely happening here, despite the traps being illegal.
Again, this should not occur especially on public (federal, state, town) lands…
So are they just going to watch that wolf die slowly? that is what is happening to it. They should tranquilize it and take the darn thing off. Or end its life in a humane way at least. Disgusting trappers and our wild life management!
Jon Way….”if people have the moral capacity to do things right it would be to end commercial trapping and not allow any furs to be sold”
We agree …check out “Footloosemontana.org” and “trapfreeoregon.org”
We ‘re working on making that a reality…pass the word.
This is getting depressing. Isn’t there any good news about wolves.
Assuming the wolves will be dead by the time tourist season opens, I sure hope someone takes pictures now. The ol’ cliche about a picture being worth a thousand words is sometimes true–remember the gruesome picture someone took of a pile of mountain lion heads–essentially a trophy shot from that quiet, behind the scenes govt agency we $$$ fund known as “Wildlife Services”
I agree w/ Tim. I feel like we’re back in the early late 1800’s/early 1900’s concerning wildlife “management”. Between the treatment and killing of wolves and bison (not to mention countless other animals) I’m to the point of pure disgust. What a fine species we humans turned out to be. We are devolving on a daily basis. The dumbing down is progressing at the pace of an avalanche.
What poor stewards we are… for heaven’s sake