Alaska begins wolf killings to boost caribou for hunters

Hunters armed with big-caliber guns have been swooping over wolf packs in the Upper Yukon region of Alaska in one of the biggest aerial wolf hunts the state has undertaken to help boost the number of caribou. Already, at least 30 wolves have been killed in the program that began over the weekend.

The predator control effort has run into opposition from the National Park Service, which manages the nearby Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, where biologists have been radio-collaring wolves in a long-running study of how predators and prey interact in the 2.5-million-acre wilderness near the Canadian border.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, aiming to boost the survival of caribou calves, wants to kill up to 328 wolves, leaving behind at least 88 to 103. Killing them, state officials say, will allow the Fortymile caribou herd, ravaged by three years of bad weather and heavy snow, to expand from its current level of 40,000 animals to as many as 100,000.

There are several problems with that, according to the park service. First, park officials believe there aren't nearly as many wolves as state officials estimate, and that killing so many could devastate the packs. Second, the Fortymile herd hasn't approached 100,000 since the early 1900s. And preserve Supt. Greg Dudgeon fears some of the preserve's collared wolves, along with others that typically make the preserve their home, could be shot.

"They [the state] have a mandate to provide for maximum sustained yield. They want to provide more moose and caribou for people to harvest," Dudgeon said. "Our mandate is to manage and provide for healthy populations of wildlife. So we don't place the value of a wolf over a caribou, or a caribou over a moose."

Bad weather kept hunters out of the air on Monday and Tuesday, said Wade Willis, Alaska representative for Defenders of Wildlife, which is trying to stop all aerial hunting of wolves. The state and federal governments have been at odds for several years over predator management, Willis said. "I think it's at the most tense it's been since the state started aggressively liberalizing hunting regulations within preserves. Now that they've gone after a very detailed, long-running National Park Service predator-prey wolf study and are severely impacting that program, the Park Service has finally just had it."

The Department of Fish and Game's regional supervisor, David James, said wildlife managers are using radio trackers to help make sure radio-collared wolves aren't targeted. But he added: "To make the program successful, we need to remove enough wolves to substantially reduce the level of predation ... and our staff will be working toward that goal."

Wolves in other parts of the West, meanwhile, are also about to come into the gun sights, after the Obama administration's decision this month to let stand the removal of endangered-species protections for wolves in the Upper Midwest, Idaho and Montana.

— Kim Murphy

Photo: Al Grillo /Associated Press

Comments

[Sal B]

Let's kill all predators so that "game animals" can overpopulate and die through starvation. Yeah, sounds like a great idea.

[sheila]

hopefully they will start shooting caribou hunters, next, since they are also killing caribou? that might make this all worth it...

[DT]

I can't believe this. Leave the wolves alone and forget about the caribous. Let nature do its thing.

[stephen Cole]

So let's understand this-
Caribou are dying because of weather and disease.

So we're killing wolves?? That sound like perfect illogic.

Wolves have a demonstrated herd culling effect-they prey on the diseased. We should be helping them kill the diseased caribou.

[Elliot G.]

I say let the wolves go after unarmed caribou and moose hunters. Palin can be first.

[donut]

When they kill adult wolves, the pups are left in the den to starve. Very cruel.

[JAMES G.]

I can't believe how stupid the Fish and Game dept is in Alaska, Wolves are what keeps disease from spreading they destroy rodents, they feed of decaying animals that can cause disease, and most important Wolves run in Packs because they are smart hunters and they don't need big guns to kill thier Prey!, let the animals be!

[Duug I]

It makes me sick that people are lining up to take part of a hunt from helicopters. They actually enjoy it. It must make them feel superior to the stupid creatures that only have legs to get around. Little people.

[rudolph]

wow!, and to think that 'ol man mccain was betting on sara "dumbass" palin...by the way, she's the one who needs to be erradicated, murdering retard.

[nish]

Yeah, definitely.
take away a natural predator, so that caribou populations can grow into weaker populations so that the ones that aren't shot by the hunters end up dying in the winters. that will decimate the caribou populations pretty quickly.

[Sherri]

It's time to organize a tourism boycott of Alaska. I, for one, will not be visiting that state until their attitude towards wildlife emerges from the Dark Ages.

[JH]

DT.... Nature can't do "it's thing" anymore... Humans have messed it (nature) up too much.

Overall though, the killing of 75% of the wolves up there seems a little excessive and unnecessary... especially for the profit of caribou hunters.

[leah]

what a plan, and such a fair fight. high caliber guns from the air. this is the answer to upsetting the eco balance? humans suck.

this whole thing makes me sick, but what makes me sicker are the people who are WILLING to do the shooting. you have to be sick in the head to want to do something like this.

[Oscar Amaro]

Let me get this straight, nature has been handling this situation correctly for thousands of years, and only NOW has it become problematic enough for a psycho governor to have to step in and bring it under control?!

Sounds like they're looking for more revenue from the yahoo big game hunters." An Alaskan version of the Texas-based "wild" Tiger hunts. Gee -- what brave men! Set them out in their scivvies and a pen knife and let's see who's the victor?

[DanR]

Governor Palin
blesses high-flying murder.
The Wild calls "foul".

[suz]

This is the most unintelligent thing i have ever heard of. Kill the wolves to increase the caribou so instead people can kill off the caribou? Hm...seems 100% selfish. I also heard that when the helicopter killers (yes they are killers not "predator control units" as they call themselves) can't shoot the wolves they literally hunt the wolves down and chase them until their hearts burst and die. Don't you love Alaska fish and game.

[R Tray]

And to think that this idiot Palin was a VP nominee.
I'd pay big money to hunt her for sport.

[The Big NB]

Wow. This shows the greedy side of human nature. What complete and utter disrespect for the natural world. Pathetic.

[Arie]

And people wanted Palin to be president. She's have ariel hunts of bears and mountain lions next.

I am not against hunter or hunting. It has its place but this.....this is unforgivable. I wonder if Palin will have her grandson sitting on the carcass of a dead wolf.

[James]

What a great sport big bad manly hunters. Like the guys who take a 50 gallon drum of peanut butter to attract bears & shoot them from ATV's in North Carolina. Mankind blows we need more disease, a selective one that targets all the idiots, like Palin & her like minded constituency.

[lili]

it's interesting in all of the above comments, not one was pro kill (wolves)....thankfully

[Virginia Jauregui]

Christ, Sara Palin makes GW look intelligent. Could you imagine if this trashy nut ran the country? 300 Wolves? Doesn't it seem a little excessive that by killing 200 of them, you can boost the caribou population by 60,000? I guess Palin must get her fuzzy numbers from Larry the Cable Guy or was that Jesus? If there is one person that Jesus is incapable of loving, itwould be Sara Palin. Shame of you Sara Palin, I hope someone chases you down and shoots you.

[jc]

Alaska.. they shouldn't even be considered a part of the USA.

dumba$$es!

[Josh]

This is just so terribly sad.

[R]

This is so wrong on so many levels I don't know where to begin.