Montana's 2010 wolf-hunt quota to increase dramatically

HELENA, Mont. -- The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission plans to at least double the number of gray wolves that hunters can kill this year.

Commissioners voted Thursday to accept a staff recommendation to increase the quota of wolves in this year's hunting season. After a public comment period, they will vote in July whether that final number will be 150, 186 or 216 animals.

Last year's quota was 75.

According to state wildlife computer models, the proposed quotas would reduce the state's wolf population between 8% and 20% from last year's minimum count of 524.

The proposed quotas do not include wolves killed by wildlife officials responding to complaints of attacks on livestock. About 145 wolves were killed that way in 2009.

RELATED WOLF NEWS:
Northern Rockies gray wolf populations held steady in 2009, biologists say
Wolf attacks on Montana livestock spike, stirring backlash

-- Associated Press

Photo: A young wolf in Yellowstone National Park. Credit: National Park Service

Comments

[Daniella]

unbelievable !! that still in this century some people are still like neanderthals! why on earth animals have to suffer all this horrible acts of greed and stupidity? ...

[markus]

Please leave things wild and the management of the same to people and experts that grew up in wild country choose to live and play in the wild. And have a healthly educated understanding and respect nature. Your comment would be funny here in Idaho and Montana if it was so ingorant and stupid.
Until you wish to hike 15-30 miles in the dark with 60-100 lbs of bloody elk meat on your back. Or come watch as we pickup elk sheds while a baby calf elk gets its guts ripped out of its stomach still stabding just after it can barely walk. Less than 20 years after indroduction, the Canadian grey wolf has killed over 60% of the elk in Idaho. Baby calf elk survival rates are off 80 plus %. Entire sheep herds of 60 to a hundred animals have been killed...And hence that entire wolf pack eliminated by Govt experts... You might just find that you'll have much more respect for the chicken nugget or steak satay you just ate if you have to kill it yourself. Until then.
I think you have enough problems in Calif to worry about don't you...Thank god I got out of that hell hole 20 years ago.

[Patricia]

This is outragous!!! Peopla are so stupid!!!! I live in an area of Kentucky where we have all kinds of wildlife. It is so exciting to look out the window and see elk, bears and beavers living free. Not to mention the wild animals we can't see. Please stop killing the wolf for doing the natural thing God created them to do, live free from human predators.

[Fred Patterson]

The neanderthals you mention , thru outright donations,hunting & fishing license fees/all the tax paid on hunting & fishing gear, have brought back from near extinction whitetail deer/bald eagles,& wolves, so that we all may enjoy them.

[Mary woolverton]

I am against the slaughter of wolves or any animal. The wolf was on the endangered list now we want to kill them off. Ranchers and farmers need to find an alternative method for keeping there livestock safe. I think the wild life officials should protect the wild life, of course the wolves hunt as we, people keep taking more and more of their natural habitat for our own personal use there is less wild game or land for them to hunt on. Maybe be if we did not ddisturb there food supply they would not bother the livestock.

[J.GREGORY]

STILL CANT BELIEVE HOW PEOPLE CAN BE SO HEARTLESS AS TO WANT TO KILL A BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL.THEY DONT HAVE ANY THING BETTER TO DO WITH THERE TIME,THEY NEED TO GET A LIFE AND LEAVE THE ANIMALS ALONE.SOUNDS LIKE THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE NEED TO MAKE CHANGES IN THERE DECISION MAKEING.IF POSSIBLE.IT JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE COLD HEARTED FREAKS.

[Amy]

Wolves killed livestock in Montana at the rate of an animal per day in 2009 - a sharp increase over 2008. They are beautiful creatures, but they're also very deadly. They'll go out and hamstring a bunch of animals just for fun. Wolves are detrimental to the families who ranch for survival. Keeping the wolf population in check is essential.

[barbara]

why do these people feel the need to kill such beautiful animals? so sad...

[Robby]

There is no such thing as natural process of nature in todays world. You really need to wake up. It is people like you and me that have brought this situation with all wild animals around. WE have taken over their territoral grounds every time we build a new home. WE are forever inrouching on the grounds where the wolf hunt. AND LIKE US they will move closer to a EASY food source. That also means small childred and family pets. It does happen don't kid you self. These are wild animals not cuddly pets. That unfortunity means that yes the wolves have to be contained. So don’t blame the hunters blame YOU AND ME for bulding homes in the mountains and valleys where the wolves call home.

[char]

give me a break these are animals that we keep infringing in to their territory!!

[patty]

i think rhis is so wrong!! why kill poor innocent wolves? they are not killing anybody. people are killing people & we have to pay to keep them alive. the wolves are just living the way they know how! so wrong!!

[WindRush]

If you don't live in Montana - shut your mouth!

I can't believe that, in this day and age, someone would try to shove their personal beliefs down anyone else's throat - especially when they seem to know nothing of Neanderthals, wolves, or much of anything else.

[Jack]

What's wrong with killing off the world alittle piece at a time. Besides that the head on the wall will last longer than the real thing

[Scott]

unbelievable !! that still in this century some people are still so ignorant and uneducated on how an ecosystem works you can't let a predator go unchecked or everything else will be lost. elk and deer numbers are way down and if it wasn't for the neandrathal hunters the deer and elk would not be in as high numbers as they are. it's real easy for somebody who lives in a big city and has never seen anything more wild than a squirrel in the park to tell other people how they should live. if a wolf came into your yard and killed your pet or your livestock, then it would be oh poor me why isn't somebody doing something

[Geoff James]

Daniella, There has to be balance. Go sit in the forest. Watch nature and the "circle of life." It is about eating and being eaten. The food chain. Survival of the fittest. When you go to a grocery store you hunt. Something has to die for you to eat, plant or animal. When you eat vegetables, you take from animals. Where they (vegetables and fruits) are grown was once wild. That is the way it is. You are a predator. It is the law of nature. Killing is part of who we are. Something had to die for you to live where you live. Same goes for the clothes you wear. If you want to help the wolf, join an organization like World Wildlife Fund or a Wolf Foundation. I did, and I hunt. I am human. I understand my place on this amazing planet.

[Cinder Smith]

You agree to commit someone to prison for life who killed 2 young girls, You agree to have laws that put child molesters in jail for a few years then let them back out to abuse again, You agree to have re-hab and mercy for some of the most vile humans on earth............""The Wolf you let die"""""?????????????

[K]

I had hoped that while the wolf hunting ban was still active a few years ago that the government wouldv'e given the farmer's funds to build new security fences around their land and livestock. The wolves would then be unable to kill livestock and could live without people shooting them. Granted there will always be wolf killings and occurances of livestock being eaten but it seems like the government and people voted for the easy way out on this one. I guess its the way of the world, in order for peace there must be war, huh? Physics or stupidity, think about it. Not necessity.

[Richard]

This is a mistake. The same fears and misunderstandings that people had about wolves before are going to come forth again and befor eyou know these beautiful animals are going to end up endangered again.

[stillhunterman]

Unbelieveable? I don't think you have ANY idea of the utter destruction to the ungulate population that would occur should the introduced wolf population go unchecked!

[Wanda]

This is horrible. I cannot believe that people hunt these beautiful animals. Barbaric

[someone]

About time they increased the numbers. They need to be managed like everything else.

[Jack]

people who do not live in montana should not criticize another states decision

[Jena]

I am ashamed to call myself a native Montanana, to think that the state is voting to kill more wolves is just beyond belief!! Big money ranchers and others like them, just get what ever they want, money speaks loudly in the killing of the wolves. They are part of the cycle of life in the wild, without the wolves and what they do in nature, there would be over population of sick and older animals, there would not be enough food for all, and then other animals would be looking for food elsewhere, they what is the state going to do, kill them too! Shame on you

[Jane]

This is outrageous.... after all the studies done on wolves adn yet we "supposedly" intelligent humans seem to feel the need to obliterate them. The state I live in lost all it's wolves many years ago.. now it is over-run with coyotes.. coyotes so dangerous they even invade peoples yards and drag off pets and attack small children.. they have NO FEAR. And why is this? Humans killed off the only natural preditor of the coyote - THE WOLF!!! Wolves don't bother humans unless provoked... very rarely do they kill livestock unless their natural hunting range is depleted. Surprisingly, wolf families are very much like the human families.. and are very careful to maintain order and care in their pack. You would think that huamn beings would have better things to do than screw with the balances in nature given us.. but NO.. seems we have to mess with everything.

[hunter1]

daniella, you just stay in the city and mind your own business......

[jake]

Perhaps if you lived in Montana and were subject to pets,livestock and people open to attack from wild animals you'd feel differently Daniella.It never fails to amaze the thoughtless posts on the internet.

[ak man]

Right on..... Up here in Alaska we have a name for wolves. The only good one, is a DEAD one.....

[CASReaves]

Before increasing wolf hunt quotas, they need to know HOW many there are. Will they be "hunting" from planes? If so, that is NOT hunting; it's just butchery. Get your sorry butts on the ground, hunt the animals on their own terms and give them a sporting chance. Otherwise, you're no hunter, you're just a killer.

[Michelle]

Not a good idea if you are truly realistic about the reduction of wolf percentages for the state... closer to half of the population would be gone within one year if you include the number of wolves killed by officials...Aside from that, the number of livestock hunted by wolves is by far a way less percentage than the number of livestock killed by disease. And when did 564 wolves in state equal a healthy strong population?

[yessica]

Are u kidding me. Just because a few backwoods rednecks can't stop being so damn greedy the animals must pay. Hey if u don't like wolves, bears, or wildcat's then live in a city morons u are after all on the animals home and land. Why don't we start hunting the commisoners instead I mean they are after all the ones who come up with this crap. I mean is it that hard to come up with other SMART or SCIENTIFIC solution, OH, hey how about u stop enchroaching on their land....wow what a good idea.

[Jason]

What's unbelievable is that the article is discussing "Wolf" population control and Daniella refers to humans as neanderthals. I bet if Daniella had 500 head of cattle she invested thousands to dollars to feed us neanderthals with it she might have a different opinion. People need to understand that life is not like Burger King where you always "Have it your Way". Wild animals don't know how to control their own populations. If humans don't intervene they get over populated and things worsen for the animals and neanderthals. Should us humans quit driving at night because we might injur a deer because the deer doesn't have enough brain capacity to stay out of the road? Come on humans step up and use common sense. Part of any knowledge based animal management plan includes harvesting animals to keep populations in check.

[JL]

Unless your from Montana or one of the other states with wolf problems, the best thing to do is mind your own business... Oh, wait! Your probably from California and can't mind your own business that's why your state is in the mess it is in.

[James]

They're being killed because they aren't a cute and cuddly animal. They pose a huge risk to elk, which is a big part of Montana hunting, one of their top revenue builders. Also, wolves enjoy to prey on cows, which are not wild animals, but animals owned by ranchers. So whenever a wolf kills a cow, that is a profit that the rancher cannot get back. Would you like it if revenues from your business could be taken and not be reimbursed?

[Dakine]

Daniella,maybe you should boycott Montana too.

[mike]

YES!!! its gonna be a great hunt , I hope they are giving a few out of state tags.
cant wait!

[Leroy]

i agree, What is the point of killing a wolf,unless its putting you or ur livestock in physical harm? There is no reason other that to use a gun and kill something. I could see if a hunter had the guts to go blow for blow with a wolf then by all means give it your all, but to shoot one? just cowardly. Not macho at all, just cowardly.

[Alek]

Because they are killing everything in sight, for food and some just for "play". Killing off the elk+deer herd. Rarelly even see a moose anymore. when they are done with the local herd they turn to livestock. One farmer lost 148 sheep in ONE month to ONE wolf pack last year.

[Dillon]

No offense to californians but you cannot even manage your funds let alone a wildlife population. You do not understand how a state budget works and how the state dictates what is needed. all to funds for not only wolves but all wildlife come from hunters and fisherman. not from any of the ther outdoor enthusists that supposedly know about nature. you guys pay nothing towards wildlife. you cannot even pay the taxes that you owe the working citizens. you in calif. do not even see the impact wolves have. and the reintroduction was bull. The wildlife groups that are so great did not even research what the preach. the wolf that was "reintroduced" was not even really the wolf that lived in this area to begin with. It was a criminal act to bring that wolf to yellowstone. just as if you were to realease hyennas in arizona the grey wolf was not a native species in this region, nor are they endangered in any way seems how there are hundreds of thousands of them in canada where they are NATIVE unlike in the northwest US. So maybe you should research some of this before complaining. For the rest of you talking about encroaching on the wildlifes territory we are all guilty anf if you do not like it then you might as well take yourself out of that equation..... you know what I mean. All of your ancesters hunted it is a way of life and nature. There must be a balance.

[Franz Ferdinand]

My disrespect for the US is growing more and more. Why can't you show respect to anything that lives in your country? The only answer you have is to kill it. Honestly, this is embarrassing!!

[Marius]

Wolves are not at war with humans, yet humans are at war with them. All they ask for is freedom to live and spared from selfish human politics. Are we the chosen gods to kill as we please, and simply rationalise a guilty concience away. Killing wolves is wrong. We intrude their space and now we want to kill them, that's sickening, it makes us no better than parasites. There's many other alternatives than slaugtering the wolves in addressing the wolves and caribou/livestock/elk problem. I respect wolves and I despise everyone who kills a wolf. I call on everyone to respect wolves and find alternatives to challenges than slaugtering them. Realise once again how beautiful they are!