"Furthermore, it's going to have a negative impact on wolves' ability to disperse out of Idaho and recolonize other areas in the northwest where they need to recolonize." "I think the new wolf law is overall going to have a very negative impact on wildlife in Idaho," he says. Lucid, who left Idaho Fish and Game last year to establish his own wildlife consultation business, is worried too many wolves will be killed. Hunting wolves after hours with night vision goggles is now legal, as is using of motorized vehicles like snowmobiles or ATVs to chase them.Įnvironment And Energy Collaborative Gray Wolves To Be Removed From Endangered Species List That help means giving wolf hunters the right to do things that are illegal when pursuing other animals. "All due respect to Fish and Game, they need our help." "We've got to get this in check," Moon said during debate. Idaho's Department of Fish And Game opposed the bill. Idaho's new law calls for killing up to 90% of them. The state is home to around 2.7 million cattle alone.īut lawmakers have a different idea of what a "reasonable" number of wolves is. Department of Agriculture found only about 130 cattle and sheep in Idaho were confirmed or probable kills by wolves between July 2019 and June last year. Wolf depredations on livestock was another argument proponents for the new law made, though the U.S. While the presence of wolves changes the behavior of elk - the animals congregate less and spend more time at higher elevations - Lucid says the predator actually makes its prey species healthier by "reducing disease and culling older and weaker members of those herds." Since then, hunters have legally killed hundreds every year. Recovery went well enough that in 2011 the animal came off the endangered species list. Twenty-five years ago, federal wildlife officials reintroduced wolves to Idaho. Her district includes many of the state's 1,500 estimated wolves and prime wolf habitat. "When are so fearless that they are now walking down the center of a dirt road, that means there's too many of them, there's way too many of them," said Idaho state GOP Rep. Concerns over the animal's impact on both livestock and wild prey have long festered among ranchers and some hunters and reached the floor of Idaho's House of Representatives in April. Since then, hunters have legally killed hundreds every year.Īvalon/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesĬonservative lawmakers in Idaho and Montana have passed new laws to drastically reduce the number of wolves in those states. Wolf kills still must be backed by physical evidence, such as bitten livestock or broken fences.An adult grey wolf walks at waters edge in Montana in October 2018. Ranchers there will be able to kill wolves without prior written approval if they can prove the animals are harassing livestock. With delisting delayed, the government has given Montana and Idaho more leeway in handling wolves in the interim. The agency approved plans by Montana and Idaho last year, but rejected Wyoming’s, which would have allowed wolves to be shot with little restriction in parts of that state. Before the government can propose that wolves in the Northern Rockies be delisted, each of the three states must have approved management plans. Gray wolves reached recovery goals in 2002 an estimated 825 or more wolves live in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Meanwhile, 201 “problem” wolves also were killed, most by government agents. According to the government, 278 cattle and nearly 800 sheep were confirmed killed by wolves in the three states from 1995 to 2003.
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