Wolf News Roundup
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online!
November 7, 2014
Rich Landers of the Spokesman Review Outdoors Blog reports that a hunter "who took a shot at a wolf after being virtually surrounded by a pack" in northeastern Washington has been cleared of wrongdoing by state wildlife officials. State officials filed details under its "Dangerous Wildlife Incident Reports" (linked below).
While Maine voters rejected Humane Society of the U.S.-funded efforts to halt three methods of black bear baiting in that state, voters in Michigan expressed displeasure with wolf hunting by rejecting ballot questions that authorize state officials to manage wolves in Michigan as trophy game animals, and hunting of that species.
But it appears the Michigan vote was largely symbolic. The referendum voids two specific laws, but the state legislature has passed a third law that authorizes wolf hunting in 2015, and that law remains in effect. The battle will continue though, since the Humane Society of the United States has vowed to continue the fight to end the hunt.
Meanwhile, wolf issues continue in Arizona. When a wolf (wearing a non-functioning radio collar) was photographed on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, environmental activists were thrilled, and immediately called for more protection for wolves across a much wider range.
The Center for Biological Diversity released a report calling for an additional 359,000 square miles of wolf habitat in the Lower 48 – from the southern Rockies, West Coast, and in the Northeastern U.S. CBD’s proposal is to double the wolf population to 10,000 animals.
The Grand Canyon wolf sighting was quickly followed by word of a wolf spotted in Flagstaff. The animal was captured by animal control specialists and taken to an animal rescue facility, but it escaped. While it had been held in captivity, a DNA sample was taken to determine the animal’s origin. According to a report from the Arizona Daily Sun, the test results reveal the "wolf-like" animal is probably a wolf-dog hybrid. The animal remains at large, roaming the region south of Flagstaff.
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