Feds Exterminate Idaho's Largest Wolf Pack

[antigone382]

Feds Exterminate Idaho's Largest Wolf Pack

Thu Jul 22,11:58 AM ET Add Science - AP to My Yahoo!



MCCALL, Idaho - The largest wolf pack in Idaho has been exterminated by federal agents after killing more than 100 sheep in central Idaho.



"Non-lethal methods were tried, but they didn't work and the wolves continued to kill sheep," said Carter Niemeyer, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We won't tolerate wolves that are confirmed to be chronically killing livestock."


Niemeyer said the nine wolves in the Cook pack were killed earlier this week and members of two other packs roaming the McCall area could also be killed because they have been attacking livestock. No decision has been made on those packs yet, however.

It was the second multiple wolf killing in the state this year. Three were shot by federal agents in early March after attacking cattle as far south as the Twin Falls area.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=753&e=3&u=/ap/20040722/ap_on_sc/wolves_killed

Of course they can't just let wolves run around killing livestock, but it just seems like such a shame that they had to exterminate the pack.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. That's too bad.

[Egalitarian]

2. Too bad the wolves who prey on sheeple aren't exterminated

so judiciously.

[stevedeshazer]

3. Expect more of this.

Return to the future.

Humans are the most powerful carnivores.

[AFSCME girl]

4. It breaks my heart

when I hear stories like this..........:cry:

[antigone382]

5. yeah, my thoughts exactly.

I know it's a dicey issue, and as a horse owner, I can respect the concerns of farmers who make a living off of their animals. But it still really hurts that they had to kill them. I wish the animals could have been relocated, or even taken into captivity somewhere. And now there's talk of taking wolves off the endangered species list. I worry that we're just going to end up going back and forth on this issue: killing animals off, reintroducing them, and killing them off again.

[CaTeacher]

6. this is just terrible.

Soooo sad.

[misanthrope]

9. WRONG...

...We won't be going back and forth, killing and reintroducing. What we'll do is kill them off then kill ourselves off. It's in the cards; it's in the stars. Bet on it.

[Donkeyboy75]

10. At least your handle fits...

;)

[misanthrope]

14. Have you ever read...

...Barry Alston Lopez' "Of Wolves and Men"? If not, take a gander at it and then get back to me on this.

[Donkeyboy75]

19. No, but I've read Moliere's "Le Misanthrope"

I'll have to check out Lopez's book.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

23. i agree...Ishmael &The Story of B...we are killing ourselves & the planet

:cry:

[Suzi Creamcheese]

11. Maybe we could have sold them to Canada

They have a lot of wilderness in Canada, and it isn't that far away from Idaho.

[Suziq]

28. Me too . . .

:cry:

[DemBones DemBones]

7. We need more wilderness for the wolves

and they're just not making any more wilderness.

I don't know how it can be resolved. In my state, we have plenty of deer that the wolves could prey on, but they might even look for easier prey here, too. Sadly, we're not the only species that can be corrupted by abundance.

[Canuckistanian]

32. So true. The wilderness market has fallen right off.

Just a lack of demand for it, I guess. Unless Buchco(tm) can figure out how to make it pay.

[LunaC]

8. Those bastards!

So typical of this Administration's mindset......if it gets in your way, KILL IT, and to hell with alternative solutions.

[Andromeda]

12. That really upsets me.

Wolves attacking sheep is a big problem and that's why they need to be in a wilderness area with no livestock or people.

They've got as much right to live as those damn sheep and I don't think they should have killed the wolves. They could have relocated them but they probably didn't want to go to the expense.

[JackDragna]

13. Who cares?

We all know wolves are horrible spawns of Satan responsible for uncle abuse and fuel-efficient cars. I say, we should eliminate wolves throughout the galaxy. If I've learned anything from watching the mind-numbing pablum put out by major animation studios, it's that predator animals are bad and warm, fuzzy prey animals are good. I'm going to vote with my "movie mind" and say NO MORE to vicious, baby-mauling, drunk-driving, sheep-eating, anti-gun canine killers.

[hatrack]

16. You just made me hurt myself!!!

"Predator animals are bad and warm, fuzzy prey animals are good."

ROFLMAO!! :yourock:

[buycitgo]

18. spawns of Satan responsible for uncle abuse and fuel-efficient cars.

hanh?

HARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Jack, you are one crazy moPHO

[hatrack]

27. Furthermore, you ever hear the French horn part in "Peter & the Wolf"?

S-C-A-R-Y!!!!!!!!! You just KNOW animals with that kind of theme music are EVIL!!!

[Ernesto]

15. Think this is bad?

Visit Yellowstone & talk to the people that protest the government slaughter of bison that wander to close to farm lands. They are there daily.

[redqueen]

17. Every year more people move further into wilderness.

This will get worse.

[Cleita]

20. It was probably premature to reintroduce the wolves.

The ranchers killed them all a century ago and their mind-set hasn't changed.I knew it would be a matter of time before they would prevail on the government to do something. If they introduce the wolves again, they need to designate all that area as a national wildlife refugee, buy out the ranchers, remove the livestock and give the area back to the wilderness. It's a beautiful area made ugly with manmade "improvements". We always loved camping up along the Salmon River near the Sawtooth Mountains.

[mememe]

29. Here's my plan

I think those out west would be more open to re-introducing wolves into the habitat if they could see that the rest of the country was participating as well. To that end why don't we re-introduce wolves to Central Park in NY. Who knows? Maybe that would help the joggers maintain a lively pace!

[Cleita]

30. Central Park is man made.

Idaho was made by God for all living creatures, not just a few ranchers who barely earn enough money to survive anyway. It's time for you guys to move on. By the way, I hate overcrowded cities like New York and they could do themselves a favor by downsizing when they have to start rebuilding their crumbling infrastructure. I think reintroducing wildlife zones in these urban places would be appropriate.

By the way I live in a rural part of California. We have coyotes and cougars as well as hawks and eagles in the predator department. We try to protect our wildlife because it is ecological thing to do. Our ranchers protect their cattle, horses, sheep and goats from these predators because they keep the deer population down as well rabbits and other burrowing animals that would tear up everything that grows if they didn't.

[VOX]

21. Killing seems to be the American "solution" to most any issue...

Wolves getting to close to the sheep? Kill them. A feeble-minded man commits an unknowing crime in Texas? Kill him. Iraqis maybe have WMD? Kill them.

The paucity of creative American thought applied to finding positive solutions in a problematic, nuanced world is staggering.

[sleipnir]

22. Not much they could do, it's harmful for the wolves to prey on livestock

They get accustomed to easy meals that don't run fast or put up a fight. No, this may not have been the best solution, but the pack seemed to be chronically drawn to "fast food" if you will. If they relocated the pack, it's possible they would have died of starvation or continued to migrate until they found their own version of McDonalds again.

It's the same reason they have the "Don't Feed the Animals" signs in all the parks, in the end, it's only going to end up hurting the animals you think that you're helping.


Well, once again, the forces of man and nature meet, this time man wins.

[porphyrian]

24. And, in a couple of years, they'll have to kill a bunch of deer.

Or whatever it is they have in Idaho that the wolves naturally cull. Then, they'll spend millions trying to get the wolves back in the Idaho wilderness.

[Cleita]

33. That's what they do, have a big hunting free for all to kill

the ruminants who are starving from overpopulation because of the lack of predators. There are so many grassy parts of this country to raise cattle and sheep, that they don't need to do it in the last remaining wilderness areas. The problem is that these ranchers have been there for generations and also regard it as their home.

It would be better if they earned a different kind of living, but that would require leadership on the part of their elected leaders. Since the elected reps are for the most part Republican, we all know that all they are interested in is lining their pockets with taxpayer's money.

[RebelYell]

25. They get federal subsidies for livestock kills by wolves

Guess that's not enough - gotta shoot 'em too. Pricks.

Edited to add

[blindpig]

26. my only question is

were these cattle on private land or BLM land? Considering the deal these ranchers get in low fee rents and the damage that cattle often do to range land and watersheds on gov land I think some consideration should be given to other government goals like the Endangered Species Act.
If it's private land that's a stickier wicket.
Sounds as though they did try non-lethal means. I'd thought dogs were the trick, maybe they weren't up to snuff.
The bottom line, as always, is there's too many fucking people.

[PatriotGames]

31. Perfect example of Bush's environmental policy...

Damn, that pisses me off.

[RichardRay]

34. Feds not always the bad guys

Here is Wyoming the state Game & Fish wants to delist the wolf. So do the departments in Montana, Idaho, Colorado and maybe other western states where reintoduction has been somewhat successful. The difference is that Wyoming wants to reclassify wolves outside of national parks as 'predators' and allow them to be 'controlled' by land owners. Other states are not going that route, but then Wyoming is the state with a flag that looks like a bison with a target on it (actually it's the state seal, but it LOOKS like a target.)

Guess who is fighting that tooth and nail in every court it can get into? The Federal Government's wolf recovery people from USFW - Carter Niemeyer. Does he want to make wolves sacred? No. Does he want to manage them when necessary? Sure. Do my ideas of what's necessary and his comletely match? Nope. Is he a facist scum serving the worst dominionists in Washington? No, he is not.

Get off his case unless you get all the facts.

Richard Ray - Jackson Hole, WY