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posted by janrinok on Sunday October 02 2016, @04:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the howling dept.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/298589-judges-pauses-changes-to-federal-red-wolf-protections

A federal judge is [to] order the government to hold off on its plan to roll back measures to protect the red wolf in North Carolina. District Judge Terrence Boyle ordered Thursday that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) hold off on its plan to remove wild red wolf populations from private land, unless they can show certain harms being caused by the wolves, in a major win for conservationists.

Boyle agreed with conservationists that the red wolf is in peril, and said they are likely to win on the merits in their challenge to the FWS's decision to stop the managed reintroduction plan for wild red wolves, and limit their population to a small swath of federal land. [...] "In November 2013, there were an estimated 100 red wolves in the wild with an estimated eight breeding pairs," Boyle said. "In March 2016, defendants estimated there to be only 45-60 red wolves in the wild. Such rapid population decline has been described as a catastrophic indicator that the wild red wolf population is in extreme danger of extinction."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/09/29/u-s-government-you-can-kill-red-wolves-if-they-bother-you-u-s-court-no-you-cant/


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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday October 02 2016, @09:10PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 02 2016, @09:10PM (#409146) Journal

    American wolves, are a risk to people?

    https://www.thedodo.com/how-many-people-killed-by-wolves-1390480906.html [thedodo.com]

    The wiki makes a distinction between European and North American wolves - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attacks_on_humans [wikipedia.org]

    http://factsanddetails.com/asian/Northern_Asian_and_European_Animals/sub2_8a/entry-4908.html [factsanddetails.com]
    "Over the centuries, wolves have killed hundreds of humans, most notably in France during the mid-1800s and over the last 30 years in India."

    The numbers say that you have little reason to fear a wolf attacking a human being, especially in North America.

    You mention protecting livestock. I have no quarrel with that. I'd shoot a man who was stealing livestock from me, so yeah, I'd shoot a wolf. The theft is a threat to my ongoing financial welfare, after all.

    I suppose the first serious article I read about wolves attacking people was in the Pennsylvania game news, about 1973 or '74. The state of Michigan released a study, documenting one human injured by wolves, in all of it's history. One human injured - but the injury was completely unintentional. He was hunting, the wolves were hunting, he bent or knelt next to a fence, then stood up. When he stood, he found himself in the path of a flying wolf, which chose that precise spot to jump the fence. One injury.

    Wolves can attack people, but I think that you and I both know it is so rare that we can dismiss the possibility that you'll be attacked. Far more likely that you'll be struck by lightning.

    But, you are right - I can do a literature search for wolf attacks. I prefer to stick to factual accounts, rather than fiction.

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  • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday October 03 2016, @06:07AM

    by Reziac (2489) on Monday October 03 2016, @06:07AM (#409277) Homepage

    Now that we have a surplus of wolves here in Montana... I know people who have found themselves surrounded, had to abandon their own game (this being during deer season) and had to back down the trail, guns at the ready. Timber wolves (native) are shy. McKenzie greys (introduced) are not. We've got one here (2 miles from town) that has come right up to my neighbor's back door.

    --
    And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 03 2016, @05:34PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 03 2016, @05:34PM (#409532) Journal

      I read an article or two on the subject of restocked wolves. We kinda screwed the pooch on that. We took animals that had been acclimated to humans, and turned them loose in the wilf. We first taught them to be dependent on humans, then we cut them loose.

      But, acclimated or not, getting between a canine of any sort, and food, is usually a touchy situation. They don't understand our concept of ownership.

      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday October 03 2016, @05:56PM

        by Reziac (2489) on Monday October 03 2016, @05:56PM (#409542) Homepage

        Well, not if it's the average domesticated canine. But only because we've largely bred the selfishness out of them. The cookie trainers are rapidly bringing it back.

        But yeah, it was a bad (and crooked) operation from start to finish, and the greys killed off the native timberwolves and are working on the coyotes.

        https://vimeo.com/28858208 [vimeo.com]

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.