Idaho to Renew Aerial Wolf Slaughter
February 8, 2016
VICTOR, Idaho—
Ignoring recent research indicating Idaho officials could be overestimating the state’s wolf population, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services announced plans today to allow gunners in helicopters to start shooting wolves in the Lolo Elk Management Zone of the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho.
The renewed wolf slaughter comes on the heels of a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and four other conservation organizations questioning the accuracy of wolf estimates by state officials and asking the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue monitoring wolf populations in Idaho and Montana for another five years. The Service has yet to respond to the petition, which was spurred, in part, by a recent study published in the journal Science that questions the accuracy of wolf counts in the two states. But the information released today shows that Idaho will aerially gun wolves in the Lolo Zone for the third year in a row, as the Idaho legislature requests another $400,000 to kill wolves for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2016/wolf-02-08-2016.html
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