COMMENTARY | Wolves have been persecuted from the moment colonists set foot in America and it continues to this day. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., attached a rider to the fiscal year 2011 budget bill that puts wolves back in the cross hairs of ranchers and hunters by removing them from the endangered species list within the next 60 days. This is the first time an animal has been removed from the endangered species list by Congress and Idaho and Montana are eagerly planning wolf hunts for the fall.
Nationwide, there are around 4,400 wolves living in the wild. An estimated 1,600 to 1,700 roam lands in the Northern Rocky Mountains, mainly in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
Ranchers and hunters believe removing wolves from the endangered species list will make it possible for them to "manage" the wolf population. With "regulated" hunts, they can control the balance of nature with a rifle. But, when ranchers take over land for their use, wolves are left with a loss of habitat and diminished prey when buffalo, deer and elk are forced out by humans. Anti-wolf advocates want to manage their wolf problem by eliminating wolves once and for all. The claim by ranchers that wolves kill for sport is not true. Man kills for sport; wolves kill to survive.
Wolves are social animals who live in packs of four or more family members. They patrol their territory which is anywhere from 10 square miles up to 1,000 square miles. How far they roam depends on how plentiful their natural prey is. When ranchers take over land in a pack's territory, the end result is devastating for the wolf.
Ranchers loathe wolves, but they refuse to acknowledge their role in the problem. Hunters despise wolves because they lose an opportunity for a trophy. Wolves will forever be in the cross hairs of a hunter's gun; teetering on the brink of extinction because of money, political influence and intolerance for an animal that has a right to life. The wolf is persecuted and slaughtered out of fear, greed and arrogance.
Wolves keep ecosystems healthy. They prey on grazing animals which keeps them on the move so meadows and wetlands aren't overgrazed, which in turn supports healthy habitats for other species to thrive in. All ecosystems play a role in our survival and predators, like the wolf, maintain the balance of nature; not man.