A wolf was illegally shot in Wyoming, an endeavor it seems difficult to accomplish considering the state’s absurdly lax rules governing the killing of wolves as-is.
Wolf illegally shot in northwest Wyoming – AP
It’s lawlessness.
Wolf illegally shot in northwest Wyoming
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Here’s more information from today’s G&F press release:
“REWARD OFFERED FOR INFORMATION REGARDING ILLEGAL WOLF KILL
5/15/2008
CHEYENNE– The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information about an illegal wolf kill in northwest Wyoming.
On April 21, Game and Fish personnel responded to a call about a wolf carcass found near Highway 26/287 in the Buffalo Valley, east of Moran Junction and west of Togwotee Pass. They found the female wolf carcass about 25 feet from the main highway, where it had apparently slid down an embankment. The cause of death was not apparent, so the carcass was sent to the Game and Fish Laboratory in Laramie for further analysis. A necropsy found small traces of a bullet in the carcass and wounds suggesting the animal had been shot at least once.
A person convicted in this case could face a maximum fine of $10,000 and up to a year in jail.
“Compliance with state laws related to wolves is an important component of successful wolf management in Wyoming,” said Wyoming Chief Game Warden Jay Lawson. “The public can help us achieve that compliance by reporting violations in a timely manner. I want to make it clear that our game wardens and investigators are taking their new responsibilities related to wolf management very seriously. We will thoroughly investigate all reported violations to determine if prosecution is appropriate.”
Wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains were officially removed from the federal Endangered Species List on March 28, 2008, and are currently under management authority of the states. This incident is the first evidence of any illegal killing of wolves in Wyoming since delisting. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that before delisting, 10 percent of annual wolf mortality in the northern Rocky Mountains was attributable to illegal take.
Anyone with information–even second-hand information–may be eligible for a cash reward if the information leads to a conviction. Callers to Wyoming’s Stop Poaching Hotline can remain anonymous, and any reward money can be collected anonymously. Report information to the Stop Poaching Hotline at (877) WGFD-TIP (877-943-3847).
-WGFD-“
Lets hope they catch this idiot that did this. Makes me sick.
Terrible, however well publicized events like these may actually help to get the wolf re listed as the judge has already openly stated that he is concerned about there being more killings while the suite is in progress.
An incident like this occurred here in Idaho on the South Fork Salmon near the Secesh River that was not publicized because it turned out that the “wolf” that had been shot was actually someone’s pet dog. It appears that these idiots seem to think it is okay to shoot anything that even looks like a wolf.
I saw a sign next to someone’s house on the West Mountain Road which runs along the west side of Cascade Reservoir today. It said: “To whoever shot our dog. You are a Coward!” I’m not sure what that was all about since it was 100 miles away from where the other incident occurred but I wonder if it was mistaken identity or just some idiot that wanted to shoot something.
I wonder how much of this is going on.
“It appears that these idiots seem to think it is okay to shoot anything that even looks like a wolf.”
Which is yet another indication that Idaho’s “you can kill a wolf for looking at you funny” law has got to go. The law is ridiculous!
Maybe if states didn’t have the pathetic policy of allowing coyotes to be shot on sight then maybe their constituents wouldn’t have it ingrained in their little minds that they can shoot anything canid just for the fun of it.
I saw a sign next to someone’s house on the West Mountain Road which runs along the west side of Cascade Reservoir today. It said: “To whoever shot our dog. You are a Coward!”
Depends there is probably more to this story than meets the eye. In most states dogs can be shot onsite for running wildlife and harassing stock. We have had to remove problem dogs for years on my grandparents farm and I have seen them dumped in the mountains by people who don’t have the heart to euthanize them. As for the illegal killing of the wolf, its no different than any other crime.
Jon,
As far as shooting coyotes onsite, I don’t think you’ll have much luck changing how things have been done for the last 200+ years. I don’t believe that there will even be much urban support with the recent negative coyote incidents happening across the west.
“I don’t think you’ll have much luck changing how things have been done for the last 200+ years”
That is simply ridiculous. (Not you Ryan). For humans who are supposed to be intelligent beings, people who see themselves as superior beings, you would think they could adapt to the various changes around them. Animals adapt and evolve with their environment, those that are not able or cannot, for many different reasons, die off. There are folks who see animals as lowly, disposable, creatures, with no worth. But those animals have a lesson to teach us all. Adapt and conserve, or cease to exist. People, to their own detriment, complicate everything. Many are unwilling to bend even a small amount.
It just aggravates me like crazy. With all the technology and intelligence, one would think that folks would catch on.
DBH
Perhaps the technology and “intelligence” are what’s in the way of our adapting. I’d say it’s the wrong kind of intelligence, the intelligence that learns how to control nature rather than accommodate it. That’s one reason the human species doesn’t have a good prognosis for getting out of the 21st century in civilized state.
RH
Wyoming’s wolf management plan did not cause the death of this wolf. Whoever did this is a poacher, and poachers do not care who has management or the difference in penalties between federal regulations and state regulations.
Poachers do what they do because they think they can get away with it, and since they think they are getting away with doing something illegal they could care less about any penalties no matter how harsh.
I hope this idiot gets caught, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Jon,
As far as shooting coyotes onsite, I don’t think you’ll have much luck changing how things have been done for the last 200+ years. I don’t believe that there will even be much urban support with the recent negative coyote incidents happening across the west.
Actually, Ryan if you look at Jon’s website and the work he is doing I think he actually does have a chance at changing things.
RH
Thank you for the great description. Your words fit my thoughts exactly.
dBH
Maybe some of those dogs have attacked livestock, but wolves got blamed for it, Ryan. Maybe there is a better answer to all of this killing… can you think of one?
“As far as shooting coyotes onsite, I don’t think you’ll have much luck changing how things have been done for the last 200+ years. I don’t believe that there will even be much urban support with the recent negative coyote incidents happening across the west.”
I simply can’t understand this mentality. Some of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had in the woods have involved coyotes.
In particular, I’ll never forget a 5am drive into Point Reyes NS in which I had planned to photograph Tule Elk. A coyote ran across the road in front of me and I stopped, pulled out the equipment and wandered off behind him to see if he was still visible. As a crested a hill I saw him lying curled up in a ball sleeping, not 20 yards away. The light wasn’t even up yet, so I set up my tripod and stood there in the dark shivering, with camera mounted, waiting for the sun. I waited almost 30 minutes, and then the little bugger got up with the sun and started hunting rodents. I followed him and watched him hunt for over an hour, and he never paid me any heed.
I had a very similar experience on a wildlife refuge on the Kenai peninsula. After following a coyote I had seen crossing the road I found him sleeping in a patch of moss. I set up and took some shots and then laid down behind a log and started “squeaking” –doing my best impersonation of a rabbit in distress. He came within 15 feet of me and was still approaching when I stood up and scared him off. I have a couple shots that a cherish from both encounters.
Coyotes are amazingly adaptable creatures, we’ve classified them as vermin nearly everywhere and done our best to shoot them to oblivion, and yet they expand their territory. I have a deep admiration for them.
Linda,
Its a nice website, but it isn’t going to change how people live and think in the rural west. People from Massachusetts and (insert rural any rural area in the west) couldn’t be more different in mindset if they made an effort to be as a general rule.
JB,
I am glad you have a deep admiration for them. I think there vermin, but thats the great thing about this country were allowed to have differences of opinion.