Do they come much worse than this in U.S. poaching? Nicholaus Rodgers, an assistant hunting guide, was fond of capturing cougars and bobcats and deliberately injuring them before releasing them. Then he would take hunting clients to the field to make it easy for them to kill the wounded animals. The clients may or may…
World wildlife population halved since mid 1970s- We are used to writing about, agonizing about, plants and animals that have become so rare that they are endangered with extinction. It is a common theme in the news reported at TWN. There might be the sense, however, that in total numbers of animals wildlife is nearly…
Recently the Montana Dept of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) commission approved a new “Wolf Conservation Stamp”. The purpose of the stamp is ostensibly to get non hunters to pay for wildlife “management”, especially the “management” of wolves. The stamp would be voluntary. Despite the fact that I support the idea of non-hunters/anglers paying to…
In June of 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed removing federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for the gray wolf (Canis lupus, Linnaeus) throughout most of the lower 48 U.S. states, with the exception of the Mexican wolf subspecies (C.l. baileyi) (78 Fed. Reg. 35,664). In an article accepted for publication in…
Montana is said to be investigating- Gardiner, MT. Given the frequent stories of wildlife killing and hate that emanate from the Gardiner, Montana area, the latest find of 2 to 4 bison carcasses north of Yellowstone Park is raising worry about more illegal and legal wildlife killing in the area and/or the spread of domestic or wildlife…
Rex Rammell, the former gubernatorial candidate for Idaho who was convicted of poaching an elk in 2010 Tex Creek zone in eastern Idaho when he only had a tag for the Middle Fork zone of central Idaho, has lost the second appeal of his conviction. Rammell’s unsuccessful defense centered around his ignorance of the law…
A very happy development? Drones are in the news a lot all of a sudden. Welcome to the new world where they can help you or kill you. Poachers of African rhinos, elephants, etc. are often organized in semi-military units and more than a match for Park rangers. Now in some places, Kenya in the…
Hunt will probably end below quota; but many more wolves killed in state’s wolves-are-just-vermin-zone- Wyoming first wolf hunt ends Dec. 31. 2012. Wyoming opted for a much less ambitious/less-destructive-to-wolves hunt compared to neighboring Idaho and Montana. Unlike its neighbors, Wyoming has a wolf maximum kill quota and a relatively short hunt. However, Wyoming also has…
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.