Some people say it’s a sport. Others call it cold-blooded murder. What would you call it if you saw an entire family of God’s creatures killed, not for food but “fun”?
The state of Alaska calls it legal.
Which is why a hunter was allowed to kill a family of 10 wolves with a semiautomatic rifle on a snowmobile 70 miles east of Alaska’s Denali National Park. He then posted photos of the slaughtered wolf family to celebrate his kill.
”The harvest was reported and the hides were checked in,” State Division of Wildlife Conservation Director Bruce Dale told Alaska Public Media. “All laws were complied with as far as the troopers were concerned.”
The Dodo reports that the State of Alaska declared an emergency early end to hunting and trapping season.
This was authorized for the Stampede Trail region near the national park just before the photos surfaced. The shutdown was made since the “wolf harvest” was five times greater than it was in the past.
“The wolf harvest this season in the area described is more than the past five-year average and there is the potential for more harvest to occur before the end of the regulatory hunting and trapping seasons,” the emergency order says.
Some say that culling wolves helps the moose and caribou population and that the wolf population is not in danger of extinction.
“There are no conservation concerns for wolves in Game Management Unit 20C, which includes a large portion of the park,” Dale said, adding that, “A pack of six can double in size with a single litter.”
Others say this just isn’t true and wolf populations are at risk.
“For several years now, there has been a notable decline in the number of wolf sightings in Denali and research indicates that wolf mortality rates in the park have recently spiked to worrying levels,” the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) told The Dodo. “The percentage of sightseers who have spotted a wolf has dropped from 45 percent to just 5 percent.”
Hunting opponents also say this type of slaughter is absolutely unnecessary.
“While I am glad that Governor Walker has acted I am concerned that it may be too little, too late,” said Rick Steiner, a biologist and retired University of Alaska professor who is a Protecting Employees Who Protect Our Environment (PEER) board member said.
“The historic high level of take has already altered wolf ecological dynamics, not counting these reports of additional kills just now coming in. I think the majority of Alaskans will find this sort of thing reprehensible.But, at the very least, it shouldn’t be permitted anywhere near Denali National Park.”
While it’s too late for this wolf family, there are those out there who are trying to protect future families of wolves.
“Alaska’s predator control program is clearly out of control,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “Alaska should put predator control on hold until it gets a handle on what is actually occurring.”
Alaska is participating in an independent National Academy of Sciences review of its predator control program for the first time in 20 years.
“Do we want public lands managed like a game farm for sport hunters or lands managed with as little human intervention a possible? The state of Alaska wants to manage wildlife for abundance and ‘sustainable use’,” Good Wolf organization writes on Facebook. “The state vision is a disaster for predators. It is- hatred masked as “wildlife management. In Alaska, wolves are hunted and trapped 10 months out of the year in most of the state.”
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