Endangered species list just got shorter
by Andrew Olejnik
Shortly after the Civil War, landowners in Wisconsin and many other parts of the United States saw gray wolves as a pest.
The gray wolf was considered a nuisance because the animal often attacked livestock and domestic dogs.
State legislators began working on a solution to assist landowners. However, the former forgot to weigh out other options. In turn, in 1865, they chose one they would soon regret.
The state legislature’s solution in 1865 can teach us a lesson about how easily a species can become endangered or even disappear permanently.
Its plan called for the extermination of gray wolves to protect landowners from experiencing more loss.
To assist the process the state set up a bounty for hunting the gray wolf. The solution did not offer better designed enclosures to protect livestock from wolves. Extermination was seen as the best solution for the problems of Wisconsin landowners.
The state got what it wanted. By 1956, the gray wolf had completely disappeared from Wisconsin.
The decisions of the legislators led to the disappearance of the entire population of gray wolves in Wisconsin. Since then, gray wolves have become protected. Many teams, agencies and committees have worked hard to bring gray wolves back to our state only to have U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove all protections on this endangered animal.
It’s unfortunate that this federal service is willing to repeat history and risk the vanishing of gray wolves. It happened once and it can happen again.
The animal is important because it, indirectly, feeds a wide variety of other animals.
States across the country saw the effects of the removal of gray wolves. Ravens, foxes, vultures and even bears feed on the remains of animals killed by wolves. Without gray wolves, other animals are impacted and some cannot find food.
With the disappearance of wolves, nature was not able to help regulate the balance between hoofed animals and their food supply, which made room for smaller plant-eaters such as beaver and small rodents.
The United States government developed complete revisal from the days of the bounty and began working to bring back the population of these animals.
The species became protected and it became a crime punishable by law to hunt them. This was made possible by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Endangered means a species is considered to be in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of the animal’s range.
In 1960, only a small number of gray wolves returned to Wisconsin. These animals made their way into Wisconsin mainly due to a larger population in Minnesota which they migrated from.
In 1986, to assist in bringing wolves back to Wisconsin, a Wolf Recovery Team was created. After the team committed a large amount of time and effort, it successfully met its recovery goals.
This allowed the team to bring back a small number of gray wolves and by 1995 the team met its goals.
As the population of the gray wolf continued to rise the Wolf Advisory Committee was created.
The committee monitored a successful revival found through surveys that the majority of the people in Wisconsin wished for the return of the gray wolf population. Everybody’s effort has brought the population to a remarkable estimation of 425 to 455 gray wolves in Wisconsin.
Without much consideration of earlier regrets by Wisconsin state legislators, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to take the gray wolf off the endangered species list in the Midwest and allow sport hunting of the animal.
This was done to help lower the population of gray wolves. It was passed with the same defense from 1865: Gray wolves pose a danger to livestock and domesticated pets.
I thought that at least the history of the gray wolf in Wisconsin would make this federal agency think of a better solution. However, they contend this is the best way to deal with the problem.
Their logic is a bit flawed. We originally looked for a high success rate. Now that we got it we need to keep the wolves protected. History will only repeat itself if we return to hunting gray wolves to cap their population.
Farmers with livestock should consider protecting their animals from intruders.
Many farms only have a fence that is meant to keep cows and horses in a controlled area. However, this type of fencing allows easy access for smaller animals, such as gray wolves.
There is no reason to risk repeating history by taking gray wolves off the endangered species list.
A gray wolf is a wild animal and has a place in the ecosystem. They are meant to hunt deer, elk and other woodland animals. If there are too many nature will take its course.
Gray wolves are going to prey on livestock if they are given easy access to them. It is not a solution to lower the population of the gray wolves. The solution is for farmers to protect their farms with better enclosures.