Wolf hating waning as many surveyed say wolves should be protected
Wolves are still scary to people. but a new survey says most folks no longer
think wolves should be exterminated. Mike Simonson has the story.
A Northland College Sociology professor in Ashland has finished a five year
study of what people think about wolves in Wisconsin, Michigan, and
Minnesota. After decades of bounties, poisoning and trapping, the last wolf
in Wisconsin was killed when it was hit by a car in 1960 near Cornucopia.
Wolves were temporarily annihilated.but have recovered to the point of being
down-listed from endangered species to threatened. More than 600 people in
Michigan and Wisconsin responded to a survey about wolves done by Northland
College Sociology Professor Kevin Schanning. He says people from both states
feel the same way: 62% think there’s reason to worry about wolves being
dangerous, and only 20-percent think killing a wolf is wrong. But Schanning
says 57% think wolves should be protected. “The general public in both
states are saying ‘I’m not exactly sure how to manage them but managing them
by euthanising them or somehow killing them doesn’t seem to be very
accepted.” Schanning says this survey shows people appreciate wolves as a
natural part of things. “When you ask people about ‘are wolves the symbol of
the beauty and wonder of nature? Do we need wolves to help manage the
eco-system’. 75%-80% responded are saying ‘yeah, we need wolves. They’re a
part of our state now and we need to manage them, we need to protect them.”
A judge’s ruling is keeping wolves in Wisconsin on the endangered species
list, but federal officials want to see wolves moved to a less urgent
“threatened” level. 120 wolf packs roam Wisconsin.mostly in the northwoods
area north of Highway 8.