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Email: timberwolfinfonetwork@gmail.com

Wolves called land piranhas

Wolves called land piranhas

The Associated Press

KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) – A Stanley outfitter is refusing to give up his
belief that wolf reintroduction in central Idaho was ill-conceived and the
predators should be removed.

Ron Gillett has taken out quarter-page advertisements in newspapers around
the state saying the transplanted Canadian wolves are devastating the
state’s big game herds, preying on commercial livestock and “causing
unnecessary and extreme hardship to ‘mom and pop’ businesses.”

Gillett, 60, calls the wolves “cruel, vicious, land piranhas, wildlife
terrorists,” and he has taken his campaign to remove the animals to
President Bush. He wants to meet with Bush in July when the National
Governors Association convenes in Boise.

Since a few dozen wolves were released in 1995 and 1996, the population
has grown to more than 250 in 17 packs.

Carter Niemeyer, the Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator in Idaho,
concedes that wolves prey on elk and other big game. But he said Idaho elk
are subject to many more threats than just wolves – drought, harsh
winters, fire suppression and changing habitat among them.

“In general, elk herds are doing very well in Idaho,” Niemeyer said,
pointing out that elk herds were in decline in some areas before the
wolves were released. He denied that there is any scientific evidence that
wolves have reduced elk herds.

Fish and Game Department wildlife biologist Steve Nadeau said the issue is
more complex and that both extremes – those predicting wolves will
annihilate big game and those claiming the predators are harmless to big
game – are wrong.

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