By CHRISTINE PETERSON Casper Star-Tribune
CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming wolf hunting quotas may be cut in half this fall, according to a Wyoming Game and Fish Department release issued Wednesday.
The population could not withstand another 52-wolf quota without coming dangerously close to the required minimum set in Wyoming’s delisting plan, said Mark Bruscino, the department’s large carnivore program supervisor.
If wolf numbers drop below the requirement, it could lead to re-listing on the endangered-species list.
“Our intent the first year was to reduce the population,” Bruscino said. “We estimated we would reduce it in the trophy game area and seasonal game area by 11 percent, and we actually reduced it about 12 percent.”
Hunters killed 42 wolves during the trophy and seasonal trophy hunting seasons from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31. The overall population in the trophy areas dropped by about 20 wolves because of pups born in 2012, Bruscino said.
The proposed quota of 26 wolves is likely to cut the number of wolves in the trophy areas by about nine at the end of 2013, Bruscino said.
Some hunters disagree with the new quota of 26.
“They should have added 26 is my feeling, rather than subtracted,” said Fritz Meyer, a Dubois outfitter. “I don’t think they’re in any danger of going under the minimum.”
Wolves may be a little tougher to hunt this year, he said. The ones who survived last year will be wiser.
Game and Fish officials had hoped to use the 2012 hunting season to lower wolf numbers from 192 to 172 in the northwest corner of the state outside of Yellowstone National Park, said Brian Nesvik, the department’s chief game warden.
Final estimates show 169 wolves and 15 breeding pairs lived in that area after the hunting season, he said.
About 90 more wolves and six breeding pairs lived in Yellowstone and on the reservation at the end of 2012, according to estimates.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed Wyoming wolves from the endangered species list last fall.
Under the delisting agreement, Wyoming must keep a minimum of 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs in the state outside of Yellowstone and the Wind River Indian Reservation. Wyoming needs to maintain 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs in the entire state, including the park and reservation.
Wolves can be shot without a license during any time of the year in about 85 percent of the state. Thus far this year, hunters have killed 14 in that 85 percent, Nesvik said.
Several lawsuits are pending against Wyoming and the Fish and Wildlife Service that argue Wyoming’s wolf plan will not protect the animals.
Game and Fish officials will announce details of the proposed new quota in meetings this spring. Meeting times and locations have not been announced.