There are 955 Gray wolves living throughout Wisconsin’s northern and central forests, minimum Winter count WDNR wolf progress report 2017-2018. The Gray wolf is part of Wisconsin’s wild legacy. Yet, poaching is and has been one of the biggest causes of Gray wolf mortality in Wisconsin according to Dr. Adrian Treves. Listen to his talk with host Patty Peltekos on A Public Affair talk show WORT Radio.
“Predators are a natural part of our environment and they perform an important ecological role,” says Professor Adrian Treves. On today’s episode, Patty talks with Professor Treves, founder of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab, about a number of issues surrounding wildlife predators. They discuss predator population management and the high rates of poaching in the United States, the ineffectiveness and dubious legality of wildlife killing contests, regulatory mechanisms for keeping the wolf off the endangered species list, and what can be done to improve human and wild carnivore interactions.
“The assumption that legal killing would decrease illegal killing has often been portrayed as an effective way to manage recovering large carnivore populations and, despite no prior scientific evaluation, has been promoted by some conservation authorities [46]. For example, the World Conservation Union—IUCN claims through its manifesto for large carnivore conservation in Europe that ‘legalised hunting of large carnivores can be a useful tool in decreasing illegal killing’ [47]. In light of our results, we find this recommendation has no support. Indeed, liberalizing killing appears to be a conservation strategy that may achieve the opposite outcome than that intended.” Source
Featured image is of of Wisconsin Gray wolf from Wisconsin Snapshot