Wolf hunts serve a practical function

The average American hamburger, courtesy of McDonald’s, usually costs the impoverished student about a dollar, while the cow it came from probably contained around $2,500 worth of beef. That meaty investment can be lost when wolf packs hunt from domesticated cattle herds, which is becoming a prevalent problem as pack sizes increase. The current Idaho allowance for wolf hunting is a realistic and well-planned approach to minimize human-lupine clashes as the wolf population increases during the next few years. It minimizes the reimbursements the Idaho government has to pay ranchers for cattle killed by wolves. While the losses to the cattle ranchers are not as severe as it may sound, nevertheless, the wolf packs have had a large effect since their reintroduction in 1980. Elk and deer herds that were unused to predators and quickly shrank, and as a result the availability for hunting also decreased sharply. Luckily, the current wolf packs merely cover roughly 1 percent of the total state area. Given time, it will increase sharply, and more wolves means more encroachment and lower elk and deer herd populations. Although the number of tags issued for wolves seems significant compared to the existing wolf population, they will not have as much of an effect as some people fear...read more