The Hunting of Wolves and the Fight to Stop It

by Stephanie Ernst · 2009-09-02 06:37:00 UTC
Topics: show more

Hunting wolves hasn't been legal in the contiguous United States in decades. That changed yesterday, when it became legal to kill wolves in Idaho as a result of the wolves' inappropriate delisting. Organizations such as NRDC, Defenders of Wildlife, and Earthjustice are fighting to stop it--and to stop the hunting of wolves in Montana too as of September 15--but it's up to the court at this point. I appreciate the way a New York Times editorial opposing the hunt ended yesterday:

To us, the wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana seems indecent. Hunters want to kill wolves because wolves kill elk — and the human hunters want the elk. A second reason is a love of killing things. A third is an implacable, and unjustified, hostility to the wolf. It is well past time to let gray wolves find their own balance in the Rockies.

Precisely.

And for an insider's look at what's happening in the legal arena as nonprofits present their solid arguments and fight to stop the killings, see "Wolf Delisting Court Battle 2.0" from NRDC's Switchboard. Here is one frustrating (but telling) relay of information, from outside the courtroom:

We were greeted at the courthouse at 8 am by a small antiwolf rally with signs that read:

"nuke Canadian wolves"

"wolves are wildlife terrorists"

"the only way to manage wolves is to get rid of them."

A bunch were wearing blue t-shirts saying "save our elk." They were occupied with taking pictures of each other and hardly noticed when I took theirs.

We once again encounter the ridiculous logic that pervades so many of these discussions about whether to kill or protect certain predators--there is no real desire to "save" certain animals; this is about not letting their natural predators kill them because we want to be the ones to kill them. Later in the post, Willcox notes overhearing a resident tell a reporter there will be a "civil war" if the judge blocks the hunt. (Overreact much?) Translation: "If you don't allow us the joy of killing, we will rebel; killing is a fundamental right." Incredible.

As of this writing, there's no word yet on a decision from the judge.

---
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service photo; retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

Stephanie Ernst wrote the original Animal Rights blog at Change.org until December 2009. She can now be found at Animal Rights & AntiOppression.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Undercover Egg Industry Investigation Shows Chicks Ground Up Alive
NEXT STORY:
Super Bowl Countdown: 5 Actions in 5 Days to Protest Skechers' Dog Racing Ad

COMMENTS (44)

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.