On the very day the federal government turned over wolf management to the states, four wolves were legally killed in Wyoming's predator area. By April 7, 13 wolves in total had been shot. Five were killed due to livestock conflicts. Hunters took the remainder. By law, any wolf in Wyoming's predator area can be shot on sight, with the only requirement being that the hunter must report the location, date and sex of the kill to the state within 10 days.
The vast majority of Wyoming's 360-some wolves inhabit what is called the trophy area in the Greater Yellowstone Area. To hunt a wolf there, one must purchase a wolf license and hunt during a newly created season. At this writing, the dates for Wyoming's wolf season have not been finalized. Idaho had not set dates yet either. Montana is the only one of the three states to publish season dates, which are September 15 through December 31.
All this talk about hunting does not mean the animal rights people have abandoned the idea of fighting the downlisting of wolves. Mind you. In fact, as this is written, an environmental law firm called Earth justice (www.earthjustice.org)is mounting a campaign to challenge the delisting in court. It claims to represent the likes of Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and The Humane Society of the United States. You can read Earthjustice's take on the wolf delisting and get up to speed on their legal plans by visiting their web site.........(continued)
