Wolf Control Controversies
by Steve Grooms

If wolves could live on a diet of mice, humans would tolerate them better than they do. But wolves have been shaped by evolution to hunt and eat ungulates-such hooved animals as caribou, elk, deer and moose. Those are exactly the game animal species so many humans are passionate about hunting.

Some humans are not happy to share that ungulate prey base with wolves. Game populations are rarely abundant enough to please hunters, even in regions with no wolves. Where wolves are present, hunters frequently blame them for what they perceive as inadequate ungulate populations.

Disappointed hunters sometimes demand wolf control, the practice of killing wolves to enhance ungulate populations. Many state game agencies and even such thoughtful game managers as Aldo Leopold once accepted the need for wolf control to increase populations of popular ungulate species.

Wolf control is much more controversial today. In recent years Alaska has suffered from exceptionally acrimonious wolf control wars. As wolf numbers continue to increase in the Rocky Mountain region, hunters have requested wolf control to boost ungulate populations in Idaho, Montana or Wyoming. Wolf advocates will vigorously oppose such proposals. Full story.