Destroying Wolf Hater Lies

Every time any article about wolves is posted in Colorado,  Wyoming,  Idaho, or Montana,  it is instantly flooded with anti wolf comments. The comments are always the same, mostly lies spread by a small number of anti predator ranching, hunting, and trapping fringe interests. I thought it high time for someone to dispell the myths and provide wolf advocates with counter arguments to the lies.

Before we start, one important thing to remember, anti wolf participants in Colorado social media forums are openly avocating for and boasting about their willingness to commit a felony, and actionable evidence of an illegal killing might be of great importance to wildlife officials: “In Colorado, killing a gray wolf is a felony, particularly when the wolf is part of the reintroduced population and protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. Violations can result in penalties, including fines (up to $100,000), jail time, and loss of hunting privileges.”

So, let’s get into the lies…

Wolves Are Decimating Ungulate Herds

“In 2023, Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimated that hunters harvested approximately 45,000 elk per year, according to the Colorado Encyclopedia. Colorado leads the nation in elk harvest. The Colorado Encyclopedia also states that hunters pursue elk about 250,000 times each year. (1)”

It’s difficult to get accurate results,  but Montana reported 112 elk killed by wolves in one year. Colorado only has a couple of wolf packs, so elk kills are insignificant at this point. 

In any case, it’s quite obvious that it is over hunting and not wolves that are decimating the herds. Colorado officials are concerned about the viability of the state’s elk population, which indicates elk tags should be significantly limited to allow herds to recover.

Wolves Are Destroying Livestock Herds

In a study by Colorado State University,  the following numbers were reported: “Using USFWS data of confirmed wolf kills and NASS data of number of cattle, the calculated percentage of cattle killed by wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain states is under 1%.”

Wolves Are Killing Children

“Wolves rarely attack humans, and the number of human deaths attributed to wolves worldwide is extremely low. Over the period of 2002-2020, researchers documented only 26 fatal wolf attacks globally, with 14 of those related to rabies. In North America, there have been only two documented fatal wolf attacks on humans in the last 20 years. It’s important to note that most wolf attacks on humans occur in areas where wolves’ natural prey is scarce or where they have become habituated to humans. (1)”

Wolves Kill For Fun

Worst case, attributing human emotions or malice to animals is borderline mental disorder in humans.  At best, doing so is a lack of intelligence,  common sense, and education. Animals act on instinct and sometimes learned behavior.  Occasionally, a wolf pack will split up and make multiple kills, but they will no doubt get around to eating their prey.

In fact it is only human hunters that kill for fun. Hunting in the 21st century is completely unnecessary, but hunters continue the selfish slaughter for fun, even though they are well aware of the dwindling wildlife population.

Wolves Are an Invasive Species

Colorado wolf haters like to spread the lie that the wolves brought in from Canada are a mutated giant species that never had a historical presence in the state.

“Wolves reintroduced to Colorado from British Columbia, Canada, are the same species of gray wolf (Canis lupus) as those that historically roamed the region. The wolves being reintroduced are part of the same species that once existed across much of the American West and continue to inhabit the northern Rockies. While the reintroduced wolves are from a specific population in Canada, there are no biological differences between them and the gray wolves that were previously present in Colorado. (1)”

Again,  just a bunch of wolf haters repeating each other’s lies as an excuse to be allowed to kill them on sight.

Wolves Are Not Endangered

A comprehensive article by the Endangered Species Coalition explains wolf recovery in detail and confronts this unfortunate misconception:

“With management and protection plans left to the states, specific areas could become hotbeds for wolf killings. Wisconsin’s first wolf hunting season after delisting resulted in 218 dead wolves, which exceeded the hunt’s intended limit and took out 20% of the state’s wolf population in just two days. 

In Montana and Idaho, nearly one thousand wolves have been killed in the last several months, including 25 from Yellowstone National Park.

Other recorded incidents include a wolf pack poisoning in Oregon, and numerous instances of poaching wolves illegally have been recorded. Based on these instances alone, one could argue that wolves are still in danger, but the evidence goes deeper than a few unfortunate killings.”

Irrational hatred of the wolf is as prevalent as it was a century ago when they were nearly hunted to extinction. With modern weapons,  helicopters, and ATVs, hunters will have no problem slaughtering the animals to extinction in short order. 

US Fish and Wildlife needs to immediately return the wolf to the endangered species list, or the soulful howl of the wolf will be silenced forever.

Wolves Are Not an Important Species

A report from Yellowstone documents a remarkable recovery of the wilderness ecosystem.

“When the grey wolf was reintroduced into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in 1995, there was only one beaver colony in the park, said Doug Smith, a wildlife biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project.

Today, the park is home to nine beaver colonies, with the promise of more to come, as the reintroduction of wolves continues to astonish biologists with a ripple of direct and indirect consequences throughout the ecosystem.

A flourishing beaver population is just one of those consequences, said Smith.”

Park officials noted the recovery of vegetation  along river beds due to elk being moved around by the wolves, stronger and healthier ungulate herds, and many other benefits. One major result of a strong predator presence is the control of ungulate borne disease.

Man’s meddling in nature’s balance is never a recipe for success. Predators are essential to the ecosystem and profitable in tourist revenue for surrounding parks and towns. Strangely, the states and locales most likely to benefit from the wolf, are the most resistant to modern wildlife management and the most virilant haters.

(1) Google AI Overview