Photographed by Bernd Meiseberg
The US Government announced on Friday they have taken gray wolves in Wyoming off the endangered species list.
This follows a successful 20-year breeding programme, after the animals were almost wiped out. But, it means they lose protection and are subject to unregulated killing by hunters and those protecting their livestock.
In the 1990s, Yellowstone National Park in north-west Wyoming saw 14 wolves breed successfully. It is now predicted that there are 270 wolves outside Yellowstone in the western US state.
Wyoming Governor Matt Mead said: “The wolf population in Wyoming is recovered, and it is appropriate that the responsibility for wolf management be returned to the state.”
The revised rules state that Wyoming must preserve at least 10 pairs of breeding wolves and a minimum of 100 animals.
The wolves remain protected in some areas of the state, but the decision has faced much criticism from conservationists and some environmental groups are threatening legal action.
Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of Defenders of Wildlife, said it is “a tragic ending to what has otherwise been one of America’s greatest wildlife conservation success stories”.
Some conservationists question how the Wyoming wolves could be given protection until 30 September but then thrown back into the firing line at the start of the hunting season on 1 October.
It seems the conservation efforts to protect the animals are a far cry from a real resolution. Tigers face similar threats from villagers in countries such as India and Russia, who kill the animal if it threatens their livestock or families.
However, conservationists such as the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Tiger Time conduct programmes which educate local people on the value of wildlife and investigate how animals and humans can co-exist harmoniously.
This addresses the root causes of the problem instead of producing satisfying statistics, which are subject to falling all over again as a result of on-the-surface solutions.
