SCB to Interior: "Enhance Wolf Protection Through Natural Dispersal Not Translocation."
January 13, 2012. The Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing gray wolves in Wyoming from the list of threatened species and returning them to state management. The state of Wyoming has proposed a management plan that divides the state into three zones: 1) a Wolf Trophy Game Management Area (WTGMA) where wolf hunting is seasonally permitted, 2) the remainder of the state where a designation of the species as a ‘predator’ allows year-round unrestricted hunting and other forms of lethal control, and 3) seasonal expansion of the WTGMA by 80 km southward for 4.5 months during peak wolf dispersal season. While in some respects the Wyoming wolf population is healthy and may merit delisting, SCB-North America Section is concerned that a problematic precedent for connectivity is being proposed in this management plan. The plan envisions that artificial translocation (e.g., movement of wolves in trucks) is adequate for recovery in place of allowing natural dispersal between wolf populations.
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