We’ve all seen them around. They’ve even invaded our campus. People with a pitiful look in their eye pushing clipboards at passers-by asking them to support the cause and protect native wolves.

Yes wolves, the evildoers in our children’s books, the bad guys, the deceivers.

They get a bad rep dating all the way back to the Middle Ages when werewolves were used to explain the horrific immorality of serial killers.

But wolves should not be hunted as a sport.

 

How it started

Grey wolves in the western Great Lakes region were added to the endangered species list in 1973. They were removed in January of 2012.

In 2008, the Michigan Legislation passed laws deeming it legal for dog and livestock owners to take lethal action against problem wolves who prey on their animals.

In December 2012, Public Act 520 was signed into law, designating wolves as a game species in Michigan.

Since that decision, Keep Wolves Protected has taken a stand to defend our native wildlife.

 

Stepping up

The Keep Wolves Protected website explains the mission of the Michigan chapter as follows:

“Keep Michigan Wolves Protected is a coalition of animal welfare organizations, conservation groups, veterinarians, Native American tribes and religious leaders who are working to oppose the Michigan legislature’s last?minute approval of a bill during the 2012 lame?duck session that allows for the trophy hunting of wolves in Michigan for the first time in nearly 50 years”

Keep Michigan Wolves Protected has a goal to collect 225,000 signatures before its state-mandated March 27 deadline. The group needs 161,305 signatures to bring the issue back to the ballot, and according to their website, they are well on their way to attaining all signatures needed.

 

The issues

I have no gripe with the warranted killing of an animal, one which kills a beloved pet or harms a living investment such as livestock, and I think shooting a wolf in defense is admissible.

On the other hand, I agree with Keep Michigan Wolves Protected on their stance against actively hunting wolves in order to lessen the already low population and gain a trophy.

A noticeable problem is that wolves are encroaching on livestock of local owners. Wolves eat hoofed animals, the bigger the better. They, like most carnivores, are hunters that like to pass as scavengers when food is scarce and they are low on energy. When a wolf sees a horse’s pen, it sees a hearty meal, all wrapped up with nowhere to go.

Wolves are tenacious hunters that can grow to weigh over 100 lbs. They usually hunt in quick and cunning packs, which can be intimidating to anything that crosses their path.

That I’m sure you knew, but here’s something you may not know: Wolves aren’t typically a threat to humans.

When I say “not typically,” I mean close to never.

In the past century, there have only been two reported deaths from wolf attacks. Compare that number to 38, the amount of fatal dog attacks in the U.S. in 2012.

When an animal challenges us or becomes a threat we eliminate it. Fresh off the endangered species list and now it’s time to kill?

Here we are in the middle of an environmental movement that took years to get off the ground in the U.S., killing off a newly revived animal that helps to naturally keep order among what little wildlife we have left.

The human population is rising far faster than the wolf population, so let me ask you, who is encroaching upon whom?

Ashley Mohler is an intern at The Oakland Post. Email her at [email protected]