Wolf hunting permits slashed in half

Wyoming Game And Fish Commission Cuts Wolf Hunt Quotas By More Than Half

 

Wyoming Game And Fish Commission Cuts Wolf Hunt Quotas By More Than Half

Disease outbreak cuts Wyoming, Yellowstone wolf numbers to lowest level since reintroduction era

 

Disease outbreak cuts Wyoming, Yellowstone wolf numbers to lowest level since reintroduction era

‘In a trial, I think he’d get off’: Sublette County reacts to Cody Roberts’ felony animal cruelty plea deal

 

‘In a trial, I think he’d get off’: Sublette County reacts to Cody Roberts’ felony animal cruelty plea deal

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, November 26, 1945. Now's the Time, Wolves...

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, November 26, 1945. Now's the Time, Wolves...: Recorded on this day in 1945:  The Sheridan Press reported on wolves and war brides. The Rocky Mountain News, which I remember from the 70s,...

An interesting example of how the worm turns:

Monday, November 26, 1945. Now's the Time, Wolves and War Brides, Questionable claim about Goering, Test tube babies in Virgin hospitals, Japanese social insurance, ties for Christmas.

Recorded on this day in 1945:

 The Sheridan Press reported on wolves and war brides.

The story on the big wolf is ironic in a contemporary context.  Wolves were wiped out in Colorado, probably and in Wyoming, probably, until the major reintroduction effort of the 2000s began.  It's been a huge success in Wyoming, for which I'm glad, in spite of my initial skepticism.  An ongoing effort is occuring in Colorado, which is meeting a lot of opposition in the anti nature Freedom Caucus era.

Canada, Oregon And Now Washington Won't Send More Wolves To Colorado

 

Canada, Oregon And Now Washington Won't Send More Wolves To Colorado

 

No national recovery plan for gray wolves, says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Nesvik tells Colorado to say no to Canadian wolves.

Hmmm. . .it would actually make more biological sense to take them from Canada. . . or Alaska, than a nearby population.

Colorado Wolf Debate Heats Up Over Claims Diseased Animals Were Released

 

Colorado Wolf Debate Heats Up Over Claims Diseased Animals Were Released

Grand jury indicts Cody Roberts, infamous Wyoming wolf captor, on felony animal cruelty

Grand jury indicts Cody Roberts, infamous Wyoming wolf captor, on felony animal cruelty: Eighteen months after Roberts’ actions incited global outrage, a grand jury decided the Daniel resident should face felony charges.

Yellowstone-area wolves observed moving pups to follow elk — upending scientific assumptions

Yellowstone-area wolves observed moving pups to follow elk — upending scientific assumptions: Study refutes widespread understanding that gray wolves, anchored by young offspring, don’t move during spring denning season.

Federal Judge’s Ruling Could Open Door To Putting Wolves Back On Endangered List

 

Federal Judge’s Ruling Could Open Door To Putting Wolves Back On Endangered List

Is this a good idea? The Return of the Dire Wolf

 Apr 7, 2025 6:50 AM MT

The Return of the Dire Wolf

I'm all for rewilding, but Dire Wolves have been extinct for 10,000 years and preyed, in their day, on megafauna.  Presumably any return of the Ice Age species will be limited to captivity. .  at least for now.

I'm not so sure about this.

Notable, the company that cloned them back into existence says they have not, so far, shown any dog like behavior, which is perhaps not too surprising given their evolutionary history, which is debated.  Some classify the large canine as Canis dirus dirus, a species in the canine family that shares a distant canine ancestor, Canis chihliensis, with wolves and dogs, with the wolf, canis lupus, being the direct descendant of that species with the dire wolf has an intervening one.  Others proposed that dire wolf has essentially the same linage, but is sufficiently separate such that it deserves its own genus, and should be classified as aenocyon dirus.  Frankly the cloning effort would suggest that those who disfavor a separate genus are correct, as a domestic dog hosted the puppies as embryos.

Dire wolves, it should be noted, were absolutely huge, which makes sense as they killed megafauna.

So the question, I suppose, is now what?

U.S. House of Representatives votes to remove wolves from EPA protection in lower 48 states.

Wyoming Game and Fish Commission releases statement regarding Sublette County incident

 

Wyoming Game and Fish Commission releases statement regarding Sublette County incident 

RIVERTON — The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, charged with oversight of the Game and Fish Department, issues this statement regarding the recent incident in Sublette County and the conviction of the Defendant for Illegal Possession of a Warm-blooded Wildlife.

By way of this statement, the Commission denounces the actions that were revealed following the Department’s investigation of the incident. The actions of the defendant do not represent the value Wyoming people and our Commission have for our incredible and priceless wildlife resources.

For over one hundred years, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has successfully managed Wyoming’s wildlife. Wyoming has proven itself to be the gold standard in wildlife management. This incident perpetrated by one individual does not represent a failure in wildlife policy or management.

We wish to be clear: We support the investigation conducted by the Department. We recognize and appreciate the work of the Department and the work of the Wardens involved. We’re satisfied that every tool we have available was used, and used to the best of our ability. The Department has acted with transparency and in compliance with Wyoming law.

The Governor had a joint call with a few state officials and stakeholders to discuss what occurred in Sublette County. We stand ready to provide any support or coordination deemed necessary on this issue.

Going Feral: No excuse.

Going Feral: No excuse.:  I have nothing against wolf hunting, but there's no excuse for behavior like thiss. Photo Shows Wyoming Man With Tormented Wolf Before ...

It's increasingly clear that there's going to be a prosecution here.  The only question is for what. After initially indicating it was more or less helpless in the matter, the Game & Fish has retracted that statement and made it clear that it's condemning this behavior.  The Governor has condemned it.  And Suzette County is indicating its looking at prosecution, for something.

No excuse.

 I have nothing against wolf hunting, but there's no excuse for behavior like thiss.

Photo Shows Wyoming Man With Tormented Wolf Before It Was Killed

Rod Miller of the Cowboy State Daily wrote an op-ed about it:

Rod Miller: Of Wolves and Assholes

In it, he stated the following:

Any cowboy, hunter or serious outdoorsman with a modicum of ethics and respect for creation should be just as pissed off. Roberts’ malicious stupidity will give political ammunition to those outside our borders who are convinced that they can manage the Cowboy State better than we can.

I think that, in Roberts’ case, there is a disconnect between the laws we have on our books and the ethics we have in our hearts. And maybe its not possible for our code of laws to adequately express our code of ethics. 

That should in no manner diminish the impetus to live an ethical life with respect to our neighbors and our surroundings, particularly in a place as unique and sparsely peopled as Wyoming. Morality shouldn’t always need to be written down to be lived.

Roberts would do himself and his state a great service if he humbled himself and publicly apologized to he fellow Wyomingites for his very public display of a lack of ethics. That would mean a helluva lot more than the two-hundred and fifty bucks from his wallet.

And maybe this situation warrants us adding another article to our official Wyoming Code of Conduct, alternatively called the Code of the West. Since some folks need to be reminded from time to time, we can amend our Code to include one final item. It could read something like:

#11 – Don’t be an asshole.

I agree.

Roberts would really do the state a favor if he just left it, permanently. 

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, April 4, 1924. Wolves in Albany County.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, April 4, 1924. Wolves in Albany County.:

Friday, April 4, 1924. Wolves in Albany County.

Wolves raided cattle in Albany County.

Wolves were recently reintroduced in Northern Colorado and there is some angst in some quarters that the reintroduced predators, unable to appreciate the giant dotted lines that make up state borders, will come into Wyoming, which they will, and be shot here, which is a real risk.  Perhaps somewhat mitigating against that, there's been rumors as far back as the 1980s, when I lived in Laramie, that there were already wolves in Albany County.

One of the reintroduce Colorado wolves has killed a calf in Grand County, Colorado, so the first instance of livestock depredation has now occured.  Initially, Colorado's fish and game declined to opinion on whether the wolf involved was one of the new residents, or one of the ones that was part of a pack of ten that established itself by crossing down from Wyoming in 2020.  The fact that they 'ad reestablished themselves on their own, as they will do, does give rise to the question of why an artificial reintroduction in Colorado was necessary.

It probably wasn't.

Another lawsuit over wolves.

Ten entities intend to sue the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for not extending protection for wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

When wolves were first introduced, it was my opinion that wolves themselves would not be a problem in the Rocky Mountain West, but the people who surround them.  

That has proven to be correct.

Blog Mirror: Wolves get around.

 

Wolves get around.