Rhetoric 1101
26 November 2000
The Gray Wolf: Should it be Hunted for Sport?
by: Patti Itzin
A long time ago the Gray Wolf was revered by Native Americans, who had great respect for the wolf and it's abilities. The Native Americans tried to
copy the wolves hunting abilities. Native Americans and the Gray wolf lived together in peace for many years, until the European Settlers came to America. The settlers brought with them very different views of the
wolf. They believed that wolves were evil, and needed to be exterminated from this new land. Wolves were doused with kerosene and set on fire, skinned alive or let go in the wild with either their mouths wired shut
or their bottom jaws sawed off, and even dragged to death behind horses or pulled apart alive by two teams of horses. Later, more "humane" tortures included trapping, poisoning, and shooting. By the 1950's wolves
were almost totally gone from the lower 48 states, except for a small population in northern Minnesota. In 1973 they were placed on the Endangered Species List. They have been on this list in the lower 48 states,
except Minnesota where they are considered threatened, since then. In the Midwest, wolf populations have made a strong comeback and soon may be moved down to the threatened list. In the midwestern states, once on
the threatened list, wolves could be hunted for sport. I believe that although wolves have made a comeback, they still have a long way to go and should not be hunted for sport, but rather should be relocated to other
states that have no wolves. In this paper, I will try to persuade the average American that wolves should not be hunted for sport, but should be relocated instead. My paper is divided into 7 sections. Each
section will explain a different aspect of the question as to whether or not wolves should be hunted. I will use facts, opinions of experts and Conservationalists, historical information, and biological information on the
wolves themselves.
The Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed into law in 1973. The purpose of the ESA is
to save and recover listed species. From the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the definition of endangered is any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its
range. Under the ESA, the Gray wolf cannot be hunted or harmed in any way for any reason. Under the threatened list, wolves can be harmed or hunted. The US Fish and Wildlife Service defines threatened as any
species that is likely to become an endangered species ("Gray Wolf Questions"). The ESA recognizes that threatened species may not need all of the protections that endangered species do. Since species on the
threatened list don't need as much protection as those on the endangered list, special rules can be developed for these threatened species that allow for more flexibility in the management, as long as the flexibility will
promote the conservation of the species. Currently the plan for the Western Great Lakes Wolves, which include the states of Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, is to allow for an open hunting
season to begin in as soon as five years. This plan may be taking into consideration hunting a little too soon. Defenders of Wildlife president Roger Schlickerstein declared, "Conservationists have fought hard for a
quarter of a century to help wolves make a comeback in the United States, and we want to ensure adequate protections so that once they are removed from the Endangered Species list, they won't ever have to be put back on it,"
(qtd. in Conservation Groups). The idea that taking the wolves off of the endangered species list too soon could lead to the wolf being put right back on the list is not so farfetched as one may think, especially when you
know the reasons why the gray wolves were persecuted the way that they were.
As stated earlier, the Early European settlers of America were the first people to start the mass
killing of wolves. The Europeans' beliefs, that wolves were evil, were one reason why the wolves were killed, but another reason started because of the moving westward of the early settlers. The settlers depleted
most populations of bison, deer, elk, and moose – important prey for wolves. Because the settlers had depleted much of the wolves' natural prey, the wolves had little choice but to start to prey on sheep and
cattle. To protect their livestock, farmers and ranchers began a campaign to eliminate the gray wolf. Bounty programs started in the 19th century and continued as late as 1965, offering $20 to $50 per wolf. Another problem that came from the westward movement of these settlers was that as these settlers moved westward they took up more, and more of the wolf's territory, causing the wolf to come closer to humans than they normally would. It created fear among the settlers, because it caused misconceptions and myths to evolve about the wolf. This fear lead to more wolves being killed. If the wolf is taken off of the endangered species list and allowed to be hunted, then what would stop people from creating new myths and misconceptions about wolves, especially since the population of the United States keeps expanding and taking up more of the wolf's land everyday, bringing the wolf closer to man.
Myths about wolves
The biggest myth about wolves is that they attack humans. This myth has never been substantiated, though, because there has never been a documented case of
a healthy and free wolf ever attacking a human in North America. In fact wolves generally avoid humans. Wolves can be very understanding of human activities if wolves are not intentionally mistreated so there is no
reason to restrict human activity, just because wolves live in the area. Stories like "Little Red Riding Hood" and " The Three Little Pigs" foster the idea that wolves attack people. Here is a story, as told to me,
of one human – wolf interaction:
"About 5 years ago, a well-known photographer from a wildlife magazine was assigned to take photographs of wolves. He decided to go up to Northern
Minnesota where there are many wolves.
To get the best pictures possible he wore a deerskin over himself. Since there were many deer up there he knew he would fit in.
He also figured that the wolves would be more likely to come near a deer than to a human. Well, he was right. After about a half an hour he could see wolves starting to come closer to him. He thought that this
was just great, but what he didn't know was while he was watching the wolves in front of him another wolf was sneaking up behind him.
When the wolf got about 20ft away the photographer heard leaves rustling behind him. When he turned around he was startled to see a wolf so close to
him. All he could see was the wolves' feet, because the deerskin was hanging down too far. So the photographer looked up to get a better look. When he did this, the deerskin fell away from his face. As
soon as the wolf saw who was really under the deerskin he immediately ran away. You could say that the wolf was more afraid of the photographer, than the photographer was of the wolf."
This myth, that wolves attack humans, has never truly been abolished. There are still some people out there that believe that wolves are dangerous animals that should be exterminated. It is from this fear that the need for more public education about wolves has risen.
Public Knowledge
Most people grow up hearing the stories about how evil wolves are, and how dangerous they are to humans. These biases at an early age make it hard for an average adult to change what they believe about the wolf. Some wolf educators say that, "The facts people hear about wolves usually have less impact on their view of wolves than deeply held convictions and fears. Those core convictions and anxieties often determine which "facts" about wolves people choose to believe" (Hutt, Grooms). These wolf educators also say that it's usually easier to teach children about wolves, since children have fewer fixed biases than adults. This is why many polls on the attitudes toward wolves often show that younger people see wolves more positively than older people do. Because it is often so difficult to teach adults about wolves, it is often hard to explain to them why the wolf should be protected. It is often these uneducated people who push to get a hunting season on the wolf as soon as possible. Often times they follow what the media is saying. Patrick Valentino, director of the California Wolf Center, worries that "many people in the United States don't have much direct knowledge of animals." He believes that, "They [people in the United States] pick up cues from the media that they should "save" one animal or another, yet the same people are quickly terrified if exposed to wild animals that they feel could threaten them" (qtd. in Hutt, Grooms). Often times the media picks up its cues from the animal activist groups and not the experts who have more all around knowledge about the plight of the wolf.
Expert Thoughts
One of the world's foremost wolf experts is David Mech. He believes that there should be
an open hunting season on wolves in the near future. Mech believes that recovered wolf populations can take a lot of killing and sustain themselves. In a recent interview he stated that, "Some studies indicate that
a wolf population can suffer as much as a 50 percent annual loss without a decline in the overall population" (qtd. in Anderson 3C). Mech is not alone in his belief about hunting wolves. Mike Phillips, whose
ambitions include repopulating wolves in western Colorado, also favors an open hunting season on wolves. He states that, "State wildlife agencies have done well managing other hunted species, and there is no reason to
believe they wouldn't perform similarly with wolves" (qtd. in Anderson 3C). Most experts agree with Mech and Phillips that a hunting season would not significantly hurt a recovered wolf population. But, the voices
of experts are tiny compared to the voices of the wolf Conservationalists, the animal rights activists, and the Native American Groups.
Conservation Groups
Almost all of the wolf conservation groups believe that having an open hunting season on
wolves too soon would be a bad idea. Many groups believe that a hunting season on wolves is being rushed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to show that the endangered species list works. Allen Rutberg, a senior
scientist with the Humane Society of the United States, summed up the groups concerns: "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under pressure to demonstrate that the Endangered Species Act works. Of course the act works,
but this particular decision [to delist wolves] was driven by politics, not science. At this point it seems that the intention to delist wolves in the Great Lakes region is being made to appease politicians and those
who've been dying to hunt wolves for years" (qtd. in "Conservation Groups"). Should politics or science decide the wolves' fate? Science, of course, which is why the conservation groups are so up in arms over the
current state proposals for delisting. "It seems the delisting process has started before we have assurance that there will be a responsible management plan in place that does not include wolf hunting," said Jean Brave
Heart of the Minnesota Wolf Alliance (qtd. in "Conservation Groups"). Currently all state proposals include the hunting of wolves at some point. Through all of the arguing and fighting between the experts and
conservation groups it is important to remember why hunting could be so detrimental to the wolves themselves.
Wolf Packs
Wolves are social animals, living together in family groups called packs. A pack is
usually a family group of wolves with a pair of adult parents, their offspring, and other non-breeding adults. There are generally 6 to 8 members in a pack, but some packs have included more. Wolf packs usually live
within an established territory. These territories can range anywhere from 150 square miles in size to 1,000 square miles in size. The packs use their territory to hunt for food.
Wolves start mating when they are about 3 years old, and sometimes they mate for life. They have one breeding season each year, from about mid-January to
the end of February. Sixty-three days after mating, usually in April, the mother wolf will have a litter of 4 to 6 pups. These pups are born in an underground den. Wolves usually rear the pups in the den for
the first six weeks. All members of the pack raise the pups. The mother feeds them milk, and other pack members bring food to the den for her to eat. Wolf pups grow very quickly and by 7 to 8 months they are
almost fully grown, and begin to travel with the adults. By the time wolves reach the age of 1 or 2 years they leave the pack and try to form their own pack.
Relocating Wolves
Wolves depend on each other for food, protection, and survival, which is why I believe
that instead of hunting wolves in a state where the population is recovered we should relocate wolves to other states where the wolf population was completely exterminated. The most abundant population of wolves in the
lower 48 states lie in northern Minnesota. So far wolves have been relocated to Yellowstone National Park, and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. But when you look at the area that the wolf population used to
cover (See figure 1.1) these few relocated populations become very small. Looking at Figure 1.1 you can see that the wolves' original natural habitat used to cover almost the entire United States and the wolves' present
natural habitat only covers
a portion of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and a few other northern
states. Relocating wolves to all of the land they originally inhabited will never occur, because of urban sprawl, and the current population growth, but there are many places that used to have wolves that could
have them again. Some of the best places for wolves to be relocated to are National Parks. In these parks wolves would be protected from hunters and given a chance to repopulate areas where they had once
lived abundantly. Yellowstone National Park was the first national park to reintroduce wolves to an area where the wolves had completely been
eliminated in the 1920's. The efforts to re-establish a wolf population in the Yellowstone National Park have been completely successful, proving that wolves can be successfully reintroduced onto the lands they once
inhabited. I believe that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should follow this track, and keep reintroducing wolves onto lands they once inhabited before hunting the small population of wolves currently inhabiting the
Midwest states.
Figure 1.1 Map of Wolves' Natural Habitat
"The Wolf", by Daniel Leoeuf
In conclusion, Gray Wolf hunting is a very controversial subject. It causes many debates among experts, who believe that the Gray Wolf population wouldn't be effected, and Conservationalists, who believe the Gray Wolf
population would be effected. So who is right? Most of the time one would have to conclude that the experts
were right, because, after all, they are the experts. In this case, though, I believe that the Conservationalists might
have the right idea. The experts keep referring to the idea that a wolf population can suffer a 50 percent loss in
their overall population and still survive. How can they say this when there is only one healthy population of
wolves in the lower 48 states. This healthy population, being in northern Minnesota, would be one of the only
populations hunted. If the experts are wrong in their idea that the wolf population could take a 50 percent loss and
still sustain their overall population, then what? The wolves would have to be put back on the endangered species
list and everything gained would be lost. Can we afford to do that to the Gray Wolf? I think we should give the
Gray wolf a chance to live before we start killing them again, and to do that I urge, you, the average American to voice your thoughts and concerns about wolves to your state representatives. Together we can save the wolf.
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