The official legal status of the Gray Wolf, in the northern Rockies, has seen a real whirlwind of activity the last few weeks. In early January of 2009, in a last minute declaration, the Bush Administration removed federal protection for wolves in Idaho, Montana, and the easterly parts of Washington and Oregon and northern Utah. Wolves in Wyoming would remain protected under the endangered species act. Within a few weeks of that, the administration of President Obama, reversed the Bush ruling.
Within a few days of that an article appeared on the back pages on the Idaho Statesman, concerning a plan by the Idaho Fish and Game Department to kill wolves in north Idaho, in the upper Clearwater River Basin. The Department will be asking the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for permission to kill wolves in northern Idaho to protect deer and elk herds. This article was very brief and didn't give much for details. The upper Clearwater River basin is a vast, remote, rugged and beautiful country, with several large rivers including the Lochsa River, Selway River and the North Fork of the Clearwater, to mention a few of the major drainages.
Elk and deer populations in Idaho have been stable and have not declined. This isn't a surprise in any regards, and biological studies of wolves have shown repeatedly shown, that wolves will not decimate big game herds. The reason that big game herds do not decline with wolf predation, is actually quite simple and its called compensating morality factors (CMF). Wolves basically kill animals that are sick or injured, that would have died naturally anyway, so the net effect at the end of every year is, elk and deer populations do not change.
Now comes the sticky part, because wolves can and do kill healthy deer and elk. The thing to remember is wolves naturally, have a very high mortality rate of about 10%. An adult Gray Gray wolf averages 70 to 120 pounds. A wolf that decides to take on a healthy 500 pound cow elk (adult elk average 500 to 1,000 pounds) is asking for huge trouble. All it takes is one swift kick from the elk, breaking the wolf's leg and the wolf is doomed. A wolf survives by being mobile and being able to run fast and traverse dense brush and steep mountains and if they can no longer run, they likely will die from that sort of injury. The big game populations of Idaho have not been reduced by wolves nor will they ever be reduced. Wolves may reduce the number of elk in a given area, say in a given canyon or drainage, but this is a temporary effect.
Wolves have always existed in Idaho and their numbers have naturally increased because of the abundance of big game animals. Wolf populations were augmented in 1995 by the introduction of several pairs of Gray Wolves from Canada, which appears to have been the catalyst for increasing wolf numbers. The Idaho wolf population, at the end of 2007, is estimated at a maximum 732 individuals and 83 packs, according to figures released by the Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game.
The benefits of having a robust population of wolves are many and rarely discussed and debated. Wolves benefit the rangelands by helping to disperse elk herds and keep them from overgrazing their habitat. Wolves also kill the weak and injured elk and deer, in effect strengthening the herds by leaving the strongest animals. Wolves help to control diseases in big game animals by culling the herds. Elk herds in wolf country in Idaho are generally much healthy and stronger because of this, and better able to survive long winters and disease.
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