Wolves remain a hot button conservation issue as their populations expand in some parts of the United States. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Canis lupus will not receive continued special federal protection. But the National Wildlife Service will develop a national management plan for Rocky Mountain wolves and the rest of the wolves in the United States.
Gray wolves are one of the hot button conservation issues around the world. Wolves have passionate defenders and equally passionate human enemies. The predators were virtually extinct in the United States near the end of the 20th Century. Changing attitudes (at least among city dwelling majorities) have led to a tremendous resurgence in wolf numbers. But it has not been without controversy.
Rocky Mountain Wolves have wandered south from Canada. Others have been re-introduced. Successful reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park has led to reintroduction elsewhere. Wolves now have footholds in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. They are currently being reintroduced in Colorado.
Opposition has come from rural areas. Wolf predation is real and hunters, ranchers and others who live off the land often see wolves as a pest or an outright threat. They either support wolf eradication or severely limited numbers.
Biologists and city dwellers take a very different view and strongly support reintroduction.
The battle has been fought at the ballot box and with the poison bottle. Reintroduction of the Rocky Mountain wolf to Colorado has been a controversial issue. Some have been released into the wild as of the end of 2023.
It is not a fight restricted to the United States. Italy has been generally supportive of wolves as their numbers increase. That may be in part due to the sheer number of feral pigs in the country. But Italian wolves have been poisoned. Sweden has recently been fighting a political and legal battle over permitted wolf hunts. Statistics from France indicate that wolves in that country kill 15,000 head of livestock annually. The balance between livestock owners and wolf supporters is precarious. Efforts to pay stakeholders to better protect stock or repay losses are far from perfect.
In a recent American case two wolves terrified and stampeded sheep. A total of 143 died in the encounter. Such losses can be very hard for a livestock owner to bear.