Let me get up on my soap box for a moment...Uh-hem (clears throat)
STOP THE SENSELESS KILLING OF THE CREATURES GOD HAS CREATED!
Okay, now that I got that out of my system we can move on to facts.
I wrote a blog last month about the importance of Manatees in the Florida waterways. Today I am going to shed some light on my most favorite of animals. The Gray Wolf.
A federal judge in Montana has restored protection to gray wolves in the Northern Rockies. They were taken off the endangered-species list March 28 after federal officials said the species (once hunted, poisoned or trapped to the verge of extinction) was "thriving." The order, by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, is expected to stop public hunts being planned by officials in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.The National Resources Defense Council claims that 106 gray wolves have been killed in those states in the 118 days since being removed from the list!!!
That's nearly one wolf killed every day. The death toll could be even higher since kills are not required to be reported immediately, and 'shoot and bury' tactics mean that some kills might not be reported at all. And if Wyoming, Idaho and Montana have their way, at least 900 wolves (nearly 60 percent of the population) could be exterminated this fall. What is wrong with people?? in one hunting season they want to eliminate 60% of an entire animal????An estimated 2,000 wolves now live in the Northern Rockies after a decade-long restoration effort. "Until now the reintroduction of gray wolves to the Northern Rockies was one of our greatest endangered species success stories," said Louisa Willcox, NRDC Action Fund Wildlife Campaign Director. "Now the region has become a killing field for wolves, just as we predicted."
Thousands of gray wolves roamed the Rocky Mountains before being slaughtered and eliminated from 95 percent of the lower 48 states by the 1930's. The gray wolf was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Reintroduction efforts placed 66 wolves in Yellowstone National Park and part of Idaho in 1995-96."Dozens of wolves have been killed already, and more are certain to die under state laws that in many cases allow unregulated wolf killing anywhere, anytime, for any reason," Willcox said.
This is just so stupid! We work so hard to help this species thrive just so we can kill them all again. Wolves are not the enemy here, Humans are. It has been proven that since the ban life is thriving in the Northern Rockies. The natural order of things had been restored. God created every animal for a reason. Even little annoying bugs serve a Huge picture in the grand scheme of things. Who are we to decided which species stays and which can go?Some of the first wolves to be killed since the de-listing took effect include:
• Wolf 253M: This eight-year-old celebrity wolf's fans called him "Hoppy" because of his limp (caused by an injury from a fight with another wolf pack). He was shot the day after de-listing on an elk feeding ground in Wyoming. This black wolf was one of the most recognizable members of Yellowstone's famous Druid Peak pack. People snapped his photograph and shot video as he and his pack mates played, hunted and snoozed. Later, he became the first wolf to step foot into Utah in over 75 years and established his own pack in Grand Teton National Park.
• The Ashton wolves: These two males were killed on April 1 near Ashton, Idaho. The first was shot within view of the shooter's home near some horses. The second was pursued by the landowner for over a mile on snowmobile. Authorities declined to press charges against the shooter due to "reasonable doubt" as to whether the wolves were "molesting" livestock.
• Wolf B160: This collared wolf was found shot on April 3 near Clayton, Idaho. His body was still warm when a woman found him about 70 yards from Highway 75. He had been shot through the femur and stomach.
It makes me want to cry reading about these poor animals. Come this fall this beautiful animal may be gone forever. This stop to the killing is only temporary while the courts decided if they should keep the Gray Wolf on the endangered list or not. (Again, humans trying to play God.) My heart breaks for the wolves that have grown accustomed to humans being near them, like in Yellowstone, and then we lift our guns and kill them. What must they think? Yes, animals have a brain and feelings too.
We were put on this earth to protect, not obliterate. Sorry for the not so happy topic today, I just really felt like this issue needed to be spotlighted.
Ta Ta for now
