original link to webpage http://www.khq.com/story/24240777/wildl ... ill-wolvesWildlife officials hire hunter to kill wolves
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 10:55 AM EST
Updated: Dec 17, 2013 10:55 AM EST
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - State wildlife officials have hired a hunter to eliminate two wolf packs in a federal wilderness area in central Idaho because officials say they are eating too many elk calves.
Fish and Game Bureau Chief Jeff Gould tells the Idaho Statesman (http://bit.ly/JDijri ) that hunters are having a difficult time getting into the Frank Church-River of No Return wilderness, so the agency hired hunter-trapper Gus Thoreson of Salmon to kill the wolves in the Golden and Monumental packs.
The U.S. Forest Service allowed the state agency to use an airstrip and cabin in the Payette National Forest as a base.
Fish and Game paid $22,500 for aerial killing of 14 wolves in the Lolo area in 2012. Gould said Monday he didn't know how much the agency would end up paying for Thoreson's salary and expenses.
Information from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com
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I thought it was interesting that wolves would the dominant concern for elk-calves in the winter. Do tough winters usually result in an increase in predator control? I'm not sure. I know people around where I am put out food for deer in the winter (though feeding wildlife is illegal in many places). Has anyone else read more about this type of management recently?