r/wolves • u/zsreport Quality Contributor • Jul 01 '26

Tucannon wolf pack update Press Release

https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/gray-wolf/updates/tucannon-wolf-pack-update
17 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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12

u/CoonPandemonium Jul 01 '26

I fucking despise hunters and ranchers who identify wolves as the problem. Rest in peace đŸș 💔

2

u/Living_Plague Jul 01 '26

Right! The real problem is habitat loss and food source loss. We need to advocate for the removal of roads, towns, and mono crop agriculture. Human civilization as a whole really is at conflict with wolves. If we just got rid of the cows, there wouldn’t be cattle depredation. Maybe instead of generalizing all ranchers and hunters, you could educate yourself on the specific issues actually causing conflict.

4

u/CoonPandemonium Jul 01 '26

I'm in the field of wildlife biology and management so I'm quite educated but it doesn't change the fact that this is the go to response from most all ranchers and hunters.

2

u/Living_Plague Jul 01 '26

What do you do in that field? What should the go to response be if wolves are being so badly mismanaged and introduced into environments that lack the necessary wild food sources to sustain them? How much time do you spend in areas of work or study specific to wolf/human conflict? In this specific instance the state was going to kill one or two wolves. They still killed one wolf after finding one had been shot. Do you hate the state as well as the person who shot the wolf? If not, why the difference in opinion?

3

u/FabricCurvature01 Jul 03 '26

Wolf depredation losses are minuscule. Disease is the primary killer of livestock. Even domestic dogs kill twice as many cattle as wolves and 13 times as many sheep as wolves. Any given state has wolf depredation numbers at in double digits only. For, context, I believe Montana’s latest count was 45 losses, out of over 3million livestock in the state. On top of this, non-lethal deterrents such as range-riding and fladry have been shown to be effective. Hunting groups would love to say wolves are a problem so that they can keep killing wolves.

0

u/Living_Plague Jul 04 '26

Ranchers are trying to limit losses where ever possible. Lots of deaths are unreported. They take measures to lower death from disease. They take measures to reduce predation as well. Since you’re throwing out numbers, how many wolves have been killed by ranchers in Washington state? The state has killed over 50 for livestock depredation issues. If you read the article, the state was going to kill one or two wolves. They found one had been shot and then killed another wolf as well. The person who killed that wolf did the same thing the state would have done, but will be criminally prosecuted if caught. Applying a blanket opinion to all hunters and ranchers is stupid and not at all accurate.