Wildlife Groups Sue State of Montana To Protect Wolves

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Wildlife advocacy groups WildEarth Guardians & Project Coyote have filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana over their anti-wolf policies that are pushing wolves in the Northern Rockies towards extinction. The lawsuit claims that the state's wolf management policies are outdated, cruel, and not backed by science. The lawsuit comes amidst the state's wolf hunting season with wolf trapping beginning November 28th. If this is not prevented, up to 40% of the state's wolves be slaughtered by hunters this season, pushing them towards inevitable extinction.

Montana's anti-carnivore legislation was enacted in 2021 allowing hunters to trap & kill wolves in ways that are inherently cruel and irresponsible. Strangulation snares, bait, nighttime hunting on private lands, and night vision technology is being utilized to assault the wolf population. These methods are not backed by scientific data and the state's 5-year review of their wolf-management policies have never been updated since their inception back in 2002. This is irresponsible and a demonstration of the state's anti-wolf stance despite conservation, wildlife, and Indigenous groups, advocating for the livelihood of wolves.

Losing their federal protections in 2011 left wolves incredibly susceptible to being over-hunted. Livestock conflicts, poaching, and sport-hunting are destroying wolf populations and effectively undoing nearly 45 years of conservation & rehabilitation efforts. 45 years wolves were protected under the ESA and now Montana aims to slaughter 40% of their state's wolves in one season. 

The assault on wolves is motivated solely by greed. "Protecting Livestock" is often used as a defense of wolf slaughter, but these places fail to adequately protect their livestock. Instead of working towards ways to keep hungry wolves out, they'd rather just trap & slaughter them all. This supposed "wolf management" strategy is nothing short of animal cruelty and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding how wolves play such a vital role in healthy ecosystems. This sort of anti-wolf mentality almost makes it so that those who slaughter wolves feel some kind of pride over killing them instead of recognizing that they are contributing to an inevitable extinction. I often wonder if anyone has ever truly considered what happens when you kill them all? What next?

The moral of this story is that the current United States Government has the power to reinstate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies. They have the power to protect wolves once again and send a very clear message that places like Montana are irresponsibly targeting wolves and have an outdated wolf management strategy. The assault on wolves is real. It's happening all over. Washington state is seeing wolves poisoned and slaughtered. Montana is actively trying to eliminate wolves entirely. The fact is, if we do not reissue them these life-saving protections, we will see their extinction. Too little too late is the typical approach to conservation, but the time is NOW to help wolves before we cannot bring them back from the brink of permanent extinction.

HAPPY VEG