Wolves have been apex predators in North America for hundreds of years. They are a crucial part of wildlife and ecosystem management. The Trump Administration decided to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list, wiping out all of their protection and rights, and gray wolves haven’t even completely recovered yet! Due to this delisting, the laws on wolf hunting are up to the states. So far, most of the states have treated wolves incredibly unfairly. An example of this is Idaho’s wolf bounties and encouraging of mass wolf hunting, even paying people heftily and letting them keep pelts. As of 2020, These laws have killed 570 Idaho wolves, many of which being young wolf pups. In Wisconsin it was ruled that a limit of 119 wolves could be harvested, but in only three days, hunters and farmers killed 216 and nothing was done about it. In Montana, the wolf hunting season has expanded greatly and private bounties are now allowed. It has only gotten worse with time. Now, both Montana and Idaho are currently acting on the laws they have passed, with the goal of killing at least 90% of their wolf population. Many other states are also having yet another hunting season for wolves, but this time even longer. On September 28, 2021, the count of wolves in Yellowstone that have been killed is three, but this is only the beginning. Wolves aren’t even safe in the national park that has become famous for being their safe haven.

     Our country promised to treat wolves like bears, mountain lions, and other predators, but now the states have chosen to hunt them in mass and encourage the decline of a species that already has an unstable population. The hunting limits for wolves are much higher than those of other predators, and wolves aren’t even causing the problems! In most places, wolves are responsible for less than one percent of livestock deaths. Farmers always blame wolves, but wolves are normally not the problem, and we all should be able to understand that wolves are no threat to people. In fact, wolves are incredibly timid creatures. We need wolves and wolves need us, so we beg you to consider putting them back onto the endangered species list and restoring their rights.

Written by, Emily Cerza