
Why the U.S. government is allowing bears, wolves to be hunted in their dens - pseudolus
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/08/new-hunting-rules-alaska-national-preserves/
======
specialist
I briefly got involved in wolf stuff in Washington state. Participating in the
Wolf Advisory Group and so forth. What I learned shouldn't have surprised me.
Here's the state's wolf page: [https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-
risk/species-recover...](https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-
recovery/gray-wolf)

(I don't know anything about the Alaska wolf stuff covered by this article.)

My takeaways:

My state now works very closely with ranchers to manage wolves. Both livestock
and wolves are tagged and tracked, to better keep them apart.

Most everyone involved is trying to do the right thing. It was super
impressive. So different from when I worked on salmon conservation. The wolf
coalition formed by the state, ranchers, and conservationists had a very hard
genesis, but somehow managed to function and move forward. And most ranchers
were on board with protecting the wolves.

There's always that one asshole who just cannot fucking color within the
lines. Our major incidents which made the news (state culling wolves) were
orchestrated by a vehemently anti-wolf whackadoodle rancher who grazed his
livestock right on top of known wolf dens. This one yahoo purposefully
sabotaged the coalition's efforts.

Our current predator management laws are pretty unforgiving and easily gamed.
(As of 2017, I haven't kept track of the reform efforts.) Whereas the state
has to kill wolves in response to incidents, there are no consequences for the
rogue rancher.

I knew ranching was a tough gig. My brief contact reinforced that view. Pre
COVID-19, I speculated that most non-corporate ranchers would not survive.
Futurist me thinks their salvation is "artisanal" meats, sold to high-end
customers (yuppies at farmers markets), until such time vat grown meat makes
ranch meat a premium product.

Adjacently, our Federal Bureau of Land Management is thoroughly corrupt and
desperately needs a do-over. BLM leadership will continue to block and
sabotage any and all cultural, economic, moral progress. Thereby negatively
impacting everything from watershed restoration, protecting endangered
species, climate change. Etc.

~~~
EdwardDiego
> This one yahoo purposefully sabotaged the coalition's efforts.

Unfortunately this is always the way. In my country it's the farmer who still
shoots kea[1] for predating his sheep, despite their protected status (and
their being here first) and the fact that proper livestock management would
prevent that - they typically only predate sheep that are snowbound, and a
good farmer doesn't leave his sheep in the high country when snow's forecast.

Or it's the hunters who transport deer species that have a negative impact on
native plants to new areas for their hunting opportunities, or just to stick
it to the man - I have no direct link for this, but entire truckloads of Sika
deer have been intercepted trying to cross the strait between our North and
South islands - Sika deer are well-established in the North Island (Te Ika-a-
Maui/The Fish of Maui) but non-existent in the South Island (Te Wai
Pounamu/The Waters of Greenstone(Nephrite Jade)), yet deer transporter trucks
filled with Sika have been stopped trying to board the ferry.

Which I don't get, plenty of red, fallow, and white-tail deer in the South
Island.

Likewise, there's been a spread of fallow deer over the country - typically
they don't spread that far naturally, but from the 12 original herds
introduced, there's been, shall we say, a continual leakage to other areas of
the country.

And of course, perhaps, ecologically more relevant, is the deliberate
introduction of Bennett's wallabies from the relatively small area of the
South Island they were originally released in, to areas in the North Island.
They have a significant impact, and speaking frankly as a hunter, they're a
bit shit, so I don't really understand why anyone would bother other than to
be contrary.

[1]:
[http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/kea](http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/kea)
and also [https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-
animals/birds/birds-a-...](https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-
animals/birds/birds-a-z/kea/) with special highlights:

* A kea learnt to turn on the water tap at Aspiring Hut campground.

* A kea locked a mountaineer inside the toilet at Mueller Hut.

* A kea learnt to use tools to set off stoat traps to get the eggs.

* A kea was seen having a tug-of-war with a cat over a rabbit carcass.

* A kea that was being attacked by magpies hid behind a tramper who fended them off.

To which I'd add:

* I thought my flatmate was tipping out my cylindrical ashtray I kept outside as a passive-aggressive way of telling me to quit smoking. Turns out, two kea were tipping it on its side to kick between them like a football

* I once had to counsel a German hiker whose boots, pack, and tent were systematically dismantled by a gang of young male kea when he was camped on a high alpine pass, he fled barefoot with his belongings in his arms

* An older kea had figured out he had enough time when someone went into the local tearooms to run in and grab a chocolate bar and exit before the self-closing door closed. Until one day they moved the chocolate (on account of the kea thefts) and he was trapped in the tearooms and flew around screeching merrily to everyone's horror

* Gangs of young male kea used to hang out by the toilets in town and dare each other on to make a car's tyres make that "psssssh" sound - which often resulted in people with two flat tyres on one side seeking assistance

* When working in the visitor centre I handled three complaints about kea stealing passports at a popular photo site. There was a common modus operandi - one kea would jump around and act cute for the camera, while their buddies snuck up behind the distracted tourist and rifled through their belongings. Passports, on account of often having a shiny coat of arms, were often the first thing stolen, and then dropped into a deep ravine by a kea when it realised it wasn't worth eating

* Kea love sliding down a frosted back-country hut's roof. Which sucks if you're trying to get some sleep in it at the time

~~~
0_____0
It took me a second to grasp that a type of _parrot_ is responsible for
attacking and eating _sheep_. Even if it's a large parrot, the fact that a 1kg
bird can tear and eat the living flesh off a 100kg ruminant is remarkable.

~~~
pvaldes
Europe has a similar problem with farmers saying that had seen vultures (8kg)
eating their 800Kg cows alive. Something that would be obviously impossible
without vultures learning how to use a firearm or without finding dozens of
severely hurt and dead vultures around after the battle (something that
strangely, never happens).

Thus farmers can now ask for a compensation for each old cow that slips on a
clift, or has a disease too expensive to treat.

Maybe Keas are enough smart to eat an alive sheep (a lamb would be much more
probable), maybe once in a blue moon, but disinformation and rumour spreading
for money is a global problem that biologists face.

~~~
MaximumYComb
These are alpine birds and only, rarely, attack sheep that are stuck in the
snow. The sheep is defenceless, much like a man buried up to his neck.

------
ars
Summary: They are letting the state set the rule instead.

Important quote:

They acknowledge that the hunting rule change may not threaten Alaska’s
overall populations of bears and wolves, but they express concern that it
undermines the National Park Service’s mission to preserve and protect
nature—not just in Alaska, but possibly throughout the U.S.

“This [rule] sets a dangerous precedent,” Ripple says. “It has implications
for the potential exploitation of wildlife in federal protected areas of the
lower 48 states.”

~~~
erulabs
It sets a precedent for sure - but I can’t help but doubt when someone says
“if anyone else is in charge - it will be disaster!”

Are conservationists only involved at the federal level? My own experience in
CA is at least the opposite...

------
ourmandave
"Like my loafers? Former gophers." ~ Monty Burns

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onetimemanytime
another option would have been that Feds themselves, adapt their regulation to
the state the park is in.

If I read it correctly: they want to regulate bear and wolf population in
certain states so deer, caribou etc stay in large enough number because the
population depends on them for food. Sensible, someone in Alaska has different
goals and needs in mind compared to a recreational hunter in NY. But the Feds
can also do that rule

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jarym
This website is a choreography of poor UX. starting with an easy to miss
‘continue reading’ button - purpose not clear and continuing with injected
links and other distractions mid-article.

I had to go through it twice before I actually got to the ‘why’ part.

~~~
heavyset_go
For 90% of your opening sentence, I genuinely thought you were talking about
HN, and agreed wholeheartedly.

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xenospn
It is an absolute disgrace that decisions like these are made by politicians.

