Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

I have heard several concerns raised, questioning why more wolves should be reintroduced. Listed below I tried to address the most common concerns that I have heard.

1. Isn't it cruel to remove wolves from their homes in Canada and put them in new areas?

I'm sure that the wolves do not enjoy being captured and handled by people. However, by their nature, many wolves eventually leave their pack territories to search out new areas to live and breed, so they are quite adapted to learning how to live in unfamiliar places. To make their transition easier, our reintroduced wolves will find the same prey in the new areas as they were accustomed to hunting in Canada. Also, the areas in Canada where we are catching wolves for reintroduction are places where wolves are hunted and trapped for their fur. It is likely that many of the reintroduced wolves would have been killed for their pelts if they had not been moved from the area.

2. Won't the reintroduced wolves just be killed by local ranchers who hate them and routinely practice the old western tradition of shoot, shovel, and shut-up?

A few wolves will be illegally killed, just as some bald eagles, elk, grizzly bears, mountain lions, and even cattle are illegally killed by poachers. But, it is not true that ranchers or hunters routinely break the law and that most of the wolves will be killed on sight. In northwestern Montana, which has over 70 wolves, fewer than 10 wolves are known to have been illegally killed in the past 10 years. Ranchers and hunters regularly report seeing wolves, and most of them willingly cooperate with State and Federal biologists. Only 2 of the 29 reintroduced wolves have been illegally killed by poachers. The vast majority of ranchers and hunters that our personnel encounter are honest, decent, hard-working, and law abiding citizens. While many ranchers and some hunters do not like the idea of wolf recovery, extremely few would intentionally break the State and Federal laws that currently protect wolves. Mountain lions and black bears are common throughout the West. They eat deer and elk, sometimes attack livestock, and on very rare occasions, even attack people. Very few people illegally kill mountain lions or black bears.

3. Wouldn't it be better if the wolves got to pick where they wanted to live rather than being put somewhere?

I suppose from the wolves' standpoint it might be more natural, but may not be in their own best interest. In northwestern Montana, wolves often settled in places that have many white-tailed deer. These place also include a lot of private agricultural land, so naturally dispersing wolves often try to make their homes in areas already occupied and intensively used by people. This increases the chances that conflicts with people will eventually develop and that some wolves may be killed by people or that livestock might be attacked. By reintroducing wolves into areas where there is less opportunity for conflict, agriculture interests are less affected and the wolves require less direct management. Reintroduction reduces long term management costs and addresses local concerns about wolf management.

4. Wouldn't wolf recovery by natural dispersal be more acceptable to local people?

During public comment on the plan to reintroduce wolves, the majority of local residents said they didn't mind wolves if they didn't interfere with local lifestyles. They also wanted to protect their own livestock, have no land-use restrictions, for the sates to lead wolf management, and they wanted wolves delisted as soon as possible. People who both supported and opposed wolf recovery said they wanted to reduce the cost. Reintroduction under an experimental rule legally guarantees that local concerns are met. Reintroduction also is the surest, fastest, and cheapest tool to achieve wolf recovery while satisfying local concerns.

5. When will the cooperating states and tribes take over wolf management?

The states could already be managing wolves, but the strong public polarization over wolves has made it politically difficult for them to do so quickly. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming received funding from the Service last year to prepare state wolf management plans. The Idaho State Legislature did not approve the wolf plan that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game developed. The Service did enter into a cooperative agreement with the Nez Perce tribe and hopes the state can also become a cooperator soon. Both Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and Wyoming Game and Fish Department have drafted state plans that should be completed this fall. The Service intends to turn nearly all wolf management and most funding over to the cooperating states and tribes as soon as possible, probably before January 1996. The service role beyond that point will largely be limited to oversight and funding of the state and tribal wolf management programs.

6. Why not postpone further reintroductions until we can see how the first ones went?

To date, the reintroduction program has been successful far beyond expectations. There have been no problems with livestock, breeding has occured, most wolves are staying on public land, primarily in Yellowstone National Park and in central Idaho wilderness areas. Postponing further wolf reintroductions will delay wolf recovery and increase costs in the long run. Much planning and scientific study went into designing the current reintroduction program. The program's schedule addressed the scientific and public concerns about (1) having enough wolves reintroduced to overcome potential inbreeding and population viability problems, (2) insuring successful sustained reproduction so that several wolves of breeding age become established, and (3) meeting recovery goals as soon and as cheaply as possible in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana so the wolf can be delisted throughout the northern Rocky Mountains. Without successive years of reintroduction there is a good chance that the program will fail, the time and money invested to date will have been wasted, and the controversy will not be resolved.

Ed Bangs is wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, overseeing the program from Helena, Montana.