Judge Rules Alaskan Wolf-Killing Program Illegal

[Judi Lynn]

Judge Rules Alaskan Wolf-Killing Program Illegal

January 19, 2006 — By Yereth Rosen, Reuters
ANCHORAGE — A judge declared illegal Tuesday Alaska's controversial program of shooting wolves from the air to boost the population of moose and other game, prompting state officials to suspend the policy.

Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason said the Alaska Board of Game failed to follow its own requirements when it launched a program allowing private hunters to gun down wolves from an aircraft to remove the animals from the food chain.

Since the program started in 2003, licensed hunters have shot and killed hundreds of wolves by tracking the animals and shooting them from above in the face of protests from animal rights groups and the occasional tourism boycott.

Gleason ruled that the state failed to adequately address regulatory requirements, calling for proof that aerial wolf control is necessary and would be more effective than other, less-drastic steps to boost game populations.
(snip/...)

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=9699

[ixion]

1. good. hunting animals from any type of vehicle is unsporting, at best.

[Kagemusha]

2. In all fairness this wasn't supposed to be about sport but...

I'm all for finding other, less drastic methods and for agencies following their own regulations. This is good.

[ixion]

5. maybe not technically, but in essence

but I see your point. It wasn't a sport, it was a slaughter in the name of thinning numbers.

[EFerrari]

3. Yes! That's great! n/t

[Number9Dream]

4. Upsetting balance of nature, over & over...

First they kill off the natural predators, then a couple years later complain that there are too many deer (or whatever). Man never learns.

[jefferson_dem]

6. Locking.

Duplicate. Not LBN.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=38999