By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Wildlife managers in Wyoming are reportedly planning to cut by 50 percent the number of wolves to be taken by hunters this year following an outbreak of canine distemper, according to the Laramie Boomerang.
The cap will be set at 22 wolves in the Yellowstone region, as reported by WyoFile, the fewest number of wolves available to hunters since hunting became allowed in 2012. WyoFile is also reporting that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is also proposing to reduce the of wolves taken by hunters to six in “cojoined” hunting areas in Units 8, 9, 10 and 11, from Jackson Hole into the Green River basin.
Outdoor Live is reporting that canine distemper was detected last year in 64 percent of gray wolves in northwest Wyoming. By last December, the area’s wolf population was estimated to be 132. It had been estimated at 163 wolves prior to the distemper outbreak.
While wolf reintroduction has been a sore subject among hunters and ranchers in western states—Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming—delisting of the animals by the federal government has allowed hunters to take wolves in all but Washington.
Wyoming must maintain at least 10 breeding pairs of wolves in the trophy game area, according to WyoFile.
In neighboring Montana, the Mountain Journal is reporting that the hunting season for wolves, which wrapped up March 15, had produced a harvest of 247 wolves. This number is lower than the 10-year-average of 278 per year. It was also the lowest harvest reported since the 2016-17 hunting season. Hunting wolves has been legal in Montana since 2009. Trappers are responsible for part of the annual harvest.
Environmental groups have fought wolf hunting even when the original reintroduction goals had been met.
In Idaho, the Department of Fish and Game removed three wolves in the Panhandle region to help elk recovery efforts. Last year, the Idaho Capital Sun reported that state wildlife managers are working to reduce the wolf population from the current estimated average of 1,270 wolves to about 500 over the next few years.
Wolves are not being hunted in Washington, despite concerns among outdoorsmen that the animals are having an impact on mule deer and elk populations.
