Once again Wisconsin is asking the federal government to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. The state DNR says grey wolves grew 12-percent over the winter to around 750, the most since pre-settlement times.
Wisconsin’s largest conservation group says this number far exceeds the 100 wolf population goal set by the federal government as the threshold for delisting the wolf as an endangered species in the state.The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation is backing the state’s request to be granted immediate approval to kill problem wolves that kill livestock and pets.
“There have been efforts going back five, six years already meantime the population continues to grow and the problems caused continue to grow,” says Executive Director George Meyer.
There are now an estimated more than 4,000 wolves in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.
The wolves were de-classified twice before, but animal rights groups successfully used the courts to reinstate endangered status. The Humane Society of the US says the animal should be protected nationally and of all the farms in Wisconsin not even 100 have had trouble with wolves.
Brian Moon reports (:55)