I don't think they should have MORE rights than a hunter but they certainly should have asmuch rights when they are in thier own natural environment.
Like I said If the wolf came into an area populated with people and made a nuisance It should be killed on sight.
But his guy was out in the woods on the wolves home turf and his dogs were percieved by the Wolves as a threat and the Wolves reacted as the naturally should.
Let's pose this question, again. If the bear the dogs treed had decided to turn on this guys dogs and ripped the dogs apart, do you think we would have heard a word about any of this? Like I said probably not because the guy trains the dogs and sells then to hunt bears and he would be out money if the bears are killed off.
How about if this guys dogs were loose running around and got into a neighbors yard and the neighbor had a Tiger as a pet and the tiger kille the guys dog.... Hmmm his dog was in the tigers turf and got killed is it the tiger's fault for defending it's yard? I don't think so.
Just like I don't think the Wolves are at fault for defending their territory against this guys pack of dogs.
Let's be real for a minute there will be a hunting season on the Wolves before too long in Idaho, There already is in Montana last I checked, (last year they were supposed to opening a limited season) Just like Maryland reinstated a Bear Season. The Wolf season will be limited strictly at first and will gradually open up and get the population to a controlled level. BTW the Federal law already States that if you are being attacked by a Wolf you can kill it. It also has proper protocol if the wolves are killing or harrassing live stock and I personally seen the pelt of a wolf that was killed by a park ranger because the Wolf had killed a sheep. So I know that if it is reported that the wolf is killing live stock or being a nuisance the authorities will kill it.
Anyway I think this subject could seriously be debated until the Dinosaurs are reintroduced into the wild (LOL) and there will still always be multiple sides to the coin, people that think the wolves should never been reintroduced, and people that think it was a great Idea and people that think it was a good thing and think they should be managed by hunting to control the population.
I personally think it was a great thing to reintroduce an animal that man all but anialated. I think I am going to love it when I am living in Montana and can go out into the woods and show my son a live wild wolf. I also think that any wolf/wolves that become agressive toward people, become a nuisance in a populated area by living on garbage cans or attack live stock. Anything similar to that, the wolves should be shot and killed no questions asked.
I don't disagree with a hunting season to control the population but would not personally shoot a wolf or any other predator unless it was going to cause me harm or being a nuisance on my property. If I took my Dog out into the wilderness (for lack of another term) and it got into a confrontation with a wolf I really don't think I could blame the wolf. As sad as I might be I think I would be more mad at myself for putting my pet in that situation.
Anyway I think the population should be controlled either with a hunting season or by killing the wolves that become a nuisance or aggressive or both. But I really think it was a great thing that it was reintroduced and I am happy to know that the wolf population in the reintroduction areas is high enough to cause this kind of controversy.
Long Live the Wolf
