Elk: I Never Realized How Important They Are!

Elk: I Never Realized How Important They Are!

I don't just mean the breeders who raise domestic elk for the table--I mean the antiwolf and prowolf crowd who argue about the wild elk. I'm doing my best not to stick my foot in my mouth on this issue--and more importantly, not in a wolf's mouth--while I am trying to understand this issue.

Someone sent me this YouTube video that claims that the introduction of the wolves has largely wiped out the wild elk population. As near as I can tell, the differing factions are:

1. People that want the wolves removed. They claim that the Canadian wolves introduced into central Idaho are substantially larger than the Rocky Mountain wolves that were originally here. (I don't know if this is true or not; I haven't had time to research this claim.)

One of these groups seems to be made up elk hunters who claim that the reintroduced wolves are taking vast numbers of elk, reducing the herds too dramatically. I notice that the person making that claim in the YouTube video is also in the elk hunt guide business. Hmmmm.

Another antiwolf group are those who use the wilderness and don't want their horses and dogs spooked by the wolves--and may prefer not being shredded themselves. The Idaho World had a report in the last week or two of someone's dog who was killed by a wolf near their home. If I had small children still at home, and I lived somewhere wilder than Horseshoe Bend, I might well be in this group myself. Wolves are like land sharks; extremely competent, and without the same soft and squishy feelings for our children and pets that the wolf-huggers have for the wolves.

Ranchers are concerned about wolves killing their livestock. I'm not sure that it is practical to fence in their livestock--wolves are pretty smart and powerful animals.

2. People that want the wolves here.

Some of these wolf-huggers, in love with nature, but who don't have to live in it.

Some of these seem to be more intelligent and serious ecologists who believe that wolves belong here to act as a natural restraint on the native prey. I will say that there is some merit to having natural predators at work, along with man. Wolves will take out some elk that human hunters might not--especially the sick, and the young ones that aren't quick enough. If the claim about the reintroduced wolves is correct, however, there might be a serious question if we are restoring the natural balance.

Some hunters seem to either accept the presence or the wolves, or see them as being an important part of the natural balance. This doesn't surprise me; a lot of hunters are, at heart, nature lovers. It has always been astonishing to me how Sierra Clubbers managed to create a gap between themselves and hunters--a group that has very similar views of the importance of nature.

As I said, I don't have an opinion on this yet (although I lean towards the idea that wolves perform a useful ecological role--but their numbers in populated areas need to be kept under control). Maybe it is wisest not to get in between these two factions. I will say that fear of wolves might encourage Sierra Club types to reconsider gun ownership while enjoying the Idaho wilderness.