Aerial sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture have killed four wolves in Montana for preying on sheep in the secretive Sheep Experiment Station.

The last four wolves of the Sage Creek Pack were gunned down this week by USDA aerial sharpshooters, after the wolves had been targeted for preying on sheep in the 100,000+ acre USDA Sheep Experiment Station (USSES) west of Yellowstone National Park.

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Endangered species protections have been reinstated for the gray wolf in the western Great Lakes region.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that Endangered Species Act protections are reinstated for the gray wolf in the western Great Lakes region.

However, the status may only be temporary.

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An Idaho man was cited for shooting and killing a female wolf pup while standing behind his pickup truck on a public road.

According to local reports, Idaho Fish and Game wardens have cited a man for shooting a wolf in Idaho’s McCall-Weiser area, which is not an open hunting zone until October 1, 2009. He was also cited for hunting from a public road.

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One of only three wolf pairs in Oregon was killed by U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services with approval from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Center for Biological Diversity announced today that Oregon’s wolf recovery program suffered a serious setback when a pair of wolves residing in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in eastern Oregon were killed over the weekend by wildlife authorities.

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The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has decided to allow hunters to kill 220 of the state’s 1,000 wolves.

In the first-ever state regulated hunt of gray wolves in the continental United States, Idaho residents can purchase a hunting tag for $11.75 and out-of-state hunters will pay $186 for the opportunity to kill a wolf.

The hunt is set to begin on September 1, and Montana has planned to begin its wolf hunt in October.

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The Mexican gray wolf population continues to struggle at just 52 wolves. However, listing the species as a “distinct population segment” may hold the key to recovery.

The Center for Biological Diversity issued a press release today to announce that they have filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to formally separate the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) from other wolf populations in the United States and list it as either an endangered subspecies or a “distinct population segment.”

Although a 1982 reintroduction effort along the Arizona-New Mexico line hoped to result in at least 100 wolves in the wild, and 18 breeding pairs by 2006, the most recent survey - conducted in 2008 - found only 52 wolves. Unfortunately, illegal shootings, combined with complaints by ranchers who claim to have lost cattle to wolves (wolves that have been involved in three livestock kills in a year can be killed or trapped by federal agents), have taken their toll on the reintroduction plan.

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In an exciting effort to protect its natural heritage, the National Environment Protection Agency of Afghanistan has released the country’s first list of protected species, which includes 20 mammals, 7 birds, 4 plants, an amphibian and an insect.

The protections come at a crucial time for many of the species, since a previous Presidential Decree which outlawed hunting of endangered animals expired last March. Among the animals now protected from pelt-traders and poachers are snow leopards, wolves and brown bears.

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A gray wolf was captured alive, fitted with a radio collar and ear tags, and then released in  May in Baker County (Eastern Oregon).

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Unique coastal wolves range from Southern Alaska to Vancouver Island. Their fur has a red tint and their diet includes salmon, beached whales, and seals.

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The gray wolf population in Idaho, Montana, Washington, Utah, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan has recovered enough since being listed as endangered in 1974 to be removed from the list of species that are threatened and endangered.

Secrectary of the Interior Ken Salazaar concurred with the January decison of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the animal.

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Warning: Video contains disturbing content.

This video is very hard to make out (and all online Turkish-to-English translations don’t yield much more insight), but this appears as if a small town in Turkey gathered together to encourage their dogs to attack and kill a captive wolf. Please comment if you have any idea what is going on.

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In one of his first moves upon taking office, President Obama has ordered a freeze on all new or pending regulations from the Bush administration. The bold action could delay, and possibly even prevent, the removal of gray wolves from endangered species lists in more than a dozen states.

In a memorandum released by Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Obama has informed all department and agency heads that “…no proposed or final regulation should be sent to the Office of Federal Register for publication unless and until it has been reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2009.”

According to Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, the hiatus will give President Obama and new Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the chance to reconsider the Bush administration’s plans to remove wolves from the endangered species list.

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Despite the news yesterday that the wolf population in Yellowstone has decreased 27%, the Bush administration said today that they will remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list in the Midwest and in the area surrounding Yellowstone National Park.

The Bush administration has tried to remove the wolves’ federal protections twice before, once in the Great Lakes and once in the northern Rockies, which includes Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. Federal judges revoked both rule changes in February and September of last year.

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After completing its annual wolf population estimate, Yellowstone National Park has announced that the number of wolves inside the park has declined by 27% since the end of 2007. 124 wolves are now thought to reside in the park, down from 171. Is this a normal fluctuation?

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“Animals have to be harvested,” he said. “It’s important that you have management because if you don’t, you get overpopulation, and the animals get smaller and there’s too much inbreeding.”

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The ad, first released for certain markets in Florida, Michigan and Ohio, will now be airing in Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin. The AP reports that the wildlife group is also expanding the reach of the provocative ad so that it will air in Missouri in time for Thursday’s vice presidential debate in St. Louis.

Michael M. Phillips recently blogged for the Wall Street Journal about some bad press that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is receiving from environmental groups in the form of the above video:

“Soon after she took office, Palin proposed that the state provide a $150 ‘incentive’ for aerial wolf hunters; to collect it the hunters would have to turn in the animal’s severed left forepaw. Several environmental groups immediately attacked the proposal as an illegal ‘bounty’ and sued the state. The court agreed, shutting the program down before it started.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Sarah Palin’s record is not very favorable for wildlife. She’s put efforts into undoing federal wildlife protections for polar bears and beluga whales in order to protect oil and gas drilling operations, for example. But her position on wolf hunting is perhaps the most controversial.

One of Palin’s first acts in office was to put a $150 bounty on the heads of her state’s wolves, allegedly with the goal of increasing the moose and caribou population. But this was no ordinary hunt - it was meant to incentivize the aerial killing of wolves, in which private hunters take a small plane and chase down wolf packs until they’re exhausted and can’t move any more, when they either shoot them from the air or land and execute them at point blank range. A Defenders of Wildlife ad illustrating this process is available at ClimateProgress.

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