tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-637616718677370574.post6613510885553995351..comments2023-07-09T06:44:57.744-06:00Comments on "The Panglossian Curmudgeon": Save the Wolves! From the Media?Rube Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05617302769130192903noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-637616718677370574.post-60915407391022128412009-05-04T17:09:00.000-06:002009-05-04T17:09:00.000-06:00Little Red Riding Hood Lied: Myths About Wolves
M...Little Red Riding Hood Lied: Myths About Wolves<br /><br />Myth: Wolves are dangerous to humans.<br /><br />Fact: You stand a better chance of getting hit by a meteorite than killed by a wolf. Although wolves are large, powerful animals that could kill humans, they do not. According to a 2002 study about wolf conflicts with humans, there is no documented case of a healthy, wild wolf killing a human in the United States. By comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate between 10 to 20 people are killed and 4.7 million attacked each year by man's best friend, the domestic dog.<br /><br />Myth: Wolves will eliminate or substantially reduce prey species.<br /><br />Fact: Wolves and large grazing animals lived side-by-side for tens of thousands of years before the first settlers arrived. Recent studies on Yellowstone elk and wolves have found that weather and hunter harvest affect elk declines more than wolf predation. In fact, wolves often enhance prey populations by culling weak and sick animals from the gene pool, leaving only the strongest animals to reproduce. Food availability and weather regulate wolf populations. When their prey is scarce, wolves suffer too. They breed less frequently, have fewer litters, and may even starve to death.<br /><br />Myth: Local economies in the northern Rockies are based on livestock production, and jobs will be lost if wolves are restored.<br /><br />Fact: Ranching is a minor part of the economic base of the northern Rockies . For instance, in the counties around Yellowstone National Park , livestock production accounts for less than 4 percent of personal income, while tourism-related industries account for more than 50 percent. Moreover effects on livestock are negligible, so effects on ranching jobs will be virtually nonexistent.<br /><br />Myth: The Endangered Species Act prevents the control of wolves that prey on livestock.<br /><br />Fact: In portions of the northern Rockies and Southwest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) designated wolves as "experimental, nonessential" populations. This special designation gave landowners a limited right to kill wolves caught in the act of preying on livestock on private property and increased the ability of FWS to remove or destroy problem wolves. Since 1978, wolves, listed as threatened in Minnesota, have been managed under a special regulation that controls individuals that kill livestock and pets.<br /><br />Myth: Wolf recovery on public lands will preclude other land uses, such as logging and mining.<br /><br />Fact: According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, very few land use restrictions have proven necessary to facilitate wolf recovery in Montana and Minnesota . The service reports that land use restrictions are necessary only if illegal mortality of wolves occurs at high levels.<br /><br />Myth: Most people in the U.S. oppose wolf restoration.<br /><br />Fact: Numerous polls taken throughout the United States consistently demonstrate that more people support wolf recovery than oppose it. In fact, a 2002 quantitative summary of human attitudes towards wolves found that 61 percent of the general population samples had positive attitudes towards wolves.Rube Goldberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05617302769130192903noreply@blogger.com