Aerial Wolf Killing in Alaska

Alaskan wolves receive no Endangered Species Act protections, and the species has long been vilified. In the 1940s and 1950s, widespread wolf killings occurred via poisonings, bounties, and aerial shooting by federal agents. After Alaska became a state in 1959, poisoning was prohibited by legislative action and bounties were soon stopped.

Aerial shooting of wolves became common in the 1960s. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game ceased issuing aerial permits in 1972 after passage of the federal Airborne Hunting Act. The Act prohibits the shooting of wolves directly from airplanes but left legalize the practice known as "land and shoot" -- where a hunter can land a plane and shoot the animal from the ground.

Land and shoot wolf hunting remains a controversial practice and it is even opposed by many hunters. It considered unsportsmanlike, unethical, and impossible to regulate. It also leads to many other violations of hunting regulations such as chasing, herding, and harassing wolves.

Alaskan wolf shot by aerial gunner

In 1996 and again in 2000, Alaskan voters banned the practice but both times the Alaskan legislature overturned these citizen-passed laws. In 2003, the Board of Game approved several aerial wolf control programs and since then has adopted several more. Approximately 800 wolves have been killed by teams of private hunters and gunners from fixed-wing airplanes.

They rarely die fast, and are often left to suffer in agony.

So far, more than 1,000 wolves have been chased down by gunmen in low-flying aircraft and killed with high-powered rifles. This year alone, more than 250 wolves have been killed -- making the 2008/2009 aerial wolf killing season one of the deadliest in years.

The aerial killing of wolves in Alaska
MUST BE STOPPED!

Please, take action:

-- Urge Your Representative and Senators to Co-Sponsor the PAW Act: http://action.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?id=1517&pagename=homepage

-- Support National Wolf Recovery Plan:
http://action.defenders.org/ourwolves

To learn more and what you can do to help, please click here.

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DNA important wolf killed in Norway

A DNA important wolf was shot from a helicopter in North Trondelag, Norway. The permission to kill the wolf was granted on Saturday, December 21, afternoon, after three reindeers were found dead in East Namdal. The wolf was killed on Januray 11, 2010.

The Norwegian Evnironment Protection Agency has severly failed it´s job. Please read below, how they have dealt with the situation.

Important wolf, who is believed to originate from the Russian-Finnish strain, was shot in Norway January 11, 2010. A so-called genetic important wolf was convicted on Bang Sea in North-Trøndelag in Norway on 21 December. The wolf shot from a helicopter of the Norwegian authorities. The 43 kilograms heavy male was killed after harrassing reindeer in the Østre Namdal reindeer grazing district.

Environmental Protection Director Svein Karlsen says that it is easy to be wise after the event: "We had no indication that it was a wolf on a walk from the east, and we knew that the animal had killed reindeer. Potential harm was significant because there were 2 000 reindeer in the area. That is why we permited the killing,"

"Now, when we know that we were dealing with a Finnish-Russian wolf, we can say that we could have done more analysis before we made the killing decision. But it does not necessarily mean that the result would have been different", implies Svein Karlsen.

What kind of nonsence is that?! How could one lone wolf be a potential danger to 2000 raindeer?!

This has no scientific base at all. And it again proves the whole core problem, which has the same pattern around entire Scandinavia. The governments do not seek for solutions such as suffecient compensation to stock animal owners, as well as strict measures in dealing with illegal killing from not only hunters, but MAINLY farm animal owners and Saami people, who own the reindeer herds.

This is the core of motives for the war against wolves in Scandinavia!

The wolf had become the perfect foreigner. The perfect target for racism and xenofobia. The hated one that can be harrased and murdered, with government covering the murderer´s back.

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Read the source article (in Swedish): http://www.jagareforbundet.se/svenskjakt/Startsida/Nyheter/Viktig-invandrad-varg-skots-i-Norge/

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