Wolves have forever been an iconic symbol, representing beauty, courage, strength etc. They've been feared and disliked, loved and respected but now they're being killed. Let me explain, but before I start let me make it clear that I am not on Trump's or Biden's side. :
On the continent of America, the grey wolf population has finally started to pick up, it's an American conservational success story! Unless they are hunted out of existence.
Trump's administration's rule removed the grey wolves from the ESA (Endangered Species Act), They made this decision despite the fact that grey wolves are still missing from huge chunks of what should be their natural habitat. A lawsuit was filed by 6 environmental groups against Trump's administrative's move, why don't we hear it from them?
“This is no ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment for wolf recovery,” said Kristen Boyles, an Earthjustice attorney. “Wolves are only starting to get a toehold in places like Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, and wolves need federal protection to explore habitat in the Southern Rockies and the Northeast. This delisting decision is what happens when bad science drives bad policy.”
“The delisting we've challenged today represents the latest chapter in the sad saga of the Fish and Wildlife Service's failure to do its duty to protect and ensure the recovery of wolves under the Endangered Species Act,” said Nicholas Arrivo, managing attorney for the Humane Society of the United States. “We're confident that the court will strike down this illegal decision and restore the federal protections needed to give America's wolves a genuine opportunity to recover.”
“Stripping protections from gray wolves in the lower 48 — before they have fully recovered and in the middle of a wildlife extinction crisis— was based on politics, not science,” said Bonnie Rice, endangered species campaign representative at the Sierra Club. “Gray wolves are still missing from vast areas of the country. Without endangered species protections, wolves just starting to return to places like California and the Pacific Northwest will be extremely vulnerable. Wolves are critical to maintaining the balance of natural systems and we are committed to fighting for their full recovery.”
“It is far too early to declare wolves recovered and to strip protections from them in the Western two-thirds of Oregon,” said Danielle Moser, wildlife program coordinator for Oregon Wild. “Removing wolves from the endangered species list would turn their management entirely over to Oregon’s embattled Department of Fish and Wildlife, which continues to push for hunting and trapping of the state’s already fragile wolf population.”
The wildlife population of wolves have only begun to recover, with this delisting the progress could be stopped in it's tracks.
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We have to hope and pray that gray wolves will still be around for the ages to come.
Stay Happy and Curious,
Fauna.
image credits: cover: Margot Noyelle
article: Marc-Oliveir Jodoin
credits: Care2