Hunters Being Offered up to $2,500 to Cull Idaho Wolf Population
Luke Cuenco 10.19.21
Wolves in Idaho are now being targeted by the Department of Fish and Game due to increasing attacks on wildlife and livestock animals. In June, a new law was passed that would allow hunters to take advantage of loosened restrictions in regards to hunting times and techniques. The Idaho wolf population currently sits somewhere near 1,500 wolves and their presence in the area has been an increasing concern for farmers, and hunters who have found that the wolves are killing game animals and often leaving their uneaten carcasses to rot on public and private land.
Hunters Being Offered up to $2,500 to Cull Idaho Wolf Population
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has allocated $200,000 in order to dole out bounties for the culling of wolves to keep their numbers in check. In addition to the bounty, laws enacted back in June also now allow hunters to not only hunt the wolves but use other methods normally not allowed such as trapping, snaring, night hunting with night vision equipment, using bait, hunting with dogs, and even hunting from vehicles. The new law also authorizes hunters to hunt and trap the wolves unrestricted on a single tag throughout the year on private property.
This bounty system for wolves is one of the things that would contribute to the relisting of wolves. This was a foreseeable consequence that the Fish and Wildlife Service would take a close look at some of the changes that were made.
-Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Idaho Conservation League
Current estimates of the Idaho wolf population put their numbers up to around 1,500 with 90% of that possibly being killed before federal authorities would take over management of the wolf population. New population estimates for Idaho’s wolves could be made available as early as January 2022. The amount of the bounty on each wolf is entirely dependent on the location of the confirmed kill. At the higher end, $2,500 can be awarded for killing a wolf in an area where Fish and Game says wolves are “chronically preying on livestock” while wolves killed in the northern tip of the state will fetch $1,000 and all other parts of the state $500 per wolf. However, Idaho’s Wolf Depredation Control Board has said that if funds start to dry up before June 2022 these bounties may be cut significantly.
