Nature News

Hunting Wolves; Killing Elephants

The Bush administration on Thursday announced an end to federal protection for gray wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, concluding that the wolves were reproductively robust enough to survive.

"Wolves are back," said Lynn Scarlett, the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, in a telephone conference call with reporters. "Gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains are thriving and no longer need

A coalition of wildlife and environmental groups dismissed the government's claims and announced plans for a lawsuit to reverse the decision, which is to take effect next month.

Advocates for the animals said there were too few wolves to make a genetically sound population, and that state plans to manage wolf populations were underfinanced and fueled by a long-simmering animosity against wolves that could drive them back to threatened status.

[Read the rest here: New York Times]

I'm not sure what I feel about elephant culling. Too many elephants is a bad thing. Killing elephants is a bad thing and it also gives the elepants a bad attitude and a hatred of humans. I've been on the business end of an elephant with a bad attitude, and it is not fun.

The debate is heating up as South African's park service ends a 13 year ban on culling.

South Africa Allows Killing of Elephants from PhysOrg.com

(AP) -- South Africa said Monday that it will start killing elephants to reduce their burgeoning numbers, ending a 13-year ban and possibly setting a precedent for other African nations.

[...]

Maybe they should just do this: "How to catch a herd of elephants"

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