After the Trump administration took the gray wolf (Canis lupus) off the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in October 2020, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled Feb. 10, 2022, that gray wolves in the lower 48 states will be restored protections.
ホワイト裁判官は、米国魚類野生生物局が1970年以来連邦政府によって保護されていたオオカミを不適切に上場廃止したと判断しました。トランプ政権によるその決定により、米国本土48州のすべてのオオカミが連邦政府の保護から除外され、動物の個体数が回復したことが示唆されました。バイデン政権もその決定を支持した。
しかし、彼らが連れ去られて以来、オオカミは何年も前に殺されそうになった地域で攻撃的な狩猟にさらされてきました。ホワイト裁判官の新しい判決は現在、ウィスコンシンで物議を醸している2021年2月の狩猟のようなものを含む、ほとんどの形態のオオカミの殺害を禁止しています。
An alliance of environmental organizations, including Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf & Wildlife petitioned the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in August 2021, detailing wrongdoings of the 2021 wolf hunt. (See sidebar for more information.) Their evidence, along with the delisting of gray wolves, helped convince Judge White to relist the gray wolf.
But not all gray wolves in the U.S. will be protected under the new ruling. The gray wolves of the Northern Rocky Mountains are unaffected. That includes wolves in states like Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, where they often move in and out of Yellowstone National Park. At least 24 Yellowstone wolves have been confirmed killed in the 2021-2022 hunting season alone.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the Northern Rocky Mountains wolf population to determine whether they require ESA protections again, as well.
But many livestock associations, hunters and farmers aren't pleased with Judge White's ruling, saying the wolves have recovered and want conservation left to the states and local organizations.
Currently, if someone violates the Endangered Species Act of 1973, they can receive fines of up to $50,000 per violation, or prison time. That again includes harming or killing an endangered gray wolf.
Now That's Sad
A July 2021 study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers found that hunters and poachers illegally killed about 100 more wolves in addition to the 218 wolves that were killed legally during the February 2021 Wisconsin wolf hunt. The combined kills represent between 313 and 323 wolves or about 33 percent of the state's wolf population.
