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Most of us would never see sentient creatures as 'harvested' like crops. However, if you were to research the terrible lows of the USA wolf massacre, you would find this term is common vocabulary in hunting rule books.
There is very little understanding prevalent in the States with this symbolic animal of the wild. Back in 2020, the Trump administration decided to remove the grey wolf from the Endangered Species Act. This removed all protections from grey wolves in 48 states, except a small population of Mexican grey wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. In a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity, The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service finalised this decision 'despite the fact that wolves are still functionally extinct in the vast majority of their former range.'
There were shocking figures from the hunting. Since 1st January 2021, at least 1,000 of the approximate 6,000 wolves in the contiguous US had been slaughtered. 24 wolves that roamed the iconic Yellowstone National Park, which unfortunately roamed beyond its protected borders, were killed. Eight wolves that were poisoned in Oregon made the news.
Last year in February 2022, had a federal judge helped constrain some of the killings, by relisting wolves in much of the US. However, this didn’t include the 'red zone' states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, where 80% of wolf slaughter takes place. In March 2023, Montana hit a milestone of having over 250 wolves slaughtered this hunting season, not including those killed by wildlife services or poachers.
Steve Wastell is the Co-Founder and Lead of Operations at Apex Protection Project in Acton, California. This organisation, founded seven years ago, is devoted to wolfdog rescue and advocacy for wolves. He says the greatest challenge for America's wolves today is simply, and as most would expect, people.
"It’s a very politically charged subject right now, wolves." Wastell said. "There’s a lot of big corporations and very well-funded groups that would do better if there [were] no wolves on the landscape." He explained that once wolves are out of the picture, the land they roamed becomes free for companies to profit from. "There’s a lot of big, big money behind killing wolves, and there’s a small but loud portion of the general population that just don’t like wolves."
The way that political meetings proceed is highly problematic, as Wastell explained: "They have their agenda and stick to it, no matter how many people are opposed to it. They’re not listening to the people anymore, it’s a sign of the times with everything in politics right now."
"They're not listening to the people anymore, it's a sign of the times with everything in politics right now."
The slaughter of wolves really does matter on a wider scale, since this can affect whole ecosystems. They are described as a keystone species by Living With Wolves, a wolf education site, which explains: 'Their presence is vital to maintaining the health, structure and balance of ecosystems.' Wolves can improve habitat and increase populations of different species, from birds to fish, and having wolves on the landscape influences the population and behaviour of their prey. This can often lead to often altering the landscape itself.
Is there any way that orgamisations like Apex Protection Project could help wolf killers see these animals differently? "It’s a very difficult question to answer," Wastell said, "because I honestly don’t think we can. I think we have to put every legal restriction we possibly can, and that will deter some. I think we have to literally wait for people with this mentality to age out. But because of the internet, some of these kids are discovering the world beyond their small towns, and being exposed to new ways of thinking. From becoming more of a global community, hopefully we’re all learning and evolving into better, kinder beings.
Wolf charities and social media play a great role in highlighting the plight of these animals. Steve Wastell's Apex Protection Project are doing incredible work to educate the public about these misunderstood animals, especially children as the next generation. “Since we started doing lives on TikTok, we’re reaching people out there and we’re making it safe for our pack, if you can do it online people can see how gentle and loving they are, and what amazing creatures they are. And hopefully that sparks something and they can start asking questions."
So what's next for these animals? As of March 2023 only some wolves have been protected. We need to keep pushing for all grey wolves to be relisted in the northern Rockies. As the 'Re-List Wolves Campaign' states, 'this is not management, this is extinction.'
You can learn more about Apex Protection Project here.
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