Wolf Hunting, Bears, Dogs, And Drones

After a lot of thought, I am not convinced that wolf hunting is a good practice anywhere at this point. I do not believe there are too many wolves or that hunting them is going to properly improve the welfare of their preferred prey species. What I do believe is that there should be more attention to providing good habitat for the wild prey animals that they hunt. Bear hunting is a bit different, since old male bears put a lot of pressure on younger bears, including killing and eating other bears. There isn't the same social structure for bears as there is for wolves. The destruction of a wolf pack can take many years to recover, if at all. Wolves have to learn what to hunt, and we want the adults teaching their offspring to hunt wild prey.

Humans are predators. There is a place for hunting and ranching. What do hunters hunt? Prey animals.  Humans eat prey animals, mostly in the form of domestic prey: cattle, sheep, and poultry.  That is different than going out and wiping out a wolf pack through intensive hunting, which invariably will result in the deaths of the older wolves who are there to instruct and feed the younger wolves. Bears should be subject to hunting, but not eliminated. People also eat bear meat. Wolves aren't typically hunted for their meat. Human hunters should harvest prey animals, too, to balance out their populations and also consume domestic prey so as to not overly burden the wild species. 

I do believe ranchers have the right to defend their livestock: firearms, flock guarding dogs, and possibly drones.

Wolves are predators. What do wild predators hunt? Prey animals, usually wild prey. Wild predators tend to harvest the weak and the old, food that humans don't want anyway. Seasonally, they get a chance at larger game during the winter, and find and eat animals that died during the winter and are buried under ice and snow. There are other smaller predators that also should be left alone, such as the mustelids... they do an amazing job of eliminating disease carrying rodents. That benefits everyone.

My recommendation: Put the planning, money and effort into improving prey animal populations and their habitats for the benefit of humans and wild predators. Prey is the food: make more wild food for the wild predators to take the pressure off the ranchers and their domestic livestock. Give ranchers the tools to protect and defend the herds they manage without having to hunt predators. 

There is no perfect solution. But I do think that wolf hunting is going to backfire.