The Return of the Wolf

One of the causes I have supported over the years has been the restoration of wolves to the U.S. We know that it is an error to think that trying to exterminate an entire species is a good thing. In the cycle of life, everything has its place.

Since the wolves were reintroduced to the U.S. from Canada in the 1990s, they have been repopulating and resuming their place in nature. There have always been opponents to them. Probably the most extreme example right now are the people in Alaska who think of themselves as hunters.

I have been a hunter myself, but I have not in many years now, simply because other things are more important to me to do. I don't really think it can be classified as a sport when people chase down the wolves in helicopters and then slaughter them. Actually, even if not wolves, I wouldn't call it a sport to go after any animal that way.

According to Defenders of Wildlife, in one of the latest such incidents, the gunners after killing the wolf parents got out and put a bullet in the heads of each of 14 pups.

Hunting is a part of human history because it is part of how we have managed to feed ourselves. Throughout most of history it has been a simple, straightforward proposition. Kill an animal, feed your family and friends with the meat. Use the skins for clothing, shelter, drums, bags, and so on. Killing wolves in this way is certainly no great accomplishment to brag about.

In fact, I would rank it right there along with that shameful chapter in American history where so-called sportsmen simply rode trains past buffalo herds, shot them from the moving trains, and left the carcasses there to rot.

It may look like fun to the people using animals for target practice, but these actions will not produce any good effort in the long run.