It Appears That the "Big Bad Wolf" Is Not A Frenzied Cattle Killer

 As human politicians in the pockets of farmers and hunters ponder the 'need' to start killing wolves in Europe and the United States it is worth reading this and taking it all in.

The US hypocrisy is amazing in that Colorado, by public demand, has to re-establish wolf packs, however it can find no state willing to 'donate' wolves. Wolves obviously are 'fun' to shoot and make money from licences on. Don't let's pretend the other states are not donating (the sheer gall of calling it "donating" when the wolves are in THEIR territory and trying to survive and not there to be swapped around by humans) out of concern for these canids -they allow enough to be slaughtered. So how does Colorado (ranch country) stand on wolves?

Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed GPS collars on two wolves in North Park on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.   COURTESY OF COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE

In addition to being federally protected, gray wolves are also a state endangered species in Colorado, and wolves may not be taken for any reason other than self-defense. The gray wolf in Colorado is protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and state law. That is until pack numbers increase and ranchers (backed by hunters) decide "something needs to be done" and...wolf packs are "harvested" or "managed" which is another way of saying "killed". https://eu.coloradoan.com/story/news/2023/09/06/colorados-wolf-source-options-keeps-growing-uncomfortably-short/70766878007/#lm8qgmrlqla3x47webo

Wolf fencing -used effectively in the US, as well as dogs bred to prevent wolf attacks on livestock are options but of course they cost money and that just ain't popular!

Any and every wild animal is used as a scape goat to cover bad animal management or husbandry: badgers for Bovine TB for which there is no evidence, foxes for sheep (!) and lambs killed -no evidence other than a fox feeding off a stillborn lamb already providing food for other wildlife such as crows, ravens and any bird of prey (also cited as lamb killers); the list goes on and on. The real solution is to look after your livestock and give them suitable fencing or protection.

Humans really need to stop blaming wildlife for their own mistakes.

Now the post in question from the 06 Legacy Face Book page.

"Insightful verification by scientific methods of all reports of wolf attacks on humans, as well as years of experience in coexistence with these predators in crowded Europe, confirm that wild wolves are not a threat to humans.

Wolf attacks on livestock account for only 0.08% of all cattle falls on Polish farms, about 0.12% of calf falls, and several percent of sheep mortality. The rest of the livestock deaths are responsible for diseases, childbirth complications, lack of veterinary care and neglect of breeders. Therefore, it is not wolves that pose a threat to livestock farms in Poland.

For the killed by wolves, breeders receive compensation from the state budget, but for those who died as a result of disease or other factors - no. The entire annual amount of compensation paid to breeders for damage caused by all five protected species (beavers, bison, bears, lynx and wolves) was in 2020. PLN 32.3 million. Compensation for wolves is less than 5% of this amount.

The material benefits that wolves bring to our economy far exceed the annual amounts of compensation for livestock damage. Apart from the positive impact of wolf predatory on the environment, they provide many so-called predators. ecosystem services that have a material and financial dimension.

Wolves are the allies of farmers and hunters. Hunting wild deer, and deer in fields reduces the size of damage to farmers' crops caused by large mammals Compensation for these damages (about 119 million PLN in 2021). ) farmers are paid by tenants of hunting districts, i.e. mainly hunting circles and forestry.

Wolves are the allies of cattle breeders. Wolves hunting wild, reduce their thickening in forests, thus the threat of the spread of African Swine Fever. In addition, they find dead and weakened wild animals with ASF and TB in forests and fields and they eat on their carcasses. According to scientific studies, they contribute to the elimination of sources of infection with these diseases in forests and fields (Tanner and others.) 2019, Sewczik and more. 2021). The waste emitted by wolves does not contain the ASF virus, because it is destroyed in their digestive tract (Sewczyk and others) 2021).

Wolves are also allies of the foresters. Reducing the density of deer and doe, modifying their behavior and forming the so-called. "Landscape of fear" help protect plantations in agricultural forests from being bitten by leaves, shrubs and bark by deer vultures. The expenses of the forest economy on protecting forests from herbivores and replanting trees go in hundreds of millions of zł, and without wolves it would be even bigger.

Wolves reduce the risk of infection with tick-borne diseases in humans and dogs. By reducing the density of dogs and deer, which are intermediate carriers of ticks, reduce the risk of human infection of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis, and by dogs with babeschiosis and anaplasmosis (Terraube and others). 2019).

Wolves reduce the risk of road accidents. By hunting wild hooves, wolves also contribute to reducing the risk of road accidents involving large herbivores (Gilbert et al) 2017, Raynor and in. 2021, Sebe and in. 2022).

Wolves are saving the budget. Wolves are eager to eat beavers. In some regions of the country, they account for up to 40% of the mass of the food consumed by wolves (Jedrzejewski and others.) 2012, Myslajek and others 2019, 2021). Hunting wolves on beavers reduces the numbers of these rodents (Gable and others) 2020), helping to reduce damage compensation.

Text developed by Stowarzyszenie dla Natury "Wilk"

Thank you to our great friends at Polskie Parki Narodowe for sharing and your dedication to the protection and preservation of the natural world and the beings residing within those spaces. Wishing you an abundance of blessings. -Karol and The 06 Legacy Crew