Wolves slaughter 19 elk in 'sport killing'

[Calista241]

Source: CNN

In what appears to be a case of "sport killing," a pack of wolves slaughtered a herd of elk in one night, Wyoming wildlife officials said Friday.

Nineteen elk, mostly calves, were found dead several days ago at a feeding ground near Bondurant, a town southeast of Jackson, said John Lund of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. A contractor delivering feed to the herd discovered the dead animals.
Lund said wildlife officials are concerned because wolves usually eat what they kill or come back later to feed.

There are about 1,100 elk in the area, he said, and about 7% of the population has been lost to wolves this winter.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/25/us/wyoming-wolf-pack-elk-slaughter/index.html

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Had no idea this kind of thing happened.

[valerief]

1. Must have been those Frat Wolves. nt

[Yo_Mama]

2. Yes, it does. Ranchers have the same experience. Sometimes with packs of dogs, too.

It's sad, but natural, if you know what I mean.

Wolves will come through and kill a herd of sheep - more than they can possibly eat. So will a pack of wild dogs. The predation instinct is the predation instinct.

I also read somewhere that wolves were reintroduced in some areas with the hope of thinning elk herds, which were overgrazing in some areas.

[pscot]

5. Before wolves were reintroduced

the elk congregated along stream beds and hung out there, stripping vegetation and trampling the banks. They can't afford to do that now because of the wolves.

[Yo_Mama]

6. Yes, and the article I read said it worked - that the elk moved higher and the vegetation regrew

It also said that maybe it worked too well, and that the herd was threatened.

I know I read that the major losses the ranchers see are calves, but if a high proportion of calves get killed each year that could wreak havoc on a population.

[pscot]

3. Isn't that what wolves are supposed be doing?

Culling the herd? Establishing a feeding site that pulls in many elk is just setting the table for the predators.

[fasttense]

4. I've seen domesticated animals do this.

Dogs get in with a herd of small sheep and kill them all for fun. Cats get in with a flock of chickens and kill them all. I never knew wild animals would do this. It's definitely not a survival mechanism. In fact, it is anti-survival because killing for sport and leaving your prey will wipe out your herds very, very quickly (as man has discovered). Are they sure the wolves did it or is there a pack of stray dogs on the lose? This really sounds more like domesticated animal behavior.

When we first moved to the country, there were packs of wild dogs killing livestock left and right. Now that the coyotes have moved in, the former domesticated wild dogs and cats have gone and the mass slaughters have stopped. We still lose one or two lambs or chickens a year but not 5 to 20 at a time anymore.

The more I read about this the more I'm convinced that the wild wolf did NOT do this. Most wolves eat 90% of the carcass. Something happened here. Here's a link that goes in-depth about wolf kills and eating http://isleroyalewolf.org/node/42

[Bad Dog]

7. Foxes do it too.

A fox will go crazy in a chicken coop. They're animals though, shooting elephants for sport by humans is inexcusable.

[yourpaljoey]

10. Interesting article.

I have never encountered a pack of wild dogs.
What do you do when you encounter them?

[awoke_in_2003]

23. Start shooting...

unless you enjoy being attacked.

[greymouse]

30. I'm guessing climb a tree

Dogs can't climb trees, can they?

signed,

cat parent

[snooper2]

43. The can climb as long as they get their paws around it

LOL

[Old Vet]

35. The week following katrina I volunteered for a four week stint with the Red Cross......

Broke my heart for both residents and pets, I was assigned to the 9th ward (Martin Luther King Projects) Where police were killing packs of dogs on sight. Not to mention all the pets I saw still chained to leashes where they all drowned to death. I ran into several wild packs who had the taste for people, I have several pictures of these packs I will follow this post with, After the water level became manageable these packs of dogs were going house to house looking for the dead, Where I guess they very quickly got the taste foe decaying meat. Finding people and pets usually stuck in street drains.

[yourpaljoey]

36. Damn, that's very very sad in so many ways

[fasttense]

41. The wild dogs I saw usually staid away from people

Usually I saw them on the road going somewhere. I once saw them attacking another dog and I yelled at them through the window of my car. They almost casually moved away from my car and the poor dog the pack was attacking had a chance to get away. We would discover their attacks the next morning. The wild dogs around here were not so aggressive towards people, just towards livestock.

The coyotes on the other hand are less afraid of humans and you can sometimes suddenly come upon them on your front porch.

[Change has come]

16. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department confirmed it was wolves.

(warning, graphic picture at link)

http://county10.com/162711069255532544/wyoming-wolves-kill-19-elk-near-bondurant-in-suspected-surplus-killing

Most likely by tracks left in the snow.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

8. Wolves carry out warfare too.

If you haven't seen this documentary, I highly recommend it.

[bemildred]

9. Yes they do hunt elk too. nt

[Thor_MN]

11. Just to be clear, the article is not about the Minnesota Timberwolves.

They haven't slaughtered anyone for years...

[awoke_in_2003]

24. ...

[Odin2005]

26. :-(

[Socal31]

12. I'm pretty sure this is exactly how at least 4 bad TV mini-series have started.

[Wibly]

13. I call BS

This was not a wolf kill unless something very toxic was fed to those wolves ahead of time.
This is propaganda against wolves.
There is not history of wolves ever doing such a thing.

[Codeine]

18. Actually most predators exhibit this behavior.

Last edited Sat Mar 26, 2016, 05:35 PM - Edit history (1)

The predation instinct is strong and isn't by necessity hunger-driven. A large number of prey animals gathered together can trigger a killing frenzy in any predator, wolves included.

The natural world of killers and the killed isn't always as Farley Mowat/Walt Disney as we would like to believe.

[Wibly]

42. I don't rely on Mowat or Disney

And have lived in the bush much of my life, in wolf country. I have never heard of wolves, or any other land mammal doing anything like this.
Would you please provide me with a link or a source that demonstrates this is commonplace behavior?

[Sunlei]

34. We've been BSed by our DOI/BLM 'management' many times. They will fence off water and claim wildlife

will die from drought.

They shouldn't be "contractor feeding" wildlife or any 'livestock' and leave the animals, especially a group of calves? unprotected from town dogs or coyotes or 'wolves'.

[Doremus]

49. Agreed 1000% nt

[swilton]

14. Echo all the above sentiments

To sum up not in any particular order of precedence:

1. Could be propaganda against wolves - the fact that the story is so blatant, I'm suspicious
2. Not unusual for wolves or for domestic animals -both have predator instincts: have known of dogs to exhibit this behavior and why I would keep dogs in the house and not allowed outside to their own devices (sheepherding dogs come to mind).

[hatrack]

15. Yes, this kind of behavior is well-documented

They're wolves. It's part of what they are.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. Sounds like pups are coming of age and learning to hunt.

[senz]

20. That is the healthiest possible explanation for the behavior.

It sounds plausible, and I hope it's true.

[senz]

19. The group instinct to attack and destroy the outsider is not limited to animals.

People have done this sort of thing throughout history, not always in the form of physical killing, but similar dynamics are at play.

[NickB79]

21. Weasels are well-known for sport killing, as any chicken owner can attest

I've spoken to other hobby farmers who have lost 10-20 chickens in one night due to a single, excited weasel or ferret getting into the coop.

And I've personally seen what a pack of free-ranging dogs can do when they get into a cattle pen. Nothing short of a bullet will get a determined dog off your cow's throat when it gets the blood lust going.

[NickB79]

22. Why are they feeding wild elk inside the park in the first place?

[Odin2005]

25. Domestic cats do this all the time, they will hunt for fun even though they are not hungry.

[greymouse]

32. my cat loves to catch things

things being those squishy balls I toss for him. His reflexes are amazing. He picks balls right out of the air.

As to the wolves, I don't know what they're doing, but they are after all, wolves. They aren't living on Purina Wolf Chow, and I can't imagine why anyone would think they wouldn't be going after prey. Nature aims for balance. It's humans who have screwed the planet up.

[Odin2005]

38. Nature does not "aim for balance", that is a New Age woo-woo myth.

Life itself has caused catastrophe numerous times in earth's history.

[Drahthaardogs]

40. The natural way is boom and bust cycles

It happens in Alaska. Problem in the lower 48 is fractured habitats which mean wolves need to be managed as well

[KittyWampus]

27. Why drop feed for 'wild' elk? They aren't wild if they're getting fed. And feeding elk

in one spot seems like creating an attractive nuisance.

[PeoViejo]

28. Humans have a worse track record

How many babies died in Iraq from Rabid NeoCons?

[Brickbat]

29. Yep, this happens.

[C Moon]

31. Making the claim that these wolves killed merely for sport...

validates that sport hunting is pointless, and selfish.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/11/do_wolves_kill_for_sport.html
I would guess, someone(s) is itching to start killing wolves for sport again.

[Sunlei]

33. were the 19 calves fenced in? why didn't they run off? and why were paid "contractors" feeding them.

Have asked the DOI/BLM for over 10 years to use 24/7 cameras and let cameras run live on their website for the public to watch over our wildlife.

People love those live cams- someone from the general public would have noticed.

[TexasBushwhacker]

39. Feeding them?

Well my no so dear departed boss had someone feed the dear on his land so that he and his buddies could shoot them.

[snooper2]

44. LOL, wildlife will be fine without you watching it on the intertubes

[Sunlei]

45. Americans have a right to observe our Federal Gov. at work. If they're fencing in wildlife & feeding

there should be 24/7 cameras anyway because fenced in yearlings-wild or domestic aren't ever safe alone.

[snooper2]

47. strap a go-pro to your chest and follow them around then LOL

I'm pretty sure they know what they are doing

[Sunlei]

48. We've been through this 'camera thing'with the Federal DOI for several years now.

They're very similar to why our Police hate cameras.

[DiverDave]

37. Definition of anthropomorphism

an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics 
So "sport killing" is just sensationalism.
Animals do what animals do.

[Sunlei]

46. probably local dogs, they'll chase and rip up an entire group.