In October, wolf hunting opened up in Wyoming for the first time since wolves were listed as endangered in 1973. On one hand, it represented a triumph of conservation: the wolves had all but disappeared, and have rebounded to the point that hunting them is possible. On the other, the recent killing of seven out of Yellowstone's 88 wolves, including a number of individuals collared for research and possibly the most famous wolf on the planet, suggests that the system as it stands is misguided.The shootings at Yellowstone will be a hot topic during a planned review today by Montana wildlife commissioners, sparked by the death of nine wolves fitted with radio collars for research purposes. Four of those had moved on from their previous territories in Yellowstone, which is a protected area, but the other five counted Yellowstone as their home territory, and were shot upon briefly leaving the park. One of those included an alpha female known as 832F to researchers, who was famous enough to receive a nice obituary by Nate Schweber at the New York Times.Last year, the Northern Rockies was estimated to have 1,774 wolves, and the AP reported that "hunters have shot at least 87 wolves across Montana this fall. At least 120 have been killed by hunters and trappers in Idaho and 58 have been shot in Wyoming." After Fish and Wildlife approved the hunting plans in those three states, the agency said it expected hunting to bring the total population down to around 1,000, which would help appease livestock ranchers and those concerned about depressed elk populations.In September, I wrote why the wolf hunt isn't the best management strategy from an ecological standpoint, and how the situation shows that the Endangered Species Act isn't properly equipped to deal with populations that actual rebound. But the killing of collared wolves, especially those shot on short ventures outside of the park, presents another wrinkle.The wolf hunt is already fueled partly by some people's malice towards wolves (similar to how some treat coyote hunting in other regions), and some are already accusing hunters of targeting collared wolves, either as trophies or to spite researchers trying to track wolf populations."The proportion of collared wolves is too high to believe this is not being done deliberately," Marc Cooke, of the group Wolves for the Rockies, told the AP. "It's wrong, and the world needs to know this."Of course, collared wolves aren't protected aside from the restrictions that apply to all wolves, and that's unlikely to change. “They’re not research wolves, they’re wolves,” said Ron Moody, a Montana wildlife commissioner.Moody does have a point; collared wolves are no different than other wolves in that they generally aren't specially selected or anything. But collaring isn't exactly an easy task, and represents a huge cost and effort for researchers. They're also extremely important in tracking packs and population fluctuations, which is absolutely essential to good management, especially with a hunt on. Basically, killing collared wolves adds more noise to the management equation, and whatever the reason, more noise means management officials need to be more cautious with quotas and limits.It looks like that may be the case, although we won't know what happens at the today's review until later. Right now it seems like there may be some sort of buffer zone around Yellowstone, which would perhaps help that protected population stay that way. I mean, hunters can easily sort out where the boundary starts and end, but wolves can't, and a Yellowstone wolf shouldn't become a target just because it put its paw across the line. Moody said officials are open to that, but they'll need wildlife advocates to persuade them.But the targeting of Yellowstone and collared wolves is troublesome. With only a few hundred wolves in the total quota this season, bagging a wolf for the first time in 40 years makes for quite a trophy, which is why I've been concerned about loopholes in Wyoming's regulation that allows for killing outside of trophy areas. Yet it seems that, with wolves already a rare trophy, killing a Yellowstone or collared wolf is being treated as something even more special.The worst-case scenario then is turning the zones right outside Yellowstone into a hunting hot spot, with hunters waiting for protected wolves to become legal. And while I don't have a problem with hunting, as it's an excellent conservation driver, I do take issue with the targeting of Yellowstone and collared wolves. Perhaps it's due to the four decade closed season on wolves, but targeting those wolves only makes the management picture murkier and breeds ill will for no reason. I doubt quotas will get restricted after today's meeting, but with hunters already showing signs of wolf frenzy, it's necessary to tell everybody to cool off.Follow Derek Mead on Twitter: @derektmead
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