Wolf Pack Slaughters 19 Elk in Rare 'Surplus Killing'

[Ohwildwon]

Unfortunately, probably not that rare in certain parts of this province these days...:icon_frow

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160325-wolf-pack-kills-19-wolves-surplus-killing-wyoming/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_twp20160325newssurpluskilling&utm_campaign=Content&sf23153241=1 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160325-wolf-pack-kills-19-wolves-surplus-killing-wyoming/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_twp20160325newssurpluskilling&utm_campaign=Content&sf23153241=1)


http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/mikemcclement/01elkwolves_zpsdyokvnub.jpg (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/mikemcclement/media/01elkwolves_zpsdyokvnub.jpg.html)

[Down South]

Good Work
That's a good start

[ruger#1]

Good Work
That's a good start
So you cheering for the wolves. Those are dead elk.

[boxhitch]

Just another day in wolf country. Jimenez 'wolves don't kill for sport' uhm well apparently they call it something else then.

[J_06]

Good ammo for the wolves don't sport kill argument. Rare my ass.

[Darksith]

rare...bleeding heart suspect wrote that article Im sure.

[scotty30-06]

Just horrible.......thats all I have to say

[LBM]

Any other photos out there or is this the only one.

[okas]

27 moose in a heard NOV.28th FEB.20th 2 left .. due your part camping is fun kill some wolfs but then again time off and gas:!: and OH WELL ... the gov. has made a mess here all the way around.

[dereke]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w216/derekerlandson/5FB298E0-14BF-412E-AAEB-1986A8964C59.jpg (http://s177.photobucket.com/user/derekerlandson/media/5FB298E0-14BF-412E-AAEB-1986A8964C59.jpg.html)

From the CNN article posted here:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/25/us/wyoming-wolf-pack-elk-slaughter/index.html

Dirty SOB's.

[wiggy]

Send this to that Miley whatever bitchite. Open season. Bounties. Frigging govt bs. �� Boiling now

[sawmill]

Meh, life its ownself. Suck it up.I like how the wolves lined them up all nice though, that`s showmanship.

[wideopenthrottle]

they are not so rotten in the second pic so they don't evoke "what a waste" as much...the rotting ones are more upsetting to everyone including hunters

[tipper]

How in the hell do you think wolves did this? Don't get me wrong I do hunt wolves and really don't like the sobs but this clearly wasn't done by wolves.

[elch jager]

Pretty talented wolves to line them up for dramatic effect for the photo op. Likely the elk were spread out here and there so the impact of the story would be lost without the artistic license provided by moving the corpses. Probably done by hunters/farmers looking to get rid of the wolves by shocking the public.

It is an elk farm for crissake. A feedlot. Tame tasty critters that have lost their innate ability to evade predators. Easy prey in big numbers... it's like being invited to an all you can eat free buffet... In the frenzy of the kill, the wolves will not stop if the elk doesn't escape.

[sakohunter]

It is an economic loss for the farmer, but he is probably insured for it. Is it not wolves doing what wolves do. I don't see the issue of wolves killing game. Many people have a problem with predators killing Moose, Elk, Deer, Sheep, Goats, because it takes away from their hunting opportunities, but when your sitting all nice and warm in your home. The predators are trying to survive in the cold hard winter, they do what they do to survive. If we really want to balance nature in favor of the game animals why not stop all logging and mining and gas exploration into the back country, so it is not so easy for us to drive into. Nature will balance itself if given a fair chance. I am still going to hunt Ungulates, but I don't blame the wolves for being wolves.

[bearvalley]

They are not farmed elk.
Several US states have winter feeding programs in place to maintain wild elk herds that have outgrown their witer range.
They had a few choices;
-drop the elk numbers to a sustainable number
-let some rancher or farmer feed them for free until they dropped the elk numbers.
-or feed the elk
So they established feed grounds and feed the elk.

[sakohunter]

So they are unofficially winter farmed Elk that migrate into a ranch of some kind and have become so used to a winter hand out that their survival instincts are degraded. Sound like a good way to ensure the the management of animal numbers, but not the strength of the Elk herd. So the wolves did the Elk herd a favor by killing all the stupid Elk off. I bet the next time the wolves show up the rest of the Elk herd runs.

[bearvalley]

So they are unofficially winter farmed Elk that migrate into a ranch of some kind and have become so used to a winter hand out that their survival instincts are degraded. Sound like a good way to ensure the the management of animal numbers, but not the strength of the Elk herd. So the wolves did the Elk herd a favor by killing all the stupid Elk off. I bet the next time the wolves show up the rest of the Elk herd runs.
It's pretty obvious you know very little about wolves.

[Rob Chipman]

Bearvalley

"Several US states have winter feeding programs in place to maintain wild elk herds that have outgrown their witer range."

I was curious about that part when i read it. Do you think that they've outgrown winter range because the herd is growing, or do you think they've lost winter range to ag or industry or urbanization and the govt. is feeding them in response to that?

Reason I'm curious is that I've heard about lots of success with RMEF increasing numbers, but I'm sure that ag and industry also chews up habitat there like it can here (probably more so).

If the idea was just to keep elk out of ag land you'd think more liberal hunting seasons would be the answer - kill 'em and get rid of them. However, a feeding program makes it sound like they want to keep numbers high while reducing problems for other guys. Can you shed some more light on this?

[dracb]

Not quite the way it works.

[sakohunter]

I am not a Biologist. Are you? I don't hate wolves for doing what they do. They are really good at adapting for their survival and in a well balanced ecosystem they play a very important part in the prey animal survival. When Human interaction with wolves is negative the wolves pay the price. When in reality the problem maybe human caused in the first place, but in the end the wolves pay for being really good killing machines. I have enjoyed every brief encounter with wolves that I have had, they are magnificent animals. Ranchers I know don't feel the same way, and I understand the economic hardships that the wolves cause them. It is a tough situation with only one easy answer shoot wolves, rather then suffer economically.

[bearvalley]

sakohunter, I'm not out to pick an argument but we cannot sustainably manage wildlife and at the same time infringe on and alter habitat without making wolf management a key component of the plan.

[GoatGuy]

I am not a Biologist. Are you? I don't hate wolves for doing what they do. They are really good at adapting for their survival and in a well balanced ecosystem they play a very important part in the prey animal survival. When Human interaction with wolves is negative the wolves pay the price. When in reality the problem maybe human caused in the first place, but in the end the wolves pay for being really good killing machines. I have enjoyed every brief encounter with wolves that I have had, they are magnificent animals. Ranchers I know don't feel the same way, and I understand the economic hardships that the wolves cause them. It is a tough situation with only one easy answer shoot wolves, rather then suffer economically.

The concept of balance and ecosystem disappears with people, highways, railways, fences, cities, mines, dams, hydro lines, roads, quads, trucks, heliskiing, catskiing, wildlife exclusion fences, farms, fire suppression, bridges, ....... you get the point.

Even between Jasper and Banff mountain caribou populations have all declined and some have disappeared in an area that is 1.6 M hectares (not including willmore) of "National Park". Parks Canada will point the finger at everyone else, but the bottom line is when you add people you often tip the scales in favour of wolves.

[IronNoggin]

It's pretty obvious you know very little about wolves.

Agreed.


... I was curious about that part when i read it. Do you think that they've outgrown winter range because the herd is growing, or do you think they've lost winter range to ag or industry or urbanization and the govt. is feeding them in response to that?

The elk in question are part of the Yellowstone Park population. Their numbers have decreased markedly ever since the wolves were reintroduced there. Well prior to that event, their winter ranges (most) had been seriously and negatively influenced due to expanding urbanization (been to Jackson Hole lately?) and of course ranching and other competing "interests".

The feeding stations have been established for a considerable period of time (decades) in response. And yes, many of those were explicitly designed to reduce the elk's impact on ranching / agricultural activities. And those feeding stations, for a time, kept the elk populations in a relatively high position on the scale. These days not quite so much...

Why? Wolves are a very efficient predator, and will soon learn to take every advantage afforded them. It should really come as no surprise that they have now learned to capitalize on the concentrations of elk that frequent the lower valley feeding stations in such numbers as to present "sitting duck" targets. This too has been happening to some extent ever since the wolves' reintroduction, with notable incidence increases that coincide predictably with the increasing wolf populations.

While the report in question may be somewhat "sensationalized", it does (at least in my mind) point to the fact that the wolf population is now expanding well out of the park, and at this juncture does require "management" in some form or another. Much more so than the "rare" news of wolves taking down more than they can consume in a single setting.

Just FYI: I know wolves. Killed them into the hundreds, and well understand their behavior. This action is not out of character, nor all that "rare". And, the area this took place in I also know well, spent several formative years there, have many close relatives that still call the area home, and enjoyed my latest visit there just last summer.

Cheers,
Nog

[elch jager]

Meanwhile back at the ranch.... there is a real hate on for these wolves. Apparently they could be Canadian wolves... Apparently we tranquilized 31 of these *******s and let them go in Yellowstone to rebuild the endangered population. No-one asked the hunters and farmers there if they valued delicious wild elk meat or viscous killing machines more. I don't know a single US hunter south of the 49th that doesn't get all stiff in the britches over the elk hunt. It is their holy grail of wild game... so much so that they hand feed them in the winter so they can eat them the following season. Yummy elk, the preferred food of Grizzly, Wolves and Hunters everywhere. The US hunt forums are alive with the chatter of elk hunters looking to line their floors with beautiful wolf skin rugs... or mail them back home to Canada. They should send every pelt over to Miley's house...

[sakohunter]

sakohunter, I'm not out to pick an argument but we cannot sustainably manage wildlife and at the same time infringe on and alter habitat without making wolf management a key component of the plan.

I agree, I have better things to do than argue on the internet. Lets agree to disagree for the benefit of all wildlife and habitat reclamation.

[dracb]

Videos of wolves pulling down their prey and eating it while still alive are always spectacular comments on the tapestry of life in the wild. Actually wolves commonly use another strategy that minimizes their chance of being injured while depredating on large prey. It is not a very efficient killing technique, but it does minimize risk of injury to the wolf. Wolves will characteristically attack the hind quarters of large prey ripping out the anus and or vulva and or udder. The animal is then left to weaken, stiffen up or die due to infection or blood loss. Apparently the bacteria in a wolf's mouth is very infectious. The next time the wolf or wolves pass through the area, as they circle their home territory, they recover the now weakened or dead prey animal with a greatly reduced opportunity for injury to themselves. Where the prey is a herd animal or the prey animals are confined by fencing or terrain or a number of animals being forced out on ice, a number of individual prey animals might be attacked in the same incident. Ranchers with wolf problems are never surprised at finding multiple injured bovines as a consequence of wolves attacking his stock.

Once the adrenaline starts flowing wolves, coyotes and domestic dogs are prone to attacking multiple prey animals if they are immediately available. Few such injured animals probably survive these attacks without vet care.

[mpotzold]

Videos of wolves pulling down their prey and eating it while still alive are always spectacular comments on the tapestry of life in the wild. Actually wolves commonly use another strategy that minimizes their chance of being injured while depredating on large prey. It is not a very efficient killing technique, but it does minimize risk of injury to the wolf. Wolves will characteristically attack the hind quarters of large prey ripping out the anus and or vulva and or udder. The animal is then left to weaken, stiffen up or die due to infection or blood loss. Apparently the bacteria in a wolf's mouth is very infectious. The next time the wolf or wolves pass through the area, as they circle their home territory, they recover the now weakened or dead prey animal with a greatly reduced opportunity for injury to themselves. Where the prey is a herd animal or the prey animals are confined by fencing or terrain or a number of animals being forced out on ice, a number of individual prey animals might be attacked in the same incident. Ranchers with wolf problems are never surprised at finding multiple injured bovines as a consequence of wolves attacking his stock.

Once the adrenaline starts flowing wolves, coyotes and domestic dogs are prone to attacking multiple prey animals if they are immediately available. Few such injured animals probably survive these attacks without vet care.

Yes-just came across the following very interesting article.

Yellowstone Wolves attack & start eating Bull Elk while alive.
Field & Stream Sept. 19, 2022.
https://www.fieldandstream.com/conservation/wolf-pack-kills-bull-elk-yellowstone/
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zH83rYM86Dk/maxresdefault.jpg



“….the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is home to 30,000 to 40,000 elk and more than 500 wolves. Elk are the primary food source for the national park's wolves. On average, 18 to 22 elk are killed per wolf each year in Yellowstone”.:shock:
That is 11,000 +/- elk killed each year by wolves in the aforesaid area! WOW!

video
Yellowstone Wolves kill Bull Elk - Yellowstone NP: May 2022 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH83rYM86Dk)