Russian Region to Reduce Wolves From 3,500 to 500

[bearpaw]

Russian Region to Reduce Wolves From 3,500 to 500

MOSCOW, Jan 15 (Reuters) – It’s open season on wolves across a wide swathe of Siberia.

Worried about attacks by wolves that are devouring reindeer in increasing numbers, the leader of Russia’s vast Sakha Republic issued a decree on Tuesday initiating a three-month hunt targeting the predators.

The goal is to bring the wolf population of the India-sized region also known as Yakutia down from more than 3,500 to the “optimal number” of about 500, Russia’s official gazette, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, reported.

According to Vesti, wolves killed 16,111 domesticated reindeer and 313 domesticated horses last year, costing herders a total of about 150 million roubles ($5 million) in losses.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta said the number of reindeer killed by wolves in Sakha was about four times that of 2006, and that hunters in the region killed 730 wolves last year.

Read More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/15/russia-wolves-hunt-idUSL6N0AK5J020130115

Wolf Education International founder Will Graves, who live, worked and studied wolves in the former Soviet Union, made these comments in reference to this action: “The estimated numbers of wolves of 3500, and the authorities recommend their numbers be culled to about 500 are important. Also important is that in 2012 it was stated that the wolves killed 16,111 reindeer. That is a significant number. It had also been reported that wolves killed over 300 horses in 2012.”

[kodiak 907]

 

[JimmyHoffa]

hopefully they're smart enough to not reintroduce them in the future....

[NRA4LIFE]

Let's go.