heres another one Wolves and caribou: Idaho's endangered species paradox Submitted by
Rocky Barker on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 9:42am Will wolves wipe out Idaho’s struggling Selkirk Mountain caribou herd? Or will the predators chase off the mountain lions that have kept the tiny herd from growing and stick to the ample supplies of whitetail deer?
That’s the question long-time Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologist Wayne Wakkinen has. The fate of this herd that wanders on both sides of the Canadian border is the subject of a
Sightline update by veteran science journalist Jennifer Langston .
Idahoans developed close ties with the herd, which is the most endangered population of a large mammal in the United States, beck in the 1980s. School children adopted each of the 60 caribou that were planted in the Selkirks to augment the small existing herd. It had mixed results
An ambitious plan was written to protect the old growth spruce and sub-alpine fir the caribou needs. Despite these plans much of the habitat was converted by logging into whitetail country. Then the cougars came in and made life harder for the caribou.
Some roads were closed but only recently has a large swath of its habitat but shut off to motorized use, giving the caribou finally the habitat protection envisioned when they were listed as an endangered species in 1982.
But even as the U.S. was strengthening its habitat protection, British Columbia was opening previously untouched caribou habitat north of the border to logging. That placed even more pressure on the already challenged animals.
And now there are wolves. In fact wolves have been in caribou habitat continuously, albeit in low numbers. BC reduced wolf killing in the 1960s and wolves began moving south into Idaho and Montana.
But it wasn’t until wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone and central Idaho in 1995 that the region’s wolf population hit critical mass and began its remarkable growth. Now there are several packs in the Selkirks and biologists are watching to see what that means to this majestic endangered species.
Legally, there is no issue about which animal should get the most protection, at least for now. Caribou are endangered in Idaho. Wolves are not.
But it sets up an ethical quandary for those who have sought to reduce wolf killing aimed at managing numbers of other wildlife populations. But first we need to see if the wolves actually help the caribou or hurt.
Fish and Game counted 43 caribou this winter, 3 fewer than the last two years. That’s not enough to start worrying about even though each animal counts in this small of a population. There is always the chanced they missed a few and the trend is what matters.
I’ve never seen a caribou in Idaho and I hope I do someday. But I also wanted wolves here. And I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere in my life is some wood that came out of caribou habitat in Canada. That doesn’t even consider the impact of climate change.
We can’t just point fingers at others when it comes to endangered species protection, as the BP oil spill has taught us. We all have stakes on all sides.
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http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/06/01/rockybarker/wolves_and_caribou_idahos_endangered_species_paradox#ixzz1Zw9Tlkl8
