Researchers Fault Science Behind Recreational Wolf Hunts

The policy decision to allow the recreational hunting of wolves rests on faulty assumptions, according to a new paper published in the online journal PLoS ONE.

After their population was decimated by decades of hunting, gray wolves have made a comeback in the United States, which put them under the protective umbrella of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. But the authors said it was "unprecedented" to find an animal species move so rapidly from highly protected to heavily-hunted.

After gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995-1996, Idaho and Montana established hunting seasons with quotas equaling 20% of the regional wolf population.

The study tested the argument that the wolf mortality rates do not suffer unduly because of hunting. Hunting advocates have claimed that wolf populations could sustain harvest rates of up to 50%.

While the authors found that "wolves can be harvested sustainably within limits," it cautioned policy makers against assuming that human-caused mortality in wolf populations will necessarily be offset by a corresponding decline in their natural mortality rates.

"Rather, the effect of harvesting on wolf mortality appears highly additive to super-additive," the study warns. "While some wolf populations might maintain constant population size at the harvest intensities considered sustainable by current state management plans, our results suggest that such harvests will generally cause wolf populations to decline."

Their counsel to regulators: Move with deliberation.

"Our results confirm that wolf populations can grow while being harvested. However, point estimates for the maximum offtake rate associated with stable wolf populations are below the thresholds identified by recent state wolf management plans."