WOLF NUMBERS NEAR PEAK, BUT ATTACKS DOWN, MLIVE ANALYSIS SHOWS. WHATS GOING ON? August 4 *Searchable database for details on wolf attacks from 1996 to 2013: mlive/news/index.ssf/2013/11/database_search_all_verified_w.html#incart_river_default Wolf attacks on livestock and dogs - a key justification for last year’s first hunt - are down, even as the numbers of wolves remain near their high. The numbers come as conflict over the hunt is peaking. As many as three proposals could be on the ballot this fall, but lawmakers could make all that moot later this month by shortcutting voter input. About $1.5 million total has been spent by opposing sides in the see-saw battle. That’s about $68,000 for each of the 22 gray wolves killed in Michigan last year - or about $7,000 for every wolf in the state. The bulk of verified wolf attacks occur from January through July, nearly 60 percent overall since 1996. The review examined records since the first recorded attack. There were nearly 300 attacks in all, mostly since 2010. The first seven months dominated attack statistics as well for most of the 17 years studied. But attacks this year and last year dipped. Through July, 12 attacks have been recorded. That’s up slightly from just seven for the same period in 2013, but well down from 30 or 31 the previous three years. Attacks fell even as wolf populations are near peak, some 636 this year, down slightly from two previous counts. Critics say that proves lethal and non-lethal measures, targeting problem wolves, are working. “We have been saying all along a hunt is not needed,” said Nancy Warren, regional director of the National Wolf Watcher Coalition.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:36:07 +0000
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