Founder's Blog

A NATION DIVIDED: LUPOPHOBIA, WOLF PROTECTION OR MANAGED SLAUGHTER  

I have studied wolf behavior and development, raised and lived with captive wolves and have done in-field research on wild canids. So I feel that I have some authority to speak for them. This is not for any organization or for my own personal gain other than my desire to see their intrinsic rights recognized and the sanctity of their existence, intrinsic value and contribution to healthy ecosystems respected and protected from human encroachment and recreational and commercial exploitation. 

Some anthropologists and evolutionary biologists contend that wolves helped humans evolve through close observation and mimicry of the wolf, into followers and cooperative hunters of game species. This gives credence to such aboriginal aphorisms as “the wolf is my brother” and “Wolves made us human.” The Darwinian “Descent of Man” came after several millennia when select game species were domesticated, kept in herds and flocks guarded by dogs, Canis familiaris, and wolf-dogs, Canis lupus familiaris. Man declared war on his former ally and teacher, Canis lupus. The systematic extermination of the wolf began along with the desecration of the natural world to serve ever increasing numbers of people, nomadic and sedentary, and their livestock and crops. Lupophobia, the fear of wolves, probably has its origins during regional famines and wars when starving wolves and dogs scavenged human corpses and were themselves crazed and ravaged by rabies and other diseases.  

The ‘moral pluralism’ of America’s culture makes a mockery of democratic process when the majority of the populace want full protection for the wolf and are now witness to their nation-wide slaughter and to a spreading lupophobia. Internet pages posted by “Sportsmen Against Wolves” are especially revealing. They see wolf protectors and wildlife conservationists as representing the kind of society they abhor: One of tree-hugging Bambi-lovers that threatens their way of life and right to shoot wolves. The notion of co-existence, a traditional principle of Native American Indians now being promoted by some conservation organizations, is anathema to the pro-wolf hunting lobby. 

Lupophobia is certainly not shared by indigenous Native American Indians or by a growing majority of non-native American citizens who oppose wolf hunting and trapping. The wolf is a species symbolic of a nation divided by a bipolar society that has yet to find unity of vision and values, ethics and spirit.

Wolf hunting advocates disclose a disturbing degree of ignorance about the balance of nature, wolf-deer and prey-predator relationships. They perpetuate the erroneous belief that exterminating competing hunters such as the wolf is an act of conservation, a “management tool” helping preserve the balance of nature, as well as a sporting challenge to kill a ‘worthy adversary” as a trophy, testament to one’s own hunting skills. The notion of co-existence,( involving conciliation within and between cultures and with other species), is anathema to those non-native communities living in close association with the last of the wild which most American citizens are calling to be better protected.

Wolf hunters, feeling threatened by wolf protectors and conservationists, are now enjoining across the country to justify and protect their rights. But if they were to connect their imagined fate with the fate of the wolf and every tree in the forest, wild flower in the prairie and frog in the swamp, they might realize, as Henry David Thoreau advised over a century ago, that “in wildness is the preservation of the world”. That does not mean the preservation of their way of life but their evolution into an effective, non-governmental community of wildlife monitors and conservators. Many deer hunters, for instance, like traditional Native American Indian hunters, having discovered the wisdom of biophilia, see themselves and wolves and other predators as essential components of healthy ecosystems. With such an ecological perspective they can begin to articulate a hunting ethic. This begins by separating any desire to kill from morally justified need; acknowledgement of the vital importance of wolves, humans and other predators in helping prevent deer overpopulation and loss of biodiversity, and then becoming a ‘boots on the ground’ force joining with other voices for conservation, habitat preservation and restoration in concert with wolves. Animal rightists must also evolve and not reflexively condemn all deer hunters as Bambi killers.

So long as lupophobia and the trophy mentality persist, and the erroneous belief, that state agency managed wolf-killing is ethically and scientifically valid, wolves and other essential predators will continue to be killed by some hunters as well as by cattle and sheep ranchers. Their subsidized grazing rights on public lands and compensation for confirmed predator losses should come with a caveat of requiring nonlethal prevention  methods of predator control. This should be a minimum requirement and proven repeated failure of these before consideration to destroy the predator through baiting and trapping. Without a unified sensibility, like those deer hunters who also abhor the killing of wolves as sporting trophies along with the majority of non-hunters, the disunited states will surely continue to fall short of becoming a truly civilized society. 

In early February 2014 a government-convened scientific review panel issued its report on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to strip federal protection from wolves all across the country save for a small colony of Mexican wolves in the Southwest. In the report's own words: "There was unanimity among the panel that the rule does not currently represent the ‘best available science.' “with regard to the government’s unproven claims about wolf genetics. The earlier removal of the wolf from federal protection under the endangered species act was similarly based on politics and not sound science as per the efforts of those such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on behalf of constituent hunters and livestock owners.

We should not forget that like most humans, wolves are predators; form strong emotional bonds and have familial ties, they and we play and sing, show empathy, manifest highly evolved communication, cooperation and survival skills, care for and protect the young and injured, and also on occasion fight and kill, even eat each other. But unlike us, wolves do not engage in genocide, their virtual extermination across some 90 percent of their range in North America paralleling the European insurgents’ systematic annihilation of indigenous First Peoples. We are now too many to continue to live as a predator-species, and a gentler mode of existence is the last hope for the survival and sanity of humanity and the recovery of social justice, eco-justice and a sustainable economy. 

Protecting and restoring cultural and biological diversity go hand in hand. Without empathy and compassion there can be no viable civilization when the pathology of self-interest condones violating the sanctity of every living being and the natural environment for selfish pleasure and profit. Whatever needs and desires that are satisfied by the killing of wolves, (justified rarely to protect defenseless domestic animals, most of whom should not be grazing in the wolf’s domain), are needs and desires perverse, profane.

We are living witnesses to the now global consequences of this dominant culture’s competitive, religiously sanctioned, politically condoned dominion and imperialistic exploitation of the last of the wild and the free. Those who are calling today for the protection of wolves and other endangered and threatened species and communities, human and non-human, speak the language of coexistence, conciliation and respect for all life. It is a language of civil society that is alien to that of the dominant culture that sees wolves as a harvestable resource, a game animal and trophy species, and the life-giving and sustaining forests as a natural resource of so many board-feet of lumber. The rights of all sentient beings to equal and fair consideration are supplanted by the protected vested interests of minority groups abusing their political and financial power and influence for selfish gain. The “Wolf of Wall Street” is the apex predator of a dysfunctional society corrupted by its adulation of mammon that has desecrated the natural world and violated the sanctity of life. The status and plight of the wolf is a symptom of the spiritual and ethical corruption of this mode of human existence, and is one of many species falling victim to the encroachment and consumptive demands of our species which has become an infestation on planet Earth, causing catastrophic climate change and decimation of the life and beauty of the natural world.

In his book The Art of Happiness H.H. the Dalai Lama wrote: “Ask a hunter to visualize his favorite hunting dog being shot or caught in a trap to awaken feelings of compassion. Then he may better imagine the suffering of his prey.” Such envisioning is the bridge of empathy enabling us to feel for others and to exercise our moral freedom of choice to act responsibly. To take pleasure in the hunt and the kill, and to enjoy wearing designer fashion furs from animals snared and trapped are aberrations of the ethics and spirituality of a subsistence way of living and of valuing life that was sustainable for millennia in our gatherer-hunter past. Now our children are corrupted by the values of consumerism and of treating other sentient beings as objects and commodities rather than as subjects of communion and community. 

The revenue generating belief that “wildlife must pay its own way” adds up to a kind of death tax from the sale of hunting licenses. Taking the wolf off the Federal Endangered Species Protection list and putting wolves under state management is a money-driven political ploy creating more jobs and income.  Promoting the wolf as a valuable trophy species is another money-making DNR policy with its lottery system of winning permits to kill. Revenues generated for hunt outfitters and equipment manufacturers serve as an additional economic and political incentive for state authorities to promote the killing of wolves and other wildlife as a recreational sport. This is in total disregard of a more ethical, scientific and ecological approach to wildlife and habitat stewardship that does not give primacy to consumptive, exploitive and predatory human interests and values.

Within every culture there are sub-cultures and cults defined by demographics, economics, education, religious beliefs and values shared and opposing. Good governance accommodates such diversity to maximize the good of the nation state, including proper management of natural resources and public lands. But the record of the U.S. federal and most state governments is lamentable, pandering to vested special interests. These include sanctioning and funding ranchers’ war on wolves and other predators and permitting hunters and trappers to kill wolves respectively for sport and for the fur trade. This all amounts to a violation of public trust and calls for full accountability and a return to good governance “of the people, by the people, for the people."

The public conflict over the fate of the Gray wolf has made this species an icon of opposing values and cultural discord. Resolution is called for through conciliation, legal protection of wolves with a ban on sport hunting and commercial trapping backed by effective enforcement and inspiration through education, of the sanctity, rights and inherent value of wolves and all indigenous species and communities, human and non-human.  The fate of the wolf in North America will be a measure of the success or failure of civil society to put compassion and reason, justice and respect to bear on all our relations and relationships.

AFTERTHOUGHT:

Our blood is red from the air we share

Thanks to all things green---

The grasses, trees and those unseen,

In a world where stones become our bones

And the rains all life sustains.

But blood we spill and few dare care.

Green people and their wolves may soon be gone

So who will know, remember all was one?

We should not forget that like most humans, wolves are predators; form strong emotional bonds and have familial ties, they and we play and sing, show empathy, manifest highly evolved communication, cooperation and survival skills, care for and protect the young and injured, and also on occasion fight and kill, even eat each other. But unlike us, wolves do not engage in genocide, their virtual extermination across some 90 percent of their range in North America paralleling the European insurgents’ systematic annihilation of indigenous First Peoples. We are now too many to continue to live as a predator-species, and adopting a gentler mode of existence is the last hope for the survival and sanity of humanity and for the recovery of social justice, eco-justice and a sustainable global economy. 

Dr. Fox writes the nationally syndicated newspaper column “Animal Doctor” and authored The Soul of the Wolf.  For additional writings about wolves and other animal issues visit www.drfoxvet.com. 

A group named “Hunters for Hunters” emerged in Minnesota hosting several “Wolf Predation Meetings” across the state under the banner of killing wolves in the name of deer conservation. They are an anti-wolf group. The group rallies supporters with the question, “How do we control the predator problem that's destroying our deer population? Let's talk about it!” The group claims wolves are to blame for a low deer harvest this fall. The problem? The data and science don’t support their position. Over this last ten years, 2017 saw the highest deer harvest with 197,778 deer harvested; this same year, was the highest wolf numbers have been in the past ten years (2,856). And while the pendulum of the deer harvest has swung nearly 60,000 deer in the last 10 years, the wolf population has remained relatively flat if not declining by comparison. In fact, the worst deer harvest in this time was in 2014, a year where wolf hunting was legal and saw a significant number of wolf deaths at the hands of humans. But blame the wolves, right?

One of the most vocal people in Hunters for Hunters is board member, speaker, and self-described Whitetail Deer Expert Steve Porter. Porter is a deer farmer from Lake Bronson, MN. He and other deer farming interests are in a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota for rules regarding deer farms and limiting the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). If you listen to Steve Porter, whether in a legislative committee hearing about deer farming or about deer hunting and wolves, you will hear someone who exaggerates and even makes up facts and takes on a victim role with ease.  He claimed in a committee hearing in the MN state Capitol, that he would be out of business with laws enacted to protect wild deer from CWD that spreads from some deer farms. The laws passed, he is still in business. Porter falsely claims that a robust wolf population is destroying the legacy of deer hunting in MN.

Most deer hunters and wildlife observers know that while deer harvests may have been low in some areas, the harsh winters are likely to blame— not wolves. This is supported by biologists and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). There are places with wolves that had good deer harvests, and we know that places without wolves had low deer numbers. Did we forget about the droughts and wildfires too? Deer need plant foods like acorns and hazelnuts. With the droughts, fires and even poor air quality, environmental insults to our basic plant environments may also harm deer and many animals.

Hunters for Hunters are attracting people who want to kill wolves, for just about any reason. They found a well-timed opportunity to go after deer hunters’ angst over their lack-luster hunting this fall knowing the numbers were looking down, especially in NE Minnesota.  Meanwhile, many crop farmers are making claims for deer damage to their crops— what do they think about deer numbers? Wildlife observers look at the plants and trees and their production of wildlife food, such as acorns and hazelnuts along with other habitat issues to see what may be happening with wild animals. With this year’s mild winter (so far) and with the large acorn masts last fall, we may have a banner deer season next year. Then what will they say to turn public opinion against the wolf?

The group, Hunters for Hunters, is very clear in its deadly mission. While touting themselves as a “hunters’ rights group”, Hunters for Hunters’ main goal is to get the federal protections of the Endangered Species Act removed for all wolves. The group is open about their ties to Kansas-based group Hunter Nation— the same group that successfully sued the state of Wisconsin to hold a wolf hunting and trapping season in February, 2021. The results were disastrous with over 216 wolves slaughtered in just 60 hours. This was during a one-year time frame when wolves were not federally protected following the Trump administration delisting all wolves in Oct. 2020.

Hunters for Hunters has close ties to Safari Club International (SCI), an expansive trophy hunting organization with high dollar hunters known for buying opportunities to kill rare and endangered animals. Think Cecil the lion’s killer who in the end shot him up close with an arrow after tracking the wounded lion for 10-12 hours. Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association were lead plaintiffs for delisting wolves in 2011 and fought the decision to relist them in court. Now Hunters for Hunters is pushing for a federal law to remove protections for all wolves and it will not have a judicial review if passed. The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) & Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and authored by Lauren Boebert (R-CO), is misleadingly named the “Trust the Science Act.” The problem? Science does not support delisting.

After a brief period of no federal protections, Minnesota wolves are back on the federal Endangered Species List due to states not providing enough protections. Wolves are still recovering from nearly going extinct. Hunters for Hunters claims that wolf populations in Minnesota are “higher than ever,” but today’s MN DNR estimated wolf population is even lower than before the 2012-2015 wolf hunting and trapping seasons. Wolves in Minnesota are listed as “threatened” and wolves are killed for livestock producers for wolf-livestock conflicts. We know, through scientific studies, that legal wolf killing results in more illegal and secret wolf killing. In fact, these wolf killers hide in plain sight posting on social media #SSS or “Shoot, Shovel, & Shut-Up.” The current estimate of wolf numbers in Minnesota is fewer than twenty years ago.

Even the MN DNR’s own data on 16 years of collared wolves, shows a more than doubling of annual wolf mortality after the first wolf season in 2012. The worst part is that annual mortality went from 20% to 43% and human caused deaths more than tripled from 10% to 35%. These high death rates continued for more than 5 years after the hunts ended through the end of the data in 2019. This data means that a wolf has a one in two chance of dying over the course of one year. Wolf packs need to mature over years and learn how to support themselves to maintain a territory. Much of the talk of wolves being seen in places unlike before may simply be due to such a severe disruption to their packs. Our MN DNR cannot control illegal wolf killing but the data shows it is happening.  

Hunters for Hunters says, “Wolves should be balanced like any other species, requiring management in order to preserve and grow the abundance of the wolf’s prey species; deer and moose, for the betterment of the hunting community.” However, wolves are NOT prey species! Unlike deer and other species hunted in Minnesota, wolves live in social packs and depend on each other for survival. The social structure of the pack determines their survival and reproduction. All members of the pack are essential to raise their pack’s maximum of one litter per year. Now, the average pack size in Minnesota is 3.6 wolves which is dramatically down from 1998 when the packs were averaging 5.4 wolves.  Killing a wolf endangers other wolves by disrupting their pack and disrupted packs are more likely to target easy prey such as livestock.

Hunters for Hunters says, “Currently, the state of Minnesota is not engaging in any form of management, endangering our hunting traditions, and that the state is using the Endangered Species Act to not engage the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and other states in the effort to remove wolves from the Endangered Species Act in the Great Lakes region.” Once again, this is false. Not only is wildlife services permitted to kill wolves that are creating conflicts with pets and livestock, but the 2023-2032 MN DNR wolf plan contains wolf hunting and trapping seasons. As apex carnivores, wolves face many threats to their existence that can cause a boom and bust in numbers. One disease outbreak can wipe out 90% of the population. Wolves face threats from other carnivores such as mountain lions and bears and they frequently starve to death. The survival of wolves depends on their ability to hold a territory. The best way to keep wolves stable and reduce interference with livestock is to leave them alone and use nonlethal prevention methods, not a wolf hunting and trapping season.

Remember, wolves in Minnesota are the only population that did not go extinct in the contiguous United States. Recent genetic studies show that our population is genetically diverse and thus necessary for the recovery of the species. Wolves are supposed to continue to recover and move out into suitable habitat.

The mission of Howling For Wolves and our top legislative priority, is to “remove wolf hunting and trapping from state law to protect wild wolves for future generations.” Existing Minnesota law authorizes the MN DNR to hold a recreational hunting and trapping season on wolves.

Let’s be clear: illegal wolf killing already happens, even with federal protections.  A hunt will endanger them and encourage more killing. Wolf killing cannot be controlled. Killing one wolf can decimate the entire pack. This is known as “additive mortality.” We need a paradigm shift in how we allow wolves to live and control their own population and territories. We know they do not tolerate habitat loss, and of course as apex carnivores, wolves often die early deaths and their pups starve without added threats from humans.

Howling For Wolves will continue to be a strong voice for the wolf at the Minnesota Capitol. Thank you for your continued advocacy – and stay tuned for more opportunities to speak for the wolf particularly during this upcoming state legislative session February-May, 2024. You can take an action now from this website and you can attend Wolf Day 2024!

Maureen Hackett, MD, DFAPA
President and Founder, Howling For Wolves

References:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-38148-z

https://minnesotareformer.com/2023/08/18/usda-kills-hundreds-of-minnesot...

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/wildlife/wolves/2022/survey-wolf.pdf

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/deer/2012_harvest_total...

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/wildlife/deer/reports/harvest/deerharvest_...

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/wildlife/wolves/wolf-plan.pdf

NEW YEAR MESSAGE FOR 2023
By Dr. Michael W. Fox

NOTE: From Dr. Fox's Animal Doctor syndicated newspaper column

I want to take this opportunity to wish you all the best for 2023 after the challenges of this past year beyond political discord, corruption, violence and war. The pathologies of dystopia, such as addiction, suicidal and homicidal nihilism and child and animal abuse are societal challenges affecting all who care.

The Climate, COVID-19 pandemic and Biodiversity Extinction crises have put us all on notice: Evolve or suffer and perish. An estimated 820 million people are seriously malnourished. The rising tide of disenfranchised, political, economic and adverse-environment afflicted refugees is a humanitarian crisis no civilized society can ignore or wall or war against. We have the promise of emerging technologies and other initiatives to produce, sustainably and safely, fossil-fuel-energy alternatives; affordable food and health care for all. These hopes will founder if denial, a business-as-usual attitude, and lack of effective family planning prevail. I find hope in investment initiatives sharing the vision of people like David Friedberg, (whom I saw on the BBC TV interviewed by Stephen Sackur) who is an animal rights advocate and CEO of The Production Board (https://www.tpb.co/philosophy): And in the nascent One Health movement which I have long advocated. (For details visit https://www.onehealthinitiative.com/).

Food technologies ancient and new could soon end the exploitation and killing of animals for food and new technologies replace fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions and global warming. Public health, animal health, a healthy environment and economy are all connected and dependent upon our ability to implement planetary CPR: Conservation, protection and restoration of Nature’s terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, extending the rule of law in unequivocal support of such initiatives internationally. The 15 the United Nations Biodiversity Conference COP15 held this past December in Montreal may help prevent what many scientists are calling the Earth’s sixth mass extinction---for the common good and the good of the Commons. So, I see glimmers of hope for this coming New Year and for years to come as we all commit to reducing our collective and personal carbon footprints, living simply so that others may simply live. Also, putting compassion into action helping organizations dedicated to assisting the homeless, feeding the poor, rescuing animals in our communities, and saving and rehabilitating wildlife and their habitats. Empathy and respect can have no boundaries and should embrace all persons, races, and species.