Howling For Wolves Responds to the MN DNR’s 2014 Wolf Hunt Season Announcement

PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2014

CONTACT:
Dr. Maureen Hackett, Howling For Wolves, 612.250.5915 or
Leslie Rosedahl, LWRosedahl@locklaw.com, 651.353.1818.

Howling For Wolves Responds to the MN DNR’s 2014 Wolf Hunt Season Announcement

(St. Paul, Minn) – Today the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced the 2014 wolf hunting and trapping season. Available licenses increased by 500 to a total of 3,800 available starting August 1. The target harvest is 250 wolves, 30 more than last year. The early season starts on Nov. 8. This is the third consecutive Minnesota wolf hunt season.

“There is no good justification for a recreational wolf hunt in Minnesota. Most Minnesotans don’t want a wolf hunt, and the hunt itself on these recently-endangered animals creates chaos for their packs which in turn creates unpredictable effects for wolves, farmers, and livestock,” said Howling for Wolves Founder and President Dr. Maureen Hackett.  

Hackett continues, “This wolf hunt, which uses cruel methods of trapping and snaring, also kills non-target animals like dogs. It should be a priority of the MN DNR and Governor Dayton to manage the long-term survival of the recently-endangered wolf. The vast majority of the public opposes the trapping, snaring and baiting (with distressed pup calls used to kill wolves). We call on the MN DNR to refocus on the original management plan for wolves that was intended to ensure their long-term survival and resolve conflicts between wolves and humans.”

Minnesota law already allows people to kill wolves that are perceived as threats. Farmers and residents living in wolf range can already take lethal action if needed to protect their animals.

Minnesota-based advocacy organization Howling For Wolves supports:
Fully implement the MN DNR’s 2001 Wolf Management Plan,
Eliminate the cruel and indiscriminate methods of baiting, trapping, and snaring utilized for recreational wolf hunting in MN, and
Suspend recreational wolf hunting (as it has unpredictable effects and may even increase intolerance for wolves after centuries of extermination by mankind).

###

Howling For Wolves (HFW) is a wolf advocacy organization that aims to educate the public and policy-makers about wolves to foster understanding and tolerance, and to ensure their long-term survival in Minnesota. HFW seeks innovative non-lethal solutions for conflict prevention and coexistence where wolves are perceived to be a threat. We oppose the random killing of non-problem wolves for sport and the cruel methods utilized. HFW current efforts focus on the Minnesota’s gray wolves, which is the largest and only original wolf population remaining in the lower 48 states. www.HowlingForWolves.org.