Edit: Poachers worse than wolves
In a Moscow-Pullman Daily News editorial, Devin Rokyta opines:
At some point during May, someone or some people removed five wolf pups — at most just a handful of weeks old — from a den on public land in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, about 15 miles north of Coeur d’Alene, and killed them.
Several groups have joined together to offer a $16,000 reward for information leading to arrests and convictions in the case.
Ideally, the reward will lead to an arrest, but the incident highlights the issues Idaho has with poaching and improper management of its wildlife.
According to a 2014 story in the Lewiston Tribune, state wildlife officials in northern Idaho estimate that only about 5 percent of poaching cases ever come to light and that poachers are likely killing about 600 elk, 80 moose, 260 mule deer and 1,000 whitetail annually in northern Idaho, far more than wolves do. More here.
* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Huckleberries Online." Read all stories from this blog