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Wisconsin's organized Wolf Hunt
13 years ago
For more of your favorite Overlord please visit: http://heisyourleader.blogspot.com/
So, this started yesterday:
http://news.yahoo.com/wis-wolf-hunt.....1QwUsA8WPQtDMD
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di.....wis-wolf-hunt/
Now, I have no intention of getting terribly preachy about this (Though, being irritated, I might not be able to stop myself.) People will have their opinions on it, and there's nothing I could say to sway anybody one way or the other. But I figured this is something people might want to know about (Though I'm hardly going to reach a large audience, haha), since it seems to be flying under the radar.
I have to admit that I find it funny (or, alternatively, horrifying) that a hunt like this is organized LESS THAN A YEAR after the wolf is taken off the Endangered Species list. I can just see the conversation now:
"You know, I think the conservation effort is actually going really well for a change."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, I think we might just be able to take wolves off the endangered species list."
"That's great news. We should celebrate."
"We should."
"I know! Let's go kill an eighth of the population!"
*facepalm*
I love how the proponents raise the issue of "farmer complaints" as if that's meant to justify it. As if a farmer's loss of profit is a comparable injustice to pushing a species to the brink of extinction. As if the farmers haven't been killing them illegally all along anyway. Now don't get me wrong, it's not as if I don't understand the issue of a farmer's livelihood, or consider it unimportant. I grew up in a small town filled with farmers, and I still live in a relatively rural area. I get why sustainability of small farms is an issue. But you can't make me believe that there isn't a balance to be struck here, and you can't make me believe that balance is reached by mounting a thinly-veiled campaign of (admittedly partial) extermination against a recovering species.
As a side note, did you know that Japan used to have wolves? See the Hokkaido (or Ezo) wolf and Honshu wolf, extinct since 1889 and 1905, respectively. The extinction of both of these species can be mostly attributed to a very deliberate campaign of eradication, because they were disruptive to farmers. The more you know.
Of course, the real irony of all this, were I just to appeal to the politics of people's wallets, is that the United States is currently facing a (currently southern, but ever-expanding) problem with feral pigs. A problem now made famous by idiotic reality shows. A problem which, according to the Department of Agriculture, causes $800 million worth of damage a year. And yet nobody has considered that maybe, just maybe, this problem has been exacerbated by pushing the pig's natural predators to the brink of extinction? I.E. the wolf and especially the North American Cougar. Cause and effect, people. Cause and effect.
There. Rant over. You can go back about your business now.
(Also - Two journals within two weeks? Is it just me, or am I very very slowly becoming active again? I've probably jinxed it now that I've said it.)
http://news.yahoo.com/wis-wolf-hunt.....1QwUsA8WPQtDMD
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di.....wis-wolf-hunt/
Now, I have no intention of getting terribly preachy about this (Though, being irritated, I might not be able to stop myself.) People will have their opinions on it, and there's nothing I could say to sway anybody one way or the other. But I figured this is something people might want to know about (Though I'm hardly going to reach a large audience, haha), since it seems to be flying under the radar.
I have to admit that I find it funny (or, alternatively, horrifying) that a hunt like this is organized LESS THAN A YEAR after the wolf is taken off the Endangered Species list. I can just see the conversation now:
"You know, I think the conservation effort is actually going really well for a change."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, I think we might just be able to take wolves off the endangered species list."
"That's great news. We should celebrate."
"We should."
"I know! Let's go kill an eighth of the population!"
*facepalm*
I love how the proponents raise the issue of "farmer complaints" as if that's meant to justify it. As if a farmer's loss of profit is a comparable injustice to pushing a species to the brink of extinction. As if the farmers haven't been killing them illegally all along anyway. Now don't get me wrong, it's not as if I don't understand the issue of a farmer's livelihood, or consider it unimportant. I grew up in a small town filled with farmers, and I still live in a relatively rural area. I get why sustainability of small farms is an issue. But you can't make me believe that there isn't a balance to be struck here, and you can't make me believe that balance is reached by mounting a thinly-veiled campaign of (admittedly partial) extermination against a recovering species.
As a side note, did you know that Japan used to have wolves? See the Hokkaido (or Ezo) wolf and Honshu wolf, extinct since 1889 and 1905, respectively. The extinction of both of these species can be mostly attributed to a very deliberate campaign of eradication, because they were disruptive to farmers. The more you know.
Of course, the real irony of all this, were I just to appeal to the politics of people's wallets, is that the United States is currently facing a (currently southern, but ever-expanding) problem with feral pigs. A problem now made famous by idiotic reality shows. A problem which, according to the Department of Agriculture, causes $800 million worth of damage a year. And yet nobody has considered that maybe, just maybe, this problem has been exacerbated by pushing the pig's natural predators to the brink of extinction? I.E. the wolf and especially the North American Cougar. Cause and effect, people. Cause and effect.
There. Rant over. You can go back about your business now.
(Also - Two journals within two weeks? Is it just me, or am I very very slowly becoming active again? I've probably jinxed it now that I've said it.)
