When we Minnesotans first learned wolves would be removed from the Endangered Species List and that our DNR was chomping at the bit to schedule their first wolf hunting season, citizens stepped up to prevent the slaughter of wolves. Countless people started volunteering their time and reaching out to other more well known individuals or entities to help with their mission to save the wolf. One such place I've been told that wolf advocates called upon to help was the Wildlife Science Center and the person that was apparently contacted was Peggy Callahan. She refused. Now, I know little about Peggy Callahan other than what I've read about her research on wolves along with Dr. David Mech (READ MORE INFO HERE) and an article she wrote for the Star Tribune back in 2012. So, I want to go back to 2012 because that particular article really hurt the mission of wolf advocates. It was at a time when the desperation to save wolves from slaughter was at its most fervent and emotions were raw when it came to this subject. It was at that moment Peggy Callahan chose to write this:
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For those that may not know, in 2001 there was an agreement that should the wolf be removed from the ESL there would be a 5-year moratorium on wolf hunting and trapping in order to monitor the species and any future decisions on the wolf would be based on sound biological data including comprehensive population surveys. Here is an excerpt from the Howling for Wolves organization page:
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http://www.howlingforwolves.org/about-gray-wolf |
The above information copied from the HFW website is taken from the Wolf Management Plan for Minnesota. HERE IS A COPY OF THE WOLF MANAGEMENT PLAN
That wolf management plan was tossed out the window in 2012, there had not been a wolf population count since 2008 (CLICK HERE FOR MORE POPULATION DATA), the DNR waited to do a count until AFTER the first wolf hunting season. If you watch the wolf hearing in 2014 HERE and go to the 1:42 mark you'll listen to Rep. Isaacson address the issue of wolf count data. He focuses on there not being a good scientific method of counting wolves in Minnesota.
Let's move on to Peggy Callahan's Point #2 - Science appears to have left the room.
Science. There is no scientific basis for a wolf hunt. There is the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, the Safari Club International (trophy hunting organization), Sportsmen's Alliance (trophy hunting organization), and Minnesota State Cattleman's Association all wanting our state to allow wolf hunting but science is not pushing for a wolf hunt.
Peggy, in her own article, chooses to cite the work of several scientists including Rolf O. Peterson. Peterson has a BA in Zoology and PhD in Wildlife Ecology. Rolf Peterson is a scientist and he's against wolf hunting. He feels so strongly about protecting wolves that in 2015 he signed THIS LETTER to CONGRESS asking them to uphold the ruling by a federal judge to keep the Great Lakes Wolves on the Endangered Species List. On that letter to congress are the signatures of several other SCIENTISTS that object to a delisting of gray wolves.
Peggy Callahan point #3 - Many of us hope to and expect to see a decline in the illegal take of wolves due to hunting opportunities.
Prior to 2015 the DNR did not release wolf mortality reports to the public. There was no data for citizens to sift through on wolf poaching. In addition to that, research conducted by Adrian Treves, PhD of the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies and the Carnivore Science Lab has shown public attitudes towards wolves do not improve when hunting is allowed. To read his data CLICK HERE.
Dan Stark, wolf specialist at the Minnesota DNR, was asked directly during the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee Hearing on the wolf in Jan. 2014 about the data related to wolf poaching and his response was "in regards to poaching numbers we do not have a direct measure of that."
LISTEN TO DAN STARK TESTIMONY HERE AT 1:56 MARK
So we know that public attitudes towards wolves does not improve when hunting and trapping is allowed and we know here in Minnesota there is no way of directly measuring the illegal killing of wolves so there is no way of determining whether poaching goes up or down with a wolf hunting season.
Peggy Callahan point #4 - Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this take among its opponents is the use of traps to capture wolves. I find this easy to defend. Unbeknownst to many wolf admirers, the vast majority of wolves that are caught for radio-collaring purposes are caught by foothold trap. When I assisted Rolf Peterson with wolf capture, the trap we used on Isle Royale to radio-collar wolves looked like the traps my trapper friends will be using on wolves this fall.
I'll skip the part where she refers to her "trapper friends" out there killing wolves and just get to the point about trapping in general. There are several types of traps used on wildlife; snares, conibear traps, foot-hold traps… all of them inhumane in my opinion. There isn't only concern about traps coming from animal advocates, wildlife researches have also expressed their dislike for this approach to studying various species and because of this there are organizations, including scientists that have come up with other ways of researching wildlife to minimize injury and stress to the animal. In 2008 the American Medical Veterinarian Association covered this very issue (READ HERE).
In his book, Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues, Marc Bekoff, former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado discusses the issue of trapping and needing an alternative to leg-hold traps:
So what seems to be missing in Peggy's article is that there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between her trapper friends and scientific researchers. Researchers are always looking for the least intrusive way of studying a particular animal; they will not leave an animal in a leg-hold trap for an extended period of time, they'll look for the least painful & stressful way of capturing their subject, they'll only use a trap if the pros outweigh the cons, and they certainly don't shoot a fur bearing animal in the head or beat one to death after trapping it in order to preserve its pelt. In addition to all of that, researchers do not use snares or conibear traps!
Here is the result of a snare trap set. Snares tighten as the animal fights to free itself, slowly cutting into its flesh and strangling it to death.
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| Photo Courtesy of Susan Oswood |
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| Photo Courtesy of Susan Oswood |
Lastly, is point #5 by Peggy Callahan - I suspect, however, that the real reason behind the opposition to the hunt has nothing to do with science. Some people love wolves so much that the thought of one dying is not simply distasteful, it is abhorrent, unbearable. The wolf is no longer a predator that has recovered its population, the wolf represents something beyond an animal to many. This adoration of the wolf as an icon has fascinated me my whole career.
From what she has written in this article it appears she believes that anyone who loves and respects wolves cannot possibly be well informed. If you believe a wolf is a majestic creature deserving of protection from hunters and trappers you must not be well educated on the scientific research.
ARE THESE PEOPLE not well educated on the scientific research? And where is the mention of emotions on the other side. The HATE that trappers and trophy hunters have for wolves. If we are going to talk about adoration and the feeling of distaste over the murder of an innocent creature we should also talk about the loathsome feelings trappers and hunters have towards wild predators and their need to kill for the sake of killing or just having a trophy or a pelt to sell.
Which brings me to the end of my blog post.
The Wildlife Science Center is apparently being evicted by the DNR from their current location in Forest Lake and they are asking the public for $500,000 to help house their wolves, bears, birds, etc… THIS IS THEIR FUNDRAISING SITE. A recent article states that the Wildlife Science Center works to help endangered animals and I honestly don't know a better way of helping endangered wolves than using ones influence to object to wolf hunting and trapping but maybe that's just my personal opinion.
I am not here to tell you to donate or not donate, that is entirely up to you. What my goal with this blog has been and always will be is to share the facts that might otherwise be unknown to Minnesotans. I don't know anything about Peggy Callahan or the Wildlife Science Center other than what I stated at the beginning of this post. She did not fall on the side of wolf advocates in 2012 and if she's changed her position on that issue I do not believe she has said so publicly, maybe she will.
Here is one of the latest articles on the Wildlife Science Center needing money and a snippet on the founder, Peggy Callahan's support of wolf hunting.
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| http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3920851-minnesota-wildlife-center-feuds-dnr-after-eviction-notice |
Here is a past article by vet Dr. Michael Fox, corroborating my concern over Peggy Callahan's position on wolf hunting.
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| http://tedeboy.tripod.com/drfoxvet/id178.html |
Another article from 2010 where someone broke into the Wildlife Science Center releasing a Mexican Wolf and Peggy Callahan pointing the finger at animal rights groups:
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| http://www.twincities.com/ci_14411304 |
Howling for Wolves Facebook page also covered Peggy Callahan's position on the wolf hunting & trapping issue back in 2012 and you can see all comments by the public, even those that had visited the Wildlife Science Center. CLICK HERE
That's all I have to say about that.
Side Note: Dr. David Mech is also not against wolf hunting and trapping and in Nov. 2015 he signed THIS LETTER (so happily shared by the Sportsmen's Alliance) asking Secretary Jewell to remove the wolves from the ESL.
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