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Sen. Bob Morton,
R-Kettle Falls, said an interesting aspect of the
testimony given had to do with some reported wolf
sightings in the eastern one-third of the state being
identified as wolf-hybrids or wolf-dogs. The
Department of Fish and Wildlife
(DFW) considers this an important distinction.
According to DFW, wolves are
“genetically hard-wired to avoid humans,” while
wolf-hybrids experience “short circuiting” in their
genetic makeup that complicates the animals’ response to
humans – causing problems with a domesticated dog’s
natural tendency to be subordinate to people.
Wolves
primarily feed on elk, deer and moose. They will prey on
livestock, including cattle, but more commonly sheep.
Wolf-hybrids that are
abandoned and not responsibly cared for as pets can
become predatory.
According to
Morton, there was some question as to whether
wolf-hybrids, rather than wolves, were involved in the
confirmed wolf-kill of two calves in
Stevens County
near Laurier in September 2007.
The question of determining by DNA if
an animal is a true wolf or a hybrid was discussed.
Recent work at the University of California at Los
Angeles has shown there is very little genetic
difference, but the use of high-tech genetic tools can
reveal if an animal is pure wolf, or a hybrid.
Gray wolves in
Washington were hunted to extinction in the 1930s. These
animals are listed as endangered at both the federal and
state level. The
gray wolf has been successfully
reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park
– a move that has proven to be a big draw for tourists,
along with the park’s
grizzly bears.
With the return
of wolves to Washington, likely from Canada or from
Idaho where they have been reintroduced, DFW is
preparing a
state management plan
for when the species is delisted at the federal level
and the state becomes solely responsible.
The
U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
has recently withdrawn its request to remove the wolf
from federal listing because President Obama’s
administration wants to take its own look at the issue.
Any wolf activity in Washington is handled under
existing joint federal-state guidelines.
The Wolf Working
Group, charged with helping the department develop its
management plan, was created in 2007. The panel includes
representatives of ranchers, sportsmen, recreationists,
conservationists, county governments, the forest
industry, wildlife groups and the director of Wolf Haven International
in Tenino, Washington.
The panel was given these guidelines:
1) Steps to prevent wolves in Washington is not an
option; 2) Reintroduction from outside the state is not
an option; and 3) Reimbursement provisions for loss of
livestock must be included.
Fifteen breeding pairs, which would
actually mean about 150 wolves in packs and a few
solitary wolves, would signal the animal’s recovery in
the state according to the recommendations of the Wolf
Working Group.
Relocation of wolves within the state
will be part of the management plan, but doing so would
likely involve going through the State Environmental
Protection Act (SEPA) process.
The department
has sent its draft plan out for peer review by wolf
experts. A “blind” review through the University of
Washington will be conducted next. Results of the two
reviews will be presented to the Wolf Working Group this
summer and public meetings will be conducted in the
fall. Citizens interested in receiving notices about the
gray wolf management plan can sign up on the
department’s Web site at:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/diversty/soc/gray_wolf/email_notices.htm.
Morton’s
proposal,
Senate Bill 5383,
would include wolf-hybrids in the definition of a
“potentially dangerous wild animal.” This would forbid
breeding and ownership in the state.
The committee will consider a
“grandfather clause” to allow responsible owners of
“wolf-dogs” as pets or service dogs to keep their
animals.
“My bill is about wolf-hybrids that
are allowed to run loose or who are abandoned altogether
–they need to be controlled,” Morton said. “We need to
stop the breeding and get a handle on this problem
before it grows.
“Somehow wolf-dog
mixes have become fashionable, but it’s a dangerous
trend. There are hundreds of breeds of domesticated
dogs, big and small,
that people can bring into their family as a pet. There
is no need to mix wild with domestic just to say you did
it. It is unfair to wolves and unfair to dogs. People
need to understand they are mixing up a batch of bad
chemistry.”
For more
information on wolves and the department’s efforts
toward a management plan, visit DFW’s Web site at:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/diversty/soc/gray_wolf/.
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