Matt Moyer

National Geographic Stories: Wolf Wars

Wolves have strengthened their foothold in the American west thrilling environmentalists but angering many ranchers and hunters. The wolves have brought the Elk numbers back into natural balance but are also responsible for killing some livestock. In the fall of 2009 Idaho started to allow the regulated hunting of wolves. This hunting season has pitted neighbor against neighbor as wolf lovers and wolf haters square off.

Many believe that wolves are back solely because of human intervention but the reality is that small groups of wolves from Canada had repopulated some areas of Montana well before the large scale efforts to reintroduce packs into Yellowstone Park. To many in the west the wolves have come to represent the long arm of the federal government meddling in their local business while to others the wolves have come to represent the recovery of a degraded environment.

A ranch hand herds sheep in the mountains on the outskirts of Hailey, Idaho. Some ranches use non-ethal means to keep wolves away from their livestock. Radio tracking of wolf packs, guard dogs, and stepped up patrols by shepherds are often used.
   
A wildlife official working for the State of Idaho atempts to call in a pack of wolves to determine if the pack is nearby. Packs of wolves will actually respond to a human imitating a wolf howl.
  
Oscar Williamson, right, practices aiming his hunting rifle in the early morning hours before he and Russ Owen head out to hunt wolves near Lowman, Idaho.
     
  
Oscar Williamson, left, and Russ Owen look for wolves while hunting in the hills outside Lowman, Idaho. They use calls that sound like wounded prey to attract wolves. On this day the hunters didn't see or hear any wolves.
   
Wildlife biologist Michelle Kemner, left, checks the documentation of a wolf killed by Jay Mize, center background, at the Department of Fish and Game in Nampa, Idaho. State wildlife biologists routinely take a tissue samples of killed wolves. The wolf was shot on September 1, 2009, opening day of Idaho’s inaugural wolf hunting season.
   
The wife of a huner reaches out to pet the pelt of a wolf killed on September 1, 2009, opening day of Idaho’s inaugural wolf hunting season. The wolf skin was being displayed on the back of a pickup truck.
     
  
John Peavey looks at the bones of a sheep that had been killed a year earlier on his ranch near Hailey, Idaho. Peavey lost a guard dog and 45 sheep to wolves in September of 2009. A US government tracker was sent in to confirm that wolves and actually done the predation and then the tracker hunted and killed several wolves from the responsible pack.
  
Oscar Carrillo, right, hogties a sheep as Macedonio Orihuela, left, ropes another one on a ranch in Pine, Idaho. Ranchers face many predators, including coyotes, mountain lions, wolves, and domestic dogs. Because of their sheer numbers, coyotes are the most lethal of the bunch, but wolves tend to attract the lion's share of man's animosity.
   
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
A canine companion watches from a pickup truck as Jason Simonsen, a ranch hand on a ranch near Cameron, Montana, turns from the remains of a dead calf. There was evidence that wolves had fed on the carcass but it had not been determined if they were responsible for the kill. Ranchers face many predators, including coyotes, mountain lions, wolves, and domestic dogs. Because of their sheer numbers, coyotes are the most lethal of the bunch, but wolves tend to attract the lion's share of man's animosity.