Wolves, Back From Brink, Are Targets Again

Deforestation, hunting threaten man's closest kin

(NEWSER) - Nearly half of all primate species on the planet are in danger of extinction, warns a shocking report by a world conservation organization. Destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bush meat hunting are the key threats to man's closest relatives, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. More»

(NEWSER) - A US effort to relocate endangered wolves along the Arizona-New Mexico border is actually rendering them extinct, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials moved eleven Mexican gray wolves to the Gila National Forest in 1998, where managers are trapping, penning, and shooting the wolves to control their roaming and cattle-killing instincts. "We are witnessing the second extinction of the Mexican wolf in the wild," a conservation advocate says. More»

Fringe group twists the truth about Alaska hunting, governor says

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin is steaming over a conservation group's ad in which Ashley Judd slams the Alaska governor for "championing the slaughter of wildlife," Politico reports. Palin released a statement in which she called the campaign "reprehensible and hypocritical," adding: "Shame on the Defenders of Wildlife for twisting the truth in an effort to raise funds from innocent and hard-pressed Americans struggling with these rough economic times." More»

Alaska gov. makes killing wolves from aircraft a bullet point

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin has spent her Alaska governorship aggressively pushing to expand aerial wolf hunting, contrary to the advice of wildlife experts, reports Salon. The practice consists of shooting wolves from low-flying aircraft. Palin believes wolves compete with human hunters for moose and caribou, and has encouraged the curbing of the wolf population. Scientists, however, say wolves mainly scavenge. More»

Animal no longer under federal protection in northern Rockies

(NEWSER) - Hunters in the northern Rockies will soon take aim at a rare target—the gray wolf. The animal lost its protected species status in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming yesterday, and wildlife agencies in the region are looking to reduce the population by granting hunting licenses for the first time since 1973. An estimated 1,500 gray wolves now roam the region. More»