AR-News: Expert: Science can help wolf debate

Sat May 8 22:46:33 EDT 2004

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/05/08/build/wyoming/45-wolf-debate.inc
May 8, 2004

Last modified May 8, 2004 - 12:33 am

Expert: Science can help wolf debate 
Associated Press 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Science can help find middle ground in the political battle over wolves reintroduced in the West, a leading wolf expert said. 

David Mech said as wolves expand their territory he anticipates increased polarization on the political scene between animal rights people who embrace wolves and livestock or wildlife concerns who see wolves as a threat to their livelihoods. 

Mech dissected some of the arguments of the pro-wolf and anti-wolf forces on Wednesday, and he found that neither side is 100 percent right when viewed through the microscope of science. 

Mech is a University of Minnesota adjunct professor and the senior research scientist and team leader of the federal government's Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center wolf project. 

He said some people claim that wolves help ecosystems by killing enough coyotes that fox populations can increase. Yet, that means more foxes will be preying on ground-nesting birds, taking a bite out of their populations. 

Basically, that argument is based on making subjective value judgments about the goodness of one species over another, according to Mech. 

"There's maybe some fallacies in that type of thinking by people on that side of the issue," he said. 

Likewise, fears that wolves will decimate livestock or wildlife populations are probably blown out of proportion, he said. 

He said documented wolf kills of cattle come out to one death in every 290,000 cattle. 

Overall, wolves are responsible for a small percentage of the total number of livestock loss to ranchers each year, he said. 

Mech was among 11 experts to scientifically review the Wyoming, Idaho and Montana wolf management plans. He and nine others concluded that Wyoming's plan was sufficient to sustain wolf populations at a level to ensure the species' recovery. 

However, the U.S. Interior Department rejected Wyoming's plan, and the state has responded with a lawsuit. 

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