The population of grey wolves in Wisconsin has dramatically decreased in the last year. | Pixabay
The population of grey wolves in Wisconsin has dramatically decreased in the last year. | Pixabay
The population of grey wolves in Wisconsin has dramatically decreased in the last year following the removal of federal protections for the species.
The Guardian reports that laws protecting the wolves were lifted in the lower 48 states near the end of the Trump administration which allowed individuals to hunt them again despite protests.
“The Trump administration dropped protections for grey wolves shortly before Trump left office,” Robert Maguire, research director for the ethics watchdog organization CREW, wrote in a July 5 Twitter post. “In the months that followed, the wolf population in Wisconsin has fallen by about a third.”
Grey wolves had been protected for more than four decades under the Endangered Species Act, AP News reported.
Wisconsin was the first state to reopen after a hunting organization sued against Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources’ original plan to wait until November, according to The Guardian. Hunting had to be stopped in February after 218 wolves were killed despite the 119 wolf limit.
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers estimate that there are now around 700 wolves in the state, despite there being over 1,000 just last year.
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