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"Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists are capturing and attaching radio collars to 600 deer and elk across Idaho to determine how wolves and other predators are affecting their survival rate.
F&G officials say this is the largest big game monitoring project it has attempted. The monitoring encompasses 16 hunting units, including five in southwest Idaho. The project could help F&G officials get federal approval to kill wolves if evidence shows they are reducing deer and elk herds or stopping them from recovering. Wolves were reintroduced in Idaho in 1995 and populations have grown.
"Increasing wolf populations have led to plenty of speculation, but little data, regarding wolf impacts on ungulates (deer and elk)," said F&G's Pete Zager, project leader and wildlife biologist from Lewiston.......................
Wolves are the most controversial predator in Idaho since their reintroduction in 1995. Many hunters say they are reducing big game herds, particularly elk, despite the fact that elk harvests have remained stable.
Since 1998, hunters killed an average of 18,400 elk annually, with a high of 19,500 in 2001 and a low of 17,200 in 2000................................
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050219/IDOUT/502190339
F&G officials say this is the largest big game monitoring project it has attempted. The monitoring encompasses 16 hunting units, including five in southwest Idaho. The project could help F&G officials get federal approval to kill wolves if evidence shows they are reducing deer and elk herds or stopping them from recovering. Wolves were reintroduced in Idaho in 1995 and populations have grown.
"Increasing wolf populations have led to plenty of speculation, but little data, regarding wolf impacts on ungulates (deer and elk)," said F&G's Pete Zager, project leader and wildlife biologist from Lewiston.......................
Wolves are the most controversial predator in Idaho since their reintroduction in 1995. Many hunters say they are reducing big game herds, particularly elk, despite the fact that elk harvests have remained stable.
Since 1998, hunters killed an average of 18,400 elk annually, with a high of 19,500 in 2001 and a low of 17,200 in 2000................................
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050219/IDOUT/502190339
