Chippewa tribes blast wolf hunt, say it was about killing
A gray wolf is seen at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn.[AP/Dawn Villella, File]
Chippewa tribal officials in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan are blasting the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for allowing state-licensed wolf hunters to blow past their quota in just four days last month.
Hunters killed 216 wolves, nearly double their quota of 119 animals.
The Chippewa view the wolf as sacred and oppose hunting the animal.
Hunters and trappers blow past Wisconsin’s wolf kill target
John D. Johnson, chairman of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission’s Voigt Intertribal Task Force, told Mazina’igan, the commission’s quarterly newsletter, that the state didn’t consult with the tribes before launching the hunt during spring, when female wolves are typically pregnant.
He said wolf pelts are in bad shape this time of year, which means the hunt was all about killing.