Wolf hunting: Encyclopedia - Wolf hunting

Wolf hunting

Wolf hunting is the practice of hunting wolves, usually the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus). The traditional justifications for wolf hunting are to preserve livestock, protect human beings, or just for the enjoyment of it. There has never been a properly documented case of a wolf attack on an adult human in Europe.

The European wolf population has been severely reduced over the centuries. Small populations remain, but are threatened by culling. In 2001 Norway allowed the hunting of a pack of nine wolves out of a total Scandinavian population of about one hundred. This was very controversial if only because there are so few wolves left. In regions where wolves survive farmers are usually paid compensation for every animal killed by a wolf. Several types of dog have been specially bred in countries like Italy which will remain with a flock and protect them from wolf attacks.

In the United States, aerial hunting via helicopter is common. After chasing an entire pack to exhaustion, hunters land, walk up to the immobile wolves and shoot them at point blank range. This is widely seen as not very sporting. Alaska voted in a state-wide referendum on November 7, 2000, to ban this method of hunting by private citizens. Governor Frank Murkowski, however, continues to permit the "land and shoot" practice in certain areas of the state, describing this as public participation in predator control programs. Somewhat curiously, the state does charge a fee (reportedly in excess of USD 1,000) for a permit, despite the fact that, ostensibly, the permit-holder is performing a service for the state. Wolves are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in the lower 48 states, and it is illegal to hunt them.

Wolves are hunted by a variety of methods across the world. Perhaps the most unusual is the Central Asian practice of hunting wolves with eagles. The berkut is a type of Golden Eagle which Kirghiz people use to hunt wolves. These eagles are so powerful that they are capable of killing a fully grown wolf by diving at speed and striking the wolf on the back of the head or neck.

Russians have traditionally hunted wolves with a variety of specially bred dogs including the borzoi. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy's masterpiece War and Peace includes a famous wolf hunt which, in itself, is regarded as one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written. It is included in Part VII and, with the rest of this section, marks the high point of the Rostov children's happy childhood and the beginning of their adult lives.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Wolf hunting", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki