The Spread of Wolves in Central Oregon

The spread of wolves into central Oregon sparks debate

The spread of wolves into central Oregon as we all know is a pretty hot topic around this area, due to the fact the a lot of us are avid hunters and outdoorsmen. After reading this article I feel now more informed on just how many wolves and wolf packs there are in Oregon, there are around 25 wolves and 4 packs. Mostly around the central part of Oregon though not a lot on our side of the state. "Some say the animals eradicated from the state decades ago, will help bring the ecosystem into better balance" (Darling, 2012, pg1) these are the tree hugger people and the animal rights activists. "Others argue that the predators were eliminated for good reason" (Darling, 2012, pg1). These are my kind of people that can't stand the wolves and believe that we need to kill them off again. "Now that wolves are back, they've reduced the elk population and trained those that remain to exercise more caution. As a result, elk spend less time snacking on young trees along the parks creeks. This is what biologist's call the "ecology of fear" or "land scape of fear" The idea is that elk are changing their eating and moving habits out of fear of being attacked by wolves."(Ripple, 2012, pg. 2). "Since wolves returned to Oregon more than three years ago, four packs have established territory in Eastern Oregon, while they share open range with ranchers. The results have been deadly for cattle for cattle. The Imnaha Pack alone has killed about 20 head of cattle since spring 2010, according to the Oregon department of fish and wildlife" (department of fish and wildlife, 2012, pg. 3). This is the main reason I chose this topic do to the fact that I am a farmer and rancher myself and I would go on a slaughter fest of wolves if I found on attacking my cattle. Plus the cattle that have been attacked or have seen an attack and survive become stressed and don't produce as many calves and come to behave aggressively toward people and other animals.