The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports that at least 109 wolves have been killed in the first eight days of the state's first managed wolf hunt.
By: News Tribune staff, Duluth News Tribune
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports that at least 109 wolves have been killed in the first eight days of the state's first managed wolf hunt.
That total listed on the DNR website as of Sunday night includes 47 wolves in the DNR's northeast hunting zone, which includes most of the Northland. The season quota for that zone is 58.
Hunting in the east-central zone closed last Monday, after hunters had taken eight wolves; the zone's quota is nine.
Hunters have killed 54 wolves in the DNR's northwest zone; the quota there is 133.
The statewide quota is 200 wolves for the early hunting season, which continues until Nov. 18 or until the quota is met. The wolf season opened Nov. 3.
A second wolf hunting season, along with a trapping season, will begin Nov. 24 and continue through Jan. 31. That harvest also will be capped at 200 wolves.
The state of Minnesota assumed management of the gray wolf after it was removed from the federal Endangered Species List on Jan. 27. Some groups said the DNR did not offer enough opportunity for public comment on the wolf season. No public hearings about the season were held except for testimony before the Legislature. The DNR did offer an online survey about the season, and about 80 percent of respondents said they opposed a wolf season.
Two groups, Howling for Wolves and the Center for Biological Diversity, sued the DNR to stop this fall’s hunt but were unsuccessful. Howling for Wolves has sponsored rallies in Duluth to protest the wolf hunt.
Wisconsin wolf hunt
In Wisconsin, wolf hunters and trappers had taken 64 wolves through Sunday night in the season that opened Oct. 15 and continues through Jan. 31 unless the harvest cap is reached sooner. The maximum harvest has been set at 116.
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