In Washington many cattle have been killed and eaten by a pack of Gray Wolves. Many farmers have reported cattle missing or killed and eaten by a crazed pack of wolves. No one knew what to do because they couldn't get rid of the wolves even if they tried. The first attempt to rid of the wolves was to kill one and see if it 'scared' them away, or at least scare them into eating other animals. This attempt didn't work at all. It really had no effect on the wolves what-so-ever. So finally the Fish and Wildlife department got together and decided what they should do with the animals. They decided that killing the pack would be the safest and fastest way to get rid of the animals. So they got a sharp-shooter and took of in a helicopter. It took them a while to actually get a good clear shot since the animals lived in forested areas. Eventually they finally took down the alpha-male and the rest of the pack. From then on the farmers haven't had any missing or dead cattle so looks like the problem is solved.
I can't decide if this was the best way to take care of the problem. It seems a little harsh, but I understand that the wolves can be very aggressive about their territory. Would it have been better if they tranquilized the pack and then took them to a different area without cattle or livestock around? They could have at least tried it before killing them all together. The wolves didn't know that they couldn't eat the livestock. It was just a free meal ticket for them. But even then the wolves aren't going to learn whats right and wrong so all together killing the pack off was probably the best solution out there. But is that going to open a whole new case on where people can just shoot random animals that are being a nuisance?
Honestly I think they did what they had to do these wolves are a huge predator and they could of tried non lethal ways to stop them before shooting them, nut in my opinion none of that would of worked, I think they did the only thing they could to get rid of the wolf problem. This story is funny cause I am taking an online course through Oregon State University and this is one of the huge topics, as they want to reintroduce gray wolf in certain areas in Oregon, which has ranchers in an uproar cause these ranchers know from experience what the pack can do to a heard of cattle.
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