{"id":236529,"date":"2022-12-28T13:09:31","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T12:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=236529"},"modified":"2022-12-28T13:09:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T12:09:32","slug":"kill-them-to-save-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=236529","title":{"rendered":"Kill Them to Save Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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News Brief by Kip Hansen \u2014 28 December 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature<\/em>, that biological force that has been operating for a very long time creating and destroying flora and fauna for millennia, just keeps getting in the way of our puny human efforts to straighten her out and set her to rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, the wildlife authorities have decided that the pups whelped by a she-wolf after she mated with a domestic dog must be killed \u2013 hunted down and shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why in the world would they need to be hunted and killed? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the wild-wild-world of species protection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we have seen in North America,  wolves have become the darling of endangered species regulations<\/a> and restoration efforts<\/a>.  A cute YouTube<\/a> illustrates the tone of the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The endangered or threaten species concept runs afoul of the Species Problem<\/a>.  Of course, there are two distinct<\/em><\/strong> Species Problems: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Darwin\u2019s Problem<\/strong>:  \u201cI was much struck how entirely vague and arbitrary is the distinction between species and varieties\u201d \u2014\u2009Charles Darwin<\/a>, On the Origin of Species<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2)  The Modern Species Problem<\/strong>:  \u201cThe species problem<\/strong> is the set of questions that arises when biologists attempt to define what a species<\/a> is. Such a definition is called a species concept<\/strong>; there are at least 26 recognized species concepts<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.\u201d  [ source<\/a> ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the United States, we can see this problem clearly in the protection of\u00a0the Red Wolf<\/a>.\u00a0 It is well-known and widely acknowledged that the so-called Red Wolf of the Carolinas is a gray wolf-coyote hybrid \u2013 though it is possible\/probable that it could Eastern Wolf-Coyote hybrid.\u00a0 However, the Eastern Wolf itself has also been found to be a Gray Wolf-Coyote hybrid. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, \u00a0the US Federal Fish & Wildlife Service runs a captive breeding program, which currently it has \u201capproximately 241 red wolves [being] maintained in 45 captive breeding facilities throughout the United States\u201d in an effort to support a population of \u201cabout 15 to 17 red wolves [that] roam their native habitats in eastern North Carolina\u201d.\u00a0 As we Americans say \u201cYour tax dollars at work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why all this confusion?  The Species Problem!<\/em>  Wolf species status was assigned by geography and appearance.  When a genetic study was done<\/a>  recently [ .pdf file here<\/a> ], it was found that there is only one species of wolf in North America<\/strong> \u2013 the Gray Wolf.  (There are, however two accepted spellings<\/em>:  Gray Wolf and Grey Wolf \u2013 Gray<\/em> Wolf is considered the American spelling.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The illogical result is that a hybrid animal \u2013 the Red Wolf \u2014 is being protected as \u201cspecies\u201d at great cost and effort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is long been proven that wolves and domestic dogs can and do interbreed.  And have been doing so whenever wolves and domestic dogs share the same territory.  It is unknown how many wolves in the wild are actually wolf-dog hybrids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHybridization between wolves and dogs typically occurs when the wolf population is under strong hunting pressure and its structure is disrupted due to a high number of free-ranging dogs<\/a>. Wolves typically display aggressiveness toward dogs, but a wolf can change its behavior and become playful or submissive when it becomes socially isolated.\u201d <\/em>[ Wiki<\/a> ] (This paragraph describes the environment found in Alaska and America\u2019s ranching states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, and more.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is going on in Germany?  Like many other countries in Europe, Germany has been re-introducing wolves to the \u201cwild\u201d.  Of course, the European Union has regulations about wolves, protecting them even when they enter towns and villages<\/a>.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, based on the regulations of the EU, mandating protection of wolves as a species:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe puppies of a wolf that has mated with a domestic dog must be tracked down and shot, Bavarian authorities said. \u2026.  Officials documented the wolf-dog hybrids in the Lower Franconia region on the north-western edge of Bavaria. German law mandates that these hybrid animals be shot to protect the local wolf population.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBavarian authorities have found genetic traces of a she-wolf and her offspring in the Rh\u00f6n-Grabfeld district in Lower Franconia after examining the carcasses of three dead sheep<\/u>\u201d. [see further down for livestock predation numbers]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe genetic findings indicate that the puppies are wolf dogs that emerged from the mating of the mother with a domestic dog in the spring of this year, the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) announced on Thursday.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Federal Nature Conservation Act stipulates that the hybrids must be shot. The mixing of dogs and wolves leads to genetic changes that could lead to a deterioration in the gene pool in wild animals, said a spokesman for the LfU.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe wolf is perfectly adapted to life in the wild, while domestic dogs are not. Officials said the long-term survival of wolves in the wild can only be ensured if the animal doesn\u2019t lose its adaptations to its natural environment, which crossbreeding could endanger.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe LfU said it would take no steps to remove the hybrid pups. Removal may involve catching or shooting the animals. But for hybrids older than three months, the authorities, as is the case in the current situation, opt for \u201clethal removal\u201d, that is, shooting down.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWild-born animals like the hybrid pups could not adapt to permanent confinement in an enclosure and would suffer in captivity, authorities said.\u201d   <\/em>[ source<\/a> ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The illogic of the justifications may come from translation problems, but the steps called for themselves are borderline nonsensical. \u00a0They are going to hunt down the hybrid pups older than 3 months.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are going to hunt them because a hybrid wolf-dog might \u201close its adaptations to its natural environment\u201d\u00a0<\/em>but if these hybrids are captured and placed in animal shelters, they might \u201csuffer in captivity\u201d\u00a0<\/em>because they are born to be wild\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 to prevent those two contradictory results, they will hunt and shoot them instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly how will they be able to tell the hybrid wolves from the \u201cpure-bred\u201d wolves when they get out to hunt them down?\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who knows? \u2026unless the non-wolf parent looked nothing like a wolf (an unlikely chance breeding \u2013 certainly not a wolf-dachshund<\/strong>\u00a0cross).\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoot first, genetic test second?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is Germany, or any other European country, going to prevent Nature from doing its thing?  Two opposite sexed Canis <\/em>animals, one Canis lupus <\/em>and one Canis familiaris, <\/em>meet in the woods, sparks fly, love ensues, and as with human teenagers, the inevitable happens -> Puppies!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why inevitable?  Ask any dog breeder\u2026if you let your female-in-heat get loose even for a few hours, you risk unplanned pregnancy and non-pure-bred pups.  And this works both ways with wolves and dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone is happy with wolf reintroduction \u2013 especially ranchers.  See these two stories from the US state of Idaho: Imported Timber-Wolves Kill 143 Sheep in Single Day in Idaho<\/a><\/em> and Wolf fight erupts in Idaho over new law allowing unlimited hunting, trapping<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian<\/a> <\/em>gave us Germany\u2019s predation numbers for 2017: \u201cWolf attacks on livestock increased drastically in 2017, according to government statistics released at the weekend: they carried out 472 attacks, an increase of 66% over the previous year. The number of killed, injured or missing livestock \u2013 mostly sheep and goats \u2013 rose 55%, to 1,667.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recent is this chart from Germany\u2019s\u00a0Documentation and Federal Advisory Council<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0National damage statistics<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Each wolf assault results in about three deaths or injuries of domestic animals \u2013 mostly sheep.  By 2019, dead and injured domestic animals had almost doubled since 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Aside \u2014 I have had to deal with a Canis<\/em> attack on a herd of sheep \u2013 Canis familiaris \u2013 <\/em>lovely pet dogs from down the street.  Killed three lambs and injured six ewes badly enough to require a veterinarian. I caught the dogs, each of them smiling and happy at the fun of it all, with snouts dripping blood.  All Canis species<\/em> and sub-species are natural predators.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Europeans have set themselves quite a problem \u2013 how to reintroduce wolves into a larger environment that includes domestic dogs, many of them allowed to free-range?  Germany alone is home to over 10 million pet dogs<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cross-breeding problem will not and cannot be solved with guns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # # # #<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author\u2019s Comment:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These endangered species laws and regulations are often ill-thought-out and poorly, illogically, instituted and enforced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a species, humans are good are domesticating, breeding and raising animals.  We are not good at all in our attempts to control Nature and force wild animals back into an environment from which they have been extirpated. [\u201cBiologists use extirpated<\/a><\/strong> to describe species that no longer exist in a specific region.\u201d]  That\u2019s what re-introduction efforts are \u2013 the reverse of extirpation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extirpation of large predators was intentional on the part of human society.  Not always carried out with careful fore-thought.  Early homesteaders could not easily bear the cost of losing livestock to wolves (or bears or cougars).  These farmers and ranchers, isolated from other people, feared for their children as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not yet well-enough informed to make a judgement on the reintroduction of predators large enough to hunt and kill larger domestic animals (cattle, goats, sheep). Such events are common in the present, even though populations of large predators are low.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally, a human is attacked and injured\/killed by large predators: mountain lions (Puma concolor<\/em>) in California;\u00a0 wolves rarely kill or injure humans, though it is not unheard of.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As settlements in America moved west from the east coast, wolves were systematically exterminated.\u00a0 Black bears also can and do kill humans (estimated at 25 fatal attacks in the last 20 years<\/a>). \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, of course, then there are the\u00a0grizzly bears<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0polar bears<\/a>\u00a0(and\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unresolved.  An interesting problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # # # #<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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