Wildlife reintroduction - why only predators?

[LostWapiti]

I listened to a podcast (Meateater I think) on it and short version was that Idaho couldn’t get animals to bolster the herd so the only viable solution was to send the remaining animals to Canada to preserve the genetics. I can try and find it and post it for those interested.

Such a sad story but much more sad that so few people know about it.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Because wolves are so cute and cuddly. Until they rip the guts out of an elk calf and eat it. But we don't see those pictures in the Seattle Times.

 

[Scottf270]

I've said all along that reintroduction of apex predators is to eliminate the need for man to hunt to control ungulate populations. I despise them for doing it, but it's a brilliant strategy.

 

[3325]

Well, NC restored elk into an area that is a bear sanctuary. Really smart move. Now the bears have plenty of elk calves to eat and the state just cant understand why the elk population is growing at such a slow rate.

Are you referencing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park elk reintroduction? Because that was a federal reintroduction, not the State of North Carolina.

 

[ozyclint]

It seems like hunters are always just playing defense. How can we go on the offense and advocate for more restoration of native species to their historic range?

Check out the NZ Fiordland Wapiti foundation thread.
Hunters are doing exactly this, advocating for native habitat and species, yet the anti's want them shut down because it's hunters that are doing it.
You can't have hunters doing great work for the environment AND paying to do it which eliminates taxpayer burden. That just makes hunters look good and goes against the narrative.

 

[Axlrod]

Agreed on the “now” suitable habitat issue due to m ovi and domestic sheep. How can we push to get those domestic sheep out of otherwise prime sheep habitat?

That is easy to say, but extremely difficult to do. In MT the FWP has a bufferzone for domestics. They have to be 15/20/25 miles (I don't know exactly) from any sheep reintroduction. The young bighorns like to travel sometimes looking for love.
In one place where they were putting BH, there was a domestic sheep operation. 5 or 10 thousand sheep. They heard them 60 or so miles from summer range to winter range. They were willing to work with the FWP as best they could. But it's been a family ranching operation since the late 1800's and it is the livelihood of multiple families. So really the only option to remove the domestic sheep would be to buy their land and sheep for multiple millions.

Look at all the land the RMEF has secured for wildlife of all kinds. They only have a few hundred thousand members, and they have several million acres set aside that will never have a house or strip mall built on it. Maybe another organization could take up the cause of securing funding, for when a sheep ranch comes on the market.

 

[LostWapiti]

That is easy to say, but extremely difficult to do. In MT the FWP has a bufferzone for domestics. They have to be 15/20/25 miles (I don't know exactly) from any sheep reintroduction. The young bighorns like to travel sometimes looking for love.
In one place where they were putting BH, there was a domestic sheep operation. 5 or 10 thousand sheep. They heard them 60 or so miles from summer range to winter range. They were willing to work with the FWP as best they could. But it's been a family ranching operation since the late 1800's and it is the livelihood of multiple families. So really the only option to remove the domestic sheep would be to buy their land and sheep for multiple millions.

Look at all the land the RMEF has secured for wildlife of all kinds. They only have a few hundred thousand members, and they have several million acres set aside that will never have a house or strip mall built on it. Maybe another organization could take up the cause of securing funding, for when a sheep ranch comes on the market.

In NV there are some deals in talks to convert sheep AUMs to cattle AUMs and help ranchers switch their operations to open up the habitat. The rate these things happen is just painfully slow.

 

[KHNC]

Are you referencing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park elk reintroduction? Because that was a federal reintroduction, not the State of North Carolina.

What does it matter "who" did it? I was referring to the fact it was stupid to do it in a bear sanctuary.

 

[cuerro viejo]

lots of on going sheep programs.


Wild horse Island
Red Rock breeding facility NM
Sierra Diablo TX
etc

NM just opened a new unit this year with sheep from transplanted from Taos population. Expected to a upper 90’s rams killed out of the new unit this year.


Lots on going sheep work, think its probably one of the better funded programs that have alot of private hunter dollars behind it

With that said the lion programs in these units usually have federal money behind them trying to keep numbers down