Senator John Kerry

invites you to join

Jim and Jamie Dutcher, the Board of Directors

and the staff of

LIVING WITH WOLVES

for the debut exhibit of

A collection of large photographs

uniquely capturing wolf behavior

at the Russell Senate Office Building Rotunda

April 11-15, 2011

Hours:

     April 11th -12th and 14th-15th 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

     April 13th 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Please enter through the door on corner of Constitution Avenue and Delaware Avenue. Handicapped access by elevator through first door on left on Delaware Avenue.

By car: nearest public parking at Union Station, three blocks away

By Metro: Union Station stop

THE TRUTH ABOUT WOLVES

THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT IN PERIL

Congressional removal of wolves from Endangered Species protection sets a precedent of prioritizing politics over science, contrary to biological reintroduction benchmarks wisely set forth in the Endangered Species Act.

If wolves can be removed by legislation driven by political pressure, any species considered "inconvenient" could be next, without scientific examination of facts.

FACT VERSUS FICTION ABOUT WOLVES

A key driver of the delisting legislation and of anti-wolf sentiment is the perceived impact on elk hunting. There are natural fluctuations of elk population, influenced by many factors that include wolves, but the overall population of elk in states where wolves live continues to increase. Wolves are not decimating elk herds. However, elk have become more vigilant in the presence of wolves, making hunting more challenging.

Wolves, like any other predator, do not decimate their prey base. Predators and prey have evolved over millennia to coexist in the same territory. Nor do wolves kill for sport. The only animal that kills for sport is man.

Anotherleading cause of anti-wolf sentiment is the perceived impact on the ranching industry. Contrary to what is being said, wolf-livestock conflicts are greatly exaggerated.Wolf/livestock incidentsare down in Idaho by more than 35% since last year, and at the lowest levels in eight years in Wyoming.  Solutions are readily available to solve conflicts between livestock and predators of all kinds, and are already successfully employed by numbers of Western and Canadian ranchers. 

Wolves account for a nominal percentage of actual livestock mortalities. Deaths from birthing problems, from weather, and from disease and old age are far more prevalent, and have far more financial impact, but are often blamed on wolves without rigorous investigation. Deaths caused by other predators (coyotes, bears, mountain lions, etc.) often match or exceed those caused by wolves, but are frequently blamed on wolves as well.

A large and growing body of scientific research clearly illustrates the remarkable, undeniable and widespread ecological benefits that reintroduction of wolves has brought to the ecosystem of Yellowstone Park and other areas of the West.

Indiscriminate killing of individual wolves often leads to more problems, not fewer, as packs are broken up and disoriented.

Not one human being has been killed or attacked by wolves since they were reintroduced 16 years ago in the lower 48 states.  Wolves are afraid of people.

WHY STATES AREN'T READY TO TAKE OVER WOLF MANAGEMENT

If Congress circumvents the Endangered Species Act, and takes wolves off the list of protected animals, wolf management will be turned over to the states of Idaho and Montana. Both of these states have clearly indicated their intention to greatly reduce their wolf populations through methods that will include baiting, trapping and hunting. These suggested hunting quotas could easily lead to biologically unsustainable wolf populations, potentially sacrificing the nation's $35-million wolf recovery investment. Idaho has been particularly aggressive about their plans to kill wolves.

On the extreme end of radical legislative efforts, last week Idaho's House and Senate passed a bill (H 343) declaring a "disaster state of emergency" because of wolves in Idaho.  The incendiary language includes statements such as, "The Idaho legislature finds that public safety has been compromised, economic activity has been disrupted and private and public property continue to be imperiled. The uncontrolled proliferation of imported wolves on private land has produced a clear and present danger to humans, their pets and livestock, and has altered and hindered historical uses of private and public land, dramatically inhibiting previously safe activities such as walking, picnicking, biking, berry picking, hunting and fishing."

Public input on this bill was intentionally truncated and biased.  This "disaster state of emergency" is a politically motivated hoax. Clearly, Idaho has demonstrated that it is not ready to handle wolf management responsibly. This bill needs only Idaho Governor "Butch" Otter's signature to become Idaho law. He has already said that he liked what he saw.

WHY WOLVES ARE NOT LIKE ELK, DEER OR DUCKS

Wolves live in family groups, with advanced social structures very similar to those found in elephants, whales, dolphins and gorillas. We have stopped hunting those animals for these very reasons.

It is tragic and ironic that wolves, the direct genetic forebears of our family dogs, are being once again subjected to brutal slaughter based on irrational, non-scientific fear and deliberate misinformation.