ANCHORAGE, Alaska — State wildlife officials say a six-month effort to remove wolves considered dangerous has succeeded, with 10 of the animals killed in the Anchorage area.
Mark Burch of the Alaska Fish and Game Department estimated that four wolves remain in the area, after one died in a collision with a car that was not connected to the predator-control effort.
“We believe we’ve mitigated the risk,” Burch told the Anchorage Daily News. “We’re not trying to eradicate wolves. We’re trying to reduce the risk.”
Fish and Game officials and wildlife officers said the control efforts are necessary because of a pattern of increasingly bold wolf behavior.
Last November, a man walking his dogs on base was briefly surrounded by four wolves. The predators also treed two female runners with a dog for about two hours nearly a year ago.
“It’s not common for wolves to become aggressive toward people, but when they do, it’s a public safety issue,” Burch said. “While wolf attacks on humans are rare, this lack of fear and aggression is the kind of behavior seen by wolves that have attacked people in the past — so we are doing what we can to minimize the risks.”
Others think the fears are overblown. Gary Gustafson, chairman of Chugach State Park Citizens’ Advisory Board, has criticized the fish and game department for nearly wiping out the wolf population in a portion of the half-million-acre park.
“I’m not a biologist in any way, shape or form,” Gustafson said. “But what’s troublesome to us is that the department has decided one size fits all and that the plan is to exterminate all wolves.”
Pete Panarese, another member of the board and a former state parks deputy director, agreed.
“If somebody sees a wolf and it just looks at them and doesn’t run away, is that grounds to shoot the wolf?” he asked. “Sometimes wolves, when they show up, they’re checking something out to see if it will go away.
“They’re predators, looking at you to see what you’re going to do. A very small number of them keep pushing the envelope.”
Food, trash, unsecured dog food and habitation to humans tends to draw them in, Panarese added.
Burch said that though the winter-long control effort is over, Fish and Game employees can still kill wolves they deem dangerous.
“It’s the same judgment that’s involved with dealing with moose, bears and wolves on a daily basis,” he said. “The public accepts the judgment of professionals on matters like this that involve public safety.”
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