By
MIKE KOSHMRL/WyoFile
Wyoming wildlife managers plan to reduce how many wolves can be hunted by 50% following a canine distemper outbreak that has cut the state’s wolf numbers to the lowest level in two decades. A 22-wolf cap is the fewest number of wolves available to licensed Wyoming hunters since the state began allowing wolf hunting after Endangered Species Act protections were lifted in 2012. The limit also marks a significant decrease from last fall’s wolf hunting season.“As far as the overall mortality limit, it’s exactly half,” Wyoming Game and Fish Department wolf biologist Ken Mills told WyoFile.Last year, hunters could target a maximum of 44 wolves in the area around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, where Wyoming classifies wolves as trophy game during the Sept. 15-Dec. 31 season. Hunters bound to Wyoming’s relatively tight regulations in that zone managed to kill 31 wolves.
It wasn’t hunting, however, that resulted in the lowest population since wolves were still being established after the 1995-96 Yellowstone National Park reintroduction. Biologists say a canine distemper outbreak is the primary culprit in the decline. The measles-like disease is especially deadly for puppies, and it was detected in 64% of the animals that Wyoming biologists handled during routine capture work last year.
