Huge wolf killed in Bulgaria fails to make record

[snopes]

A grey wolf shot dead in northwestern Bulgaria and reported to be the biggest wolf ever recorded at 176.4 pounds actually fell far below this weight, an independent expert has said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070104...t_070104143029

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

So, he just shot it for no reason? That sucks!

[Morrigan]

Wonder why they killed it.

Morrigan

Bulgaria has one of the largest game populations in Europe, including more than 2,500 grey wolves according to the latest tally.

Well, 2499, actually.

[Jay Temple]

Apparently the lesser measurement was obtained after they removed the remains of a little girl wearing a red hood.

[charlie23]

Originally Posted by Morrigan

Wonder why they killed it.

Morrigan

Deer poaching is a serious problem here, and wolves are increasingly targeting livestock in the villages. The estimated Roe / Red Deer populations have dropped from about 250,000 to somewhere around 50,000 in the last decade.
The typical Bulgarian solution is to fix the symptom but ignore the cause: poachers are hard to catch as most villagers don't consider it a crime, so the obvious solution to protect livestock is kill all the wolves rather than to enforce poaching regulations and revitalize the deer herds. There is currently a bounty of 100 leva per wolf, which is a lot of money for some people, especially in the more remote areas.

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by Jay Temple

Apparently the lesser measurement was obtained after they removed the remains of a little girl wearing a red hood.

And a old woman...

[Jay Tea]

Originally Posted by charlie23

Deer poaching is a serious problem here, and wolves are increasingly targeting livestock in the villages. The estimated Roe / Red Deer populations have dropped from about 250,000 to somewhere around 50,000 in the last decade.
The typical Bulgarian solution is to fix the symptom but ignore the cause: poachers are hard to catch as most villagers don't consider it a crime, so the obvious solution to protect livestock is kill all the wolves rather than to enforce poaching regulations and revitalize the deer herds. There is currently a bounty of 100 leva per wolf, which is a lot of money for some people, especially in the more remote areas.

This is all very sad to hear. You'd think that after so long persecuting these animals we'd know by now that they aren't competition. I heard a US park ranger discussing how whole wolf packs in Montana (I think) were culled to a third of their previous number due to the political weight of the stockmen who loose a few head of cattle to the wolves (out of thousands), poor buggers.

[Magpye]

Yeah, well, they're still doing wolf kills up here in Alaska, too. And they (the Legislature/Executive branch of the state government) have repeatedly reinstated fly-and-kill (shoot from the air or land-and-shoot - we've had both types) wolf kills even though the collective will of Alaskans, as determined multiple times by statewide referendum, is to stop fly-and-kill programs altogether.

In a nutshell, if a group of moose are overhunted (by people, mind you), the solution is to kill some wolves. Because wolves, preying as they do on the weak, aged and injured, are obviously a far greater threat to the moose/caribou population than the humans who like to take out trophy-sized healthy animals with power rifles.

It's not like the wolves are coming into ranching areas and taking domesticated animals, either. They're just the immediate scapegoats if the wild ungulate population drops too low for human hunters.

It makes me sad, too, Jay Tea. Also annoyed.

[James G]

On a plus side they keep consideing re-introducing the Scottish wolf populations. Whether it will ever happen or not though is another issue.

The wolf was shot because the local "hogzilla" just disappeared and they come up with the brightest idea that the wolf got the darn pig. That could explain the wolf's monstrous proportions.

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by levant

The wolf was shot because the local "hogzilla" just disappeared and they come up with the brightest idea that the wolf got the darn pig. That could explain the wolf's monstrous proportions.

if only the pig had built his house from bricks...

[charlie23]

http://www.standartnews.com/en/artic...0&article=5686

Standart News, 16 July 2007

Wolves and jackals are harassing the village of Krivonos, southwestern Bulgaria. The locals, that are in fact 14 aged men and women, do not dare stepping outside their homes. The packs roam the streets and the village square.
"We are in a trap. The beasts are virtually at our front doors and kill our stock, complained 73-years-old Metodi Bogdanov."

Wish I had a way to get down there with a video camera, but it's on the other side of the country.

[DevilBunny]

'Packs'?

Wolf packs aren't known for their territory-sharing ways...

[Floater]

I had no idea there were jackals in Europe, but apparently there are. However, they live in pairs, not in packs.