Breaking! Outrage Ensues After 20 Yellowstone Wolves That Roamed Outside Of The National Park Were Reportedly Killed By Hunters

Tragically, twenty gray wolves from Yellowstone National Park have been killed by hunters after leaving the park’s boundaries in recent months.

Fifteen of the wolves were based in Montana while the other five were from Idaho and Wyoming. These killings include most or all of the Phantom Lake Pack, which is now considered “eliminated” by the park.

“These killings remind us that no gray wolf is safe in the Lower 48,” Jamie Rappaport Clark, President and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement, further calling for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to use its emergency authority to reinstate federal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies. “Unless we stop these deaths, the continued bloodshed will severely erode the long-term health of Yellowstone’s iconic wolves and severely undermine the decades of research so important to understanding wolves worldwide.”

Howling For Wolves, which is among a coalition of organizations supporting the #RelistWolves campaign, shared the concern on its Facebook page, “If Yellowstone wolves aren’t safe, no wolves are safe.”

As previously reported by WAN, the #RelistWolves campaign recently launched a powerful PSA featuring actor Jason Momoa that urges the Biden administration to restore federal protections for America’s wolves. The campaign highlights the environmental and cultural significance of wolves and why protecting them is critical for their survival as a species.

In October of 2020, the gray wolf was removed from the endangered species list by the Trump administration, undermining and weakening the Endangered Species Act. Since then, wolf hunts have devastated the species, with states like Montana and Idaho permitting hunts to kill up to 90% of their wolf populations. In February of last year, 200 wolves were slaughtered in under 60 hours in Wisconsin.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte also made news in February of 2021 after violating state regulations by trapping and killing a gray wolf on a ranch 10 miles north of Yellowstone National Park.

Please take action by urging your representatives to put pressure on U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and President Biden to #RelistWolves, HERE!