Montana Governor Given Written Warning After Trapping, Killing Of Yellowstone Wolf

[mahatmakanejeeves]

David Fahrenthold Retweeted

The governor of Montana violated hunting regs when he killed a Yellowstone wolf that wandered outside the park's boundaries, on a private ranch owned by the director of Sinclair broadcasting. Quite a story.

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Montana Governor Given Written Warning After Trapping, Killing Of Yellowstone Wolf

By NATE HEGYI • 3 HOURS AGO



Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte trapped and killed an adult black wolf, like the one pictured, near Yellowstone National Park on February 15. The wolf, 1155, was born and radio-collared within the park.
JIM PEACO / NPS

Montana's newly elected Republican governor violated state hunting regulations when he trapped and shot a collared wolf near Yellowstone National Park in February, according to documents obtained by the Mountain West News Bureau. ... Gov. Greg Gianforte killed the adult black wolf known as "1155" roughly ten miles north of the park's boundary in Park County. He trapped it on a private ranch owned by Robert E. Smith, director of the conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group, who contributed thousands of dollars to Gianforte's 2017 congressional campaign.

While wolves are protected inside Yellowstone National Park, it's legal to hunt and trap wolves in Montana – including wolves that wander beyond the park's boundaries – in accordance with state regulations.

Gianforte violated Montana regulations by harvesting the wolf without first completing a state-mandated wolf trapping certification course. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks issued the governor a written warning, and he promised to take the three-hour online course March 24.

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Meanwhile, the New Mexico Legislature last week approved a bill banning the use of wildlife traps, snares and poison on public lands across the state, likely joining the growing number of Western states that have outlawed the practice increasingly viewed as cruel. ... "It's clearly not an ethical chase," said Mike Garrity, executive director for the nonprofit environmental group Alliance for the Wild Rockies. "Ethical hunters try to have a clean shot so they kill the animal instantly. Trapping obviously doesn't do that. They suffer for a long time and who knows how long that wolf was trapped before the governor went out and killed it."

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This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Disgusting and horrifying behavior. Wolves deserve better treatment than that. n/t

[kirkuchiyo]

2. Need to put him in the trap and leave him for a few days...

Let the Wolves get him.