News of the North

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently shot and killed 14 adult wolves from the air - and then, finding a den full of 14 newly orphaned wolf pups, shot each pup in the head.

The process of staking out wolf dens is illegal, and it took weeks for the truth to come out about this slaughter. Aerial wolf killing is currently legal as part of a “wildlife management” program to increase moose and caribou herds for hunting.

If you want to see what both sides have to say, read the heated debate going on at the Fairbanks News-Miner’s website.

Watch this video from Defenders of Wildlife on Alaska’s aerial hunting program - then sign the petition to make them stop it.

There is good news for wolves in the Northwest, though - Washington State has confirmed spotting the first gray wolf pack in the area since the 1930s. Remote cameras captured photos of six wolf pups. Wolves are protected as an endangered species throughout Washington. In July, Rocky Mountain wolves were put back on the endangered species list again, forcing Idaho, Wyoming and Montana to cancel their hunts for the fall.