Second Russian Republic Declares Open Season on Wolves
OutdoorHub Reporters 01.11.13
The Siberian Republic of Khakassia, some 1,000 miles southwest of Yakutia, the Russian republic that just recently announced a wolf-control program with prizes for the top three hunters, has announced that they are following suit with a canine hunt of their own.
Located in south-central Siberia, Khakassian hunters and State Committee specialists have already banded together with 30 people to begin hunting wolves in the Lake Balankul region, according to RT. Vladimir Krever, the Russian World Wildlife Foundation’s head of the biodiversity program, sanctioned the hunt saying, “when wolves start attacking deer and livestock they have to be killed and the population controlled. This is the right policy.”
The Republic of Yakutia, vastly larger in size than Khakassia, declared a hunt o begin January 15. Krever does not believe that Yakutian officials will achieve their goal of eliminating 3,000 wolves of the approximately 3,500 currently living there. “Normally they kill around 600 wolves a year in Yakutia. If you really tried you might be able to double that figure if you used expensive helicopters and planes to spot them,” Krever told RT. “Even if they were able to kill 3,000 wolves the population would recover quickly. But they simply won’t get near to killing 3,000 wolves. This is a totally unrealistic target.”
It’s unclear how many wolves inhabit Khakassia, nor how many the region is targeting.
