USDA kills hundreds of Minnesota wolves to protect ranchers' profits - Minnesota Reformer
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The agency kills roughly 5% of the state's total wolf population each year.

It’s not easy being a wolf in northern Minnesota.

Every year dozens of the animals die of starvation, disease, parasites, vehicle traffic and poaching.

But the No. 1 killer of Minnesota wolves may come as a surprise: agents of the federal government, acting with the full force of the law.

  •  aberrate_junior_beatnik   ( @aberrate_junior_beatnik@midwest.social ) English
    6•11 months ago

    There are about 2.2 million cows in the state, according to USDA data. The five or six dozen documented and verified wolf kills in a given year amount to a few thousandths of 1 percent of the total population.

    But the USDA’s actions in response inflict a steep toll upon Minnesota’s wolves. The 142 kills amount to fully 5% of the state’s estimated wolf population.

    Those are quite the statistics.