14 DAY TRIAL // Angry farmers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula region say that the gray wolves eat their livestock and make a dent in the deer populations of the forests in the vicinity. But environmentalists say that this is not true, because the wolves are too few to do notable damage to either. On the other hand, the species is endangered, as ruled by a federal court, and is protected under the Endangered Species Act, which means that anyone caught killing one of the specimens can be legally prosecuted and convicted.
However, the locals resorted to a "Shoot, shovel and shut up" kind of attitude, and it was only through the use of GPS devices, implanted in the collars of the wolves, that wildlife biologists from Michigan's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) were able to detect the killings. Oddly enough, a poll conducted in 2005 in the region showed massive popular support for the recovery of the wolves, and many people said that they were willing to co-exist peacefully with the animals, even at the expense of a few cattle, which fall victim to the wolves from time to time.
By the 1960s, most of the wolves in the region had been wiped out, and a thorough conservation program was set in place. However, their numbers declined until they eventually disappeared. In 1989, two sets of tracks were discovered in the area, those of a couple. The cubs born that year helped repopulate the forests with gray wolf specimens.
Wildlife experts warn that there is a very high risk of poaching spiraling out of control in the region, as angry farmers and cattle growers will try to take matters into their own hands. Environmentalists stress the importance of viable prevention programs to be set in place by local and federal authorities, who would follow and prosecute those responsible for the killings. Still, in most cases, the perpetrators are never caught, and wolves' bodies are buried under the snow until the following spring, when all leads as to who shot them vanish.