The “Barbara” hunt returns to Alaska: bears and wolves will be killed directly by helicopters

Helicopters that hovering in the sky, the rhombus of the engines overlooking the ululates of the wolves and the foolish breath of the escape bears. THE’Alaska he returns to be talked about for his controversial wildlife management policies, restoring the air hunting in bears and wolves. A method of demolition called “barbarian” by animal rights activists and scientists, who denounce the cruelty and ineffectiveness of this practice.

The program, justified by the state authorities with the need to increase the populations of Alci and Caribu, prey coveted by the hunters, provides for the demolition of a high percentage of predators on an area of ​​8,000 hectares of land. A decision that triggered a wave of protests and rekindled the debate on‘balance between the protection of wildlife and the interests of the sports hunt.

The renewed program would allow hunters of kill up to 80% of natural predators present on 2,000 acres of state land.

The environmental groups have opposed this practice, which according to them is more linked to the increase in Caribu populations as trophy animals to be killed by hunters than to a wildlife management based on science.

A cruel method inherited from the Trump era

The state report on the program was drawn up following the maintenance, by the (now ex) Biden administration, of the rules established during the first mandate of President Donald Trump, who allowed others inhuman hunting practices, such as the killing of puppies in their lairson the federal land of Alaska.

In some state territories of Alaska, the practices of “Intensive management“They allow the hunting agents to indiscriminately kill any black bear, brown bear or wolf.

In 2023, almost 100 bears were killed by helicopters, including 20 puppies. The most recent plan would allow to kill 80% of wolves through air hunters, until they reduce the number to 35; it would reduce the population of black bears of 80%, bringing it to 700 specimens; and would reduce the number of brown bears of 60%, bringing it to 375.

Doubts about the effectiveness of the program

The critics of the state predators control methods stated that the State admitted in the report not to know the complete impact of the practices on the populations of Orsi, since the estimates of the number of brown bears were not known before the killings were allowed . Over half of the brown bears killed last year were adult femaleswhich raises further concerns about the population’s ability to recover.

“In the desire to avoid delaying the beginning of the removal of bears, the department did not have the opportunity to estimate the density of brown bears in the IM areas before removal”, reads the report of the state of October 2024.

“The goal of the project was to increase the survival of Caribu’s puppies by removing all bears and wolves from the childbirth areas during the spring period, when the calves are highly susceptible to predation”, the relationship continued. “”.

Lack of transparency and negative consequences for the ecosystem

The Alaska authorities refused to allow photographs of the killings to be taken, to submit the state program to the federal scientific revision or to allow independent observers to attend the massacre, reported the Guardian.

The killing of mass of wild animals near the national parks causes a drastic decrease in the number of predators on the Federal territoriesI, reads a press release from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (peer).

“Due to the state control practices of predators in the adjacent territories, the possibility for visitors to see herds of wolves intact within the Denali National Parkone of the main tourist attractions of the state, collapsed, “explained Peer.

The National Park Service interrupted a study on the behavior of the wolves in the Yukon-Charley National Preserve, which lasted more than 20 years, because the same practices had led to the collapse of the resident population of Lupi.

An appeal to reason

“The control policies of Alaska predators are cruel and the epitome of a wise huch and a fool. The amount of dollars of tourists who try to see these predators in dark nature any incremental increase in the revenue of hunting taxes that the state hopes to make, “he said Tim Whitehouseexecutive director of Peer, whose organization is circulating a national petition to protest against the most recent air hunting operation. “Unfortunately, given the previous ones, we do not expect a trump administration to protect wildlife on federal land from the removal of state predators, no matter how devastating or barbarian.”