MAYBE because Alaska is so damn huge and because hunting wolves on the ground may be a TINY bit more dangerous than hunting them from the air?

Hmm...

Then maybe they just shouldn't do it at all. Using all sorts of electronic tracking devices is bad enough, but The animals do not have a chance in areal hunting.

It's a more efficient method for animal control. I'm surprised the website doesn't publish any data on the population of wolves in Alaska and what percentage of wolves are being killed compared to that population.

Ultimately, it's an animal control issue. Wolves have no predators outside of man and each other.

Of course not, what did wolves do before their natural predator "man" come along.

Umm, ????? Not sure what you mean here.

It's sad, yes, but I support a certain amount of outfitters/hunters in northern communities.

It's not the locals who can afford to hunt from the air, so it's usually rich Americans or Europeans that come up here (Northern Canada and Alaska) from far away to hunt. It generates revenue in communities that would otherwise have almost none and helps keep animal populations in control. While overhunting is a problem, a little bit, such as this, really isn't a problem.

I think wolf hunting in Alaska is a far more trivial problem when compared to the potential destruction of pristine tundra by exploration activities in the north shore.....

While it seems very admirable to protect these poor cute little wolves it is just very ignorant.

In addition to the reasons mentioned above wolves threaten the population of other animals in the area, including livestock owned by farmers and villagers.

This action is far more humane than gassing all the gophers at the local golf course. I suggest everyone who wants to volunteer to help animals do so first in areas where they are needlessly being harmed such as in urban areas and inner cities where people own pets but are unable to care for them.

In these situations the animals suffer on their way to death via starvation, disease, and even torture.

You cannot just kill any animal because you built in a farm in its home. That is stupid and ignorant.

There is also no reason that one cannot care about multiple causes, can we not multi task?

Can we all agree that mother nature is a cold hearted biotch and modern society doesn't give a sh*t?

They gloated over their superiority and stared at themselves in frozen rivers.

Speaking of population control...I think humans out number wolves by a HUGE margin. We take up land and resources and pollute the Earth. I think to be fair hunters should have to hunt with their bare hands face-to-face with the hunted. Now that's a fair fight, you know, the way nature intended, the fittest survive.

You are my new Temporary Personal Hero!!

GREAT Comment, Dolly!!

Mother Nature is a b***h, but there is nothing natural about gunning down animals from the air. If you want to hunt wolves to control the population, fine, get your gear on and go hunt them. But don't fly overhead to gun them down.

You're right when you say that the only predators they have to worry about are themselves and humanity, but being at the top of the food chain shouldn't equal mass killings. Humans are at the top of the food chain, and there is certainly a population crisis all over the world. Should we get in helicopters and gun them down?

At least give the animals a fighting chance. Go hunt them. I'd prefer if the hunters used spears only when hunting so that it is really a sport and a real test. Firearms are such an unfair advantage. Anyone can pull a trigger, but very few can wrestle a bear.

i second this

Yes.

As I cannot quote all, I will bounce off from here first.

Yes, it is true wolves have no natural predators. Most at the top of the food chain do not. Killer whales, Sharks, pythons...I could go on.

What KEEPS the top of the food chain regulated is the prey it eats. Food is scarce for the wolves and they have less pups, weak ones will die, and the pack redfines itself.

Of course we humans like to hunt their prey as well, and wolves being what they are will take a domestic animal as a suitable replacement. So instead of nature taking its course, they eat, they breed, they piss alot of people off and their numbers do not decline as they should if there were no domestic animals to prey on.

Although I am a hunter myself, I have no numbers on the ratios of moose/elk/whatever else the wolves like to eat to the predators themselves.

Here in Ohio, there are NO predators for deer and we are overrun with them.

I think this kind of hunting is barbaric. I enjoy deer hunting and more seasons than not I leave a trip without my tag being filled. I have seen deer walking around in the woods, as well as red tailed fox and other animals and I just love to sit out there and listen and enjoy the quiet.

I am always reverant of what I take, and at what cost to the animal I take. Not all hunters are cruel and it isn't as easy as one would think. I do not take a shot unless I am sure I can make it quick and humane. I have passed on more than I have ever gotten.

I take responsiblity for what I eat. If slaughterhouses had glass windows (as was posted on here before in a pig slaughterhouse clip) there would be alot more vegetarians!

To run an animal to exhaustion, and take a less than desirable shot from a moving, bouncing helicopter is cruel.