The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has released its recommendations for hunting wolves in 2008. Fish and Game is proposing a total mortality cap of 328 for the state’s wolf population. That total includes wolves killed by hunters and state managers, or those killed in accidents or by natural causes. The total is in line with Idaho’s overall plan for managing the predators. The state plan approved in March calls for maintaining a population level between 500 and 700 wolves for the first five years after delisting. The federal government lifted endangered species protections for wolves in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana in March, however that decision is being challenged in federal court.
(AP)