By Victoria Wicks
South Dakota is a step closer to shooting wolves. The state Senate approved a bill Tuesday to allow listing wolves as predators and varmints, along with skunks, prairie dogs, and porcupines, but only if U.S. Fish and Wildlife gives the go-ahead. Senator Mike Vehle says wolves are still protected in Minnesota and Wyoming, but they have no place in South Dakota.
“Wolves are an animal that mate for life, so once you have a pair, then they start going in packs,” Vehle says. “And once a pack is formed, remember what I said earlier, the only things that take them out are a human with a gun, a tiger, and a bear. We don’t have any tigers or bears. So the only way we’re going to get rid of the wolf is to shoot them. And why that’s important is we don’t have suitable habitat. They’re going to go after cattle and sheep.”
Vehle says Western South Dakota is in a no man’s land—Fish and Wildlife have not assigned the area to a region for oversight. He says Fish and Wildlife is expected to take the wolf off the endangered species list, perhaps as early as March. Senate Bill 205 now goes to the House Ag and Natural Resources committee for hearing.