What are wolves hunted for?
There are several reasons for the hunting of wolves, and none of them justify it. There was fear that they might kill livestock, and indeed they sometimes do, but the fact is that wolves much prefer to hunt their natural prey. If their natural prey has been driven away or killed to make room for livestock, of course wolves will hunt them – they are predators, they must hunt and kill to survive, and without any other source of food, they take what’s available. Another reason was the very fact that wolves hunt animals such as moose and elk, which human hunters also wish to hunt. It was believed that without wolves to prey on them, there would be more moose, elk and so on for humans to hunt. This is a foolish and short-sighted view, however – in places where wolves were exterminated, such as Yellowstone Park, the populations of their prey exploded without natural predators to cull the weak and sick. This led to overgrazing and damage to the environment. The herbivores then starved. Wolves
