MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Chippewa tribal officials in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan are blasting the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for allowing state-licensed wolf hunters to blow past their quota in just four days last month.
Hunters killed 216 wolves, nearly double their quota of 119 animals.
Accordingto the DNR, the total quota for February 2021 was set at 200 wolves. 50% of that was within the ceded territories reserved in response to a declaration by the Ojibwe bands, leaving 119 wolves as a harvestable quota for state hunters and trappers.
The Chippewa view the wolf as sacred and oppose hunting the animal.
John D. Johnson, chairman of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission's Voigt Intertribal Task Force, told Mazina'igan, the commission's quarterly newsletter, that the state didn't consult with the tribes before launching the hunt during spring, when female wolves are typically pregnant. He said wolf pelts are in bad shape this time of year which means the hunt was all about killing.
