Will the wolf survive?

It it doesn’t, who will ultimately bear the blame?

The wolf’s return to Wisconsin is a welcome development. Nature is disrupted when predator species are eradicated, and wolves and other predators are necessary to keep the population of non-predator species at reasonable levels. It’s clear, for example, that hunters and automobiles alone aren’t enough to keep the deer population under control.

The question now, however, is whether the wolf is endangered, threatened or enjoys a healthy and sustainable population. Unfortunately, that question won’t be decided by biologists; it will be decided in the courts. Last month, a federal judge restored federal jurisdiction over wolf management in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan under the Endangered Species Act. The ruling overturns a 2007 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that de-listed the wolves and turned their management over to the three states.

The ruling may be designed to “protect” the wolf, but it could easily have the perverse impact of undermining public support for maintaining a wolf population in Wisconsin. Under the ruling, landowners can no longer kill wolves to protect livestock or pets; they can only kill a wolf if there’s an immediate danger to human safety. It’s hard to imagine wolves winning in the court of public opinion if they can destroy livestock without owners having any recourse beyond filing compensation claims. Livestock owners would rather bypass compensation and simply not have their animals mauled in the first place.

What’s curious about the judge’s decision is that Wisconsin’s wolves are doing just fine. Decades after they were mindlessly eradicated, wolves have returned to Wisconsin on their own and now number nearly 500 animals. The notion of a fragile wolf population that can’t withstand a hunting season or livestock owners protecting their property doesn’t match reality.

Anything that undermines public support for the wolf is a bad thing because Wisconsin benefits from a wolf population that performs its predator function but is wary of human beings and human development. Wisconsin has done an excellent job of maintaining conditions that allowed this vital species to reclaim a habitat for which it is well suited. Let’s hope the political habitat protects the wolf from both its enemies and its friends.