“She was killed in 2012 in the first Wyoming trophy hunt since wolves were delisted from the federal Endangered Species Act there and their conservation and management was put under control of the state,” Karol Miller, President ofThe 06 Legacy nonprofit organization, tells PEOPLE.
“There were some rumors that a park wolf was killed, but it wasn’t until Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks made an official announcement that we knew it was true and it was 926F,” Miller, who helps run theThe 06 Legacy Facebook page, says.
While the death was a shock to the group dedicated to protecting 06’s memory and to the numerous Yellowstone wolf watchers who had grown to care about 926F, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks says the kill was legal.
“926F would have made her mother proud. Since her mother was killed tragically, 926F picked up the pieces and lived a life of extraordinary courage and perseverance. She overcame so many odds and always led her pack with strength and fearlessness,” Miller says of what made the wolf famous around Yellowstone.
Part of the change the group would like to create involves instituting a no hunt zone around the border of Yellowstone National Park.
“Wolves have to follow their food source to survive. At times, that takes them outside the boundary of the park,” Miller says.
“This is so unfair and there is no reason a park wolf should ever be killed. Those wolves don’t know they are safe on one side of the park boundary and in grave danger on the other side. A few feet shouldn’t be the difference between life and death.”
Additionally, many park wolves are habituated to humans from years of having tourists and animal lovers watch them at Yellowstone, making the animals easy marks for hunters.
To resolve this issue, the 06 Legacy Group is campaigning for no hunt zones around Yellowstone’s borders, so the wolves that follow their food sources just outside of the park’s boundaries won’t pay for the choice with their lives.
“I respect that you receive joy from hunting, but how does that compare to the tens of thousands who have come to Yellowstone to specifically see the wolf you killed, supported local businesses with their tourist dollars and tens of thousands more who followed her life on a regular basis?” Miller says of what she would say to the hunter who took 926F’s life.
These suggested zones would be protection for both humans and wolves, in the eyes of The 06 Legacy group, since animals like 926F help Yellowstone contribute $629.6 millionin economic benefits each yearto local communities in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
According to theNew York Times, “there is a hunting limit of two wolves in each of two districts adjacent to the northern boundary of the park.” But The 06 Legacy group says these limits do not do enough to protect the Yellowstone wolf packs who can be deeply affected when a pack alpha is killed in these legal hunts.
source: people.com
