Persecution of the Wolf

Persecution of the Wolf. The story of the wolf: past, present and future. , Wolves have been brought to near extinction, mainly due to conflicts with humans., 1630 - Present , Bounty Hunting for Wolves , In 1630, Massachusetts colonists passed the first wolf bounty law in America. They sought to eliminate wolves that preyed on livestock and threatened communities. Bounty hunting to eliminate wolves continued for more than three centuries. There has never been any record of a healthy wolf attacking a human., 1742 , Israel Putnam, wolf slayer , In the winter of 1742, Connecticut settler Israel Putnam led a three-day hunt, tracking a wolf that had been raiding sheep. The hunting party cornered the wolf in a deep, narrow den. Putnam crawled into the den, came upon the wolf eye-to-eye, and succeeded in slaying the wolf. The exploit won Putnam a reputation for great bravery. He became a hero in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. A tourist plaque now commemorates Putnam and the Wolf Den. None commemorates the wolf., 1850s-1880s , A Hard Life for the Trapper, Harder for the Wolf , From 1850 to 1880, trappers along the frontier killed over 75 million bison and several million wolves, mostly for hides. Thereafter, wolves were then poisoned to protect ranches and livestock. By the 20th century, wolves were virtually eliminated from the lower United States. For the trapper, it was a hard and unrewarding life. Most stayed poor, drifting on to whatever other jobs they could find., 1930s-1950s , Government bounty programs , From late 19th century, ranchers have singled out the wolf to blame for livestock predation and losses. In 1915, the U.S. passed a law providing for extermination of wolves on federal lands. Responding to wildlife conservationists, government programs finally ended in U.S. and Canada by the 1950s. Still today, conflicting attitudes and pressures have limited efforts to reintroduce wolves back into the wild.