Dances With Wolves. . . Not

Recently, there has been controversy over the recent re-introduction of wolves into parts of  the United States.  These complaints come mainly at the behest of farmers and/or ranchers who feel that their livelihood, the livestock they raise and sell for various purposes.  The wolves used to be on the list of Federally Endangered Species but were recently removed by Congress.  This was the first time that Congress had directly intervened and removed a species from the Endangered List.  This action has outraged many environmental groups for a couple reasons.  First, they do not believe that the wolves were ready as a species, whether in terms of population or some other factor, to be released into the wild again.  Second, they were not happy in that Congress stepped directly in and intervened in something that they probably didn't have the appropriate knowledge to be making decisions with.  There has been a widespread public outrage at the release of these wolves into the wild.  Many people feel that the wolves will be a danger to farmers' livestock and pets.  So far there have not been many if any cases of livestock going missing and people blaming it on the recently re-introduced predators.  The fact is, people are just afraid that they will become a problem if they start to hunt the  livestock.  Some people, afraid that the wolves will become a problem as stated above, have decided that seeing as the wolves are no longer on the Endangered Species List, the laws against hunting and trapping said animals don't necessarily apply any longer.  People have started trapping animals and some pictures of dead and maimed wolves that appeared in the media and on social networking sites such as Facebook have caused quite a stir in the Mid-West.  Many people have responded to these pictures with enthusiasm and sometimes even support for the actions of the hunters and trappers.  The farmers and ranchers are afraid that the wolves will encroach on their property and kill their livestock but the simple fact of the mater is, the wolves were here long before the humans.  The land we call our own, was theirs to begin with.  They are not encroaching on the farmers' land, it's the other way around.  People's views of wolves depends first and foremost where they are from and whether or not their occupations and assets are harmed by the wolves.  I personally believe that the wolves have every right to live in their ancestral environment and we as humans have no right to push them out of that land.  We are supposed to live in harmony with nature, not push it out.