On August 3 & 10, 2020, two more bear hounds were killed by wolves in northern Wisconsin, after chasing bears attracted to baits set by hunters. This marks the ninth such conflict between bear hunters and federally protected gray wolves since Wisconsin’s two-month summer bear hound training season began on July 1st. Each year an average of 20 hunting hounds are killed when they clash with wolves on mostly public lands.
This federally protected gray wolf was photographed visiting bear bait sites multiple times in Forest County, Wisconsin where a bear hound was killed on August 10, 2020. Three other hunting dogs were killed by wolves in the very same area in the last two years.
Once again, these latest depredations occurred in an area heavily used by bear hunters to train their dogs, and in areas where multiple depredations have already occurred. In Wisconsin, hound hunters are paid $2,500 for every hound killed by wolves in the state.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources map of wolf depredations in Forest County 2018-present. In 2018, more bear hounds were killed by wolves in Forest County than anywhere else in the state.
In Forest County, where a bear hound was killed by wolves on August 10, bear hunters have shared multiple trail camera pictures of wolves feeding from bear bait sites in the very same area. The intentional feeding of wildlife, which is allowed in Wisconsin from April through October is the cause of these deadly conflicts between bear hunting hounds and wolves, yet both the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and U.S. Forest Service continue to do nothing to address the problem.
Wisconsin bear hunters are in denial about their unlimited bear baiting and unlicensed hound training being the cause of depredations on hunting hounds…instead they simply want to kill more wolves.
And it’s not just wolves and hounds that are dying during Wisconsin’s summer hound training season, but bears as well. Over 4 million gallons of bear bait is dumped on public lands annually, much of it consisting of sugary, unhealthy human food waste, including chocolate which is toxic to bears, wolves and other canids.
Please join Wolf Patrol in calling for a total ban on bear baiting and hound training in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest where a majority of the deadly conflicts are occurring each year. Let’s get the bait and hounds out of our national forest!
A Wisconsin bear chased for hours in the heat of summer by a pack of hounds being trained on August 12, 2020 in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
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Wolves will defend bear bait sites as a feeding ground, killing any canine that trespasses their territory in summer months when their pups are young and vulnerable.
For more information on Wisconsin’s deadly clash between bear hunting hounds and wolves, please visit WDNR’s gray wolf page:
A bear chased by hounds taking refuge in Forest County’s Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Both WDNR & U.S. Forest Service allow bear baiting from April until October and hound training July through October on mostly public lands.
Wolf Patrol 