Alaska has long allowed authorities and hunters to kill bears and wolves on national wildlife refuges as part of what it called an “intensive predator management” program. National wildlife refuges in Alaska cover 73 million acres — an area larger than the state of Virginia — and include the 20 million-acre National Arctic Wildlife Refuge. But it has shown increasing frustration with Alaska’s liberalization of predator hunting, which wildlife advocacy organizations say is unusually cruel. Fish and Wildlife often goes along with state rules for hunting on national wildlife refuges. Approved methods included shooting wolves and their pups in dens, using bait to hunt bears, killing mother bears with their cubs — and one made famous by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin: gunning down wildlife from helicopters.

Source: Washington Post August 04, 2016 19:13 UTC