Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU -- The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says the killing of wolf pups in dens will still be allowed, but only if there are no other options.

The agency clarified its policy at a state Board of Game meeting in Juneau on Friday. Under the policy, pups found outside dens will be treated as adults.

The action comes in the wake of public outrage over the killing of 14 wolf pups without the agency telling the public or the Board of Game beforehand.

Critics say the agency did not do enough to find homes for the pups. The animals were orphaned in June after adult wolves were killed as part of the state's predator control program in the southern Alaska Peninsula to protect a caribou herd considered to be in trouble.

The Department of Law has said the denning rule was trumped by the Board of Game, which told Fish and Game to kill "all wolves" in the area.

Some members of the board, including chairman Cliff Judkins, said they understood the authorization to kill "all wolves" might well include wolf pups. Others said they likely would not have allowed it if they had known it would happen.

Fish and Game officials said that killing orphaned pups was more humane than leaving them to die. The agency has said no zoos requested wolves earlier this year, but it made no calls to find homes for them either.

Now the department will more actively try to place pups, according to a draft protocol signed by Wildlife Division director Doug Larsen.

The policy clarification, however, doesn't satisfy everyone. Wade Willis of Defenders of Wildlife said that, among criticisms, the department is not planning to limit its control program to seasons when pups in dens are less likely to be orphaned.

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