Wolf hunting policies in some U.S. states are taking an aggressive turn as Republican lawmakers and conservative hunting groups push to curb the animal’s numbers.
Antipathy toward wolves for killing livestock dates to when early European immigrants settled the American West in the 1800s.
Now, it’s flaring again as the animals rebounded under federal protection.
But former wildlife officials and animal advocates say what’s emerging now is different: a politicized campaign to drive down wolf numbers with methods long shunned by wildlife managers.
Those methods include shooting wolves from the air and making payments to hunters reminiscent of bounties that widely exterminated the species last century.
