DNR Springs Big Wolf Kill Statistics At Wausau Meeting

Well, maybe we know now why the DNR didn't hold what has been described as an annual all-day, public wolf population data sharing meeting before announcing the estimated wolf count in Wisconsin:

Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Last year's hunting season helped reduce the wolf population by 19% - - a very big number disclosed by the DNR this morning at a meeting of the its Wolf Advisory Committee on which hunting supporters are heavily-represented, the Journal Sentinel reports.

Public awareness of the big 2013/'14 seasonal killing could have spurred fresh opposition to the state's wolf hunting policies (dogs, traps OK), and led to demands for a lower 2014/'15 quota - - a number still to be set by the committee, the DNR and the state's Natural Resources Board later this spring or this summer.