FAIRBANKS - The Department of Fish and Game's final tally of wolves shot and killed from a helicopter in a game management unit in the eastern Interior was 84, not 66, as was originally reported on Friday.
That total did not include wolves killed on Thursday, the final day of the program.
Sharpshooters killed an additional 18 wolves on Thursday before the program was temporarily suspended because of poor snow conditions, said David James, regional supervisor at the Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks.
State officials said they were hoping to kill as many as 150 wolves by tracking them in airplanes and shooting them from a helicopter as part of an intensified and controversial predator control program in the Fortymile region east of Tok.
The lack of fresh snow has made it hard to find and track wolves in the area, James said.
While money is an issue, James said snow conditions are what put the program on hold.
"The main thing for us now is to be efficient and spend this money effectively; we have to have more snow," James said. |
