MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wildlife officials in Wisconsin have set a 300-animal limit for this fall's wolf hunt.
The Department of Natural Resources board voted 5-2 Wednesday to set aside the department's recommendation to cap kills at 130.
The move is contentious after hunters killed 218 wolves in a court-mandated February season, blowing past their 119-wolf limit and stirring concerns among conservationists about the wolf population's future.
But conservative-leaning members of the board argued that the population stood at around 1,000 wolves heading into the February hunt and remains robust. They added that the DNR set its population goal at 350 wolves and even after the spring season the population should still be three times higher than the goal.
