Wolves Become Experienced in Counteracting People

Packs of wolves are raging in the Far Eastern taiga.

Yevgeny Moskvin, deputy chief of the territorial department for the conservation, control and regulation of the use of wild life, said on Wednesday that the number of wolves had increased two- or even three-fold over the past two years, and the animals were now posing real threat to the herds of wild and domestic deer and other ungulates.

According to the territorial hunting department, the number of wolves in the territory now makes up 1,800-2,000. They gather in large packs and act boldly and in teams.

In southern districts the situation is quite calm because order is "established" here by Amur tigers. Tigers relentlessly kill wolves who dare settle or hunt on their territory.

However, deer-breeders and locals of northern districts are giving the alarm: grey beasts of pray have been ever more frequently attacking the cattle and deer herds of late. Wolves, expert hunters say, "have become experienced" in counteracting people. They can easily hear the barely audible sound of flying helicopters or aircraft and take no time hiding under fir trees. Wolves ignore dainty bits of meat stuffed with poison and stay away from traps.

"Our task now is to kill wolves in the taiga," Moskvitin stressed. "Yet, the circumstances make it imperative for us to cut their number in dense packs since they pose a threat to many other wild animals."