Legislators say wolves are not welcome here in South Dakota. The House Ag and Natural Resources Committee addressed Senate Bill 205 on Thursday which aims to allow the hunting of wolves in certain circumstances. Although South Dakota currently has no documented resident wolf packs, some occasionally show up in the state, and this has ranchers and law-makers concerned. They say South Dakota does not produce a suitable food supply for wolves. And with food in short supply wolves will prey on livestock.
Representative Charles Hoffman supports legislation to stop a potential wolf problem before it starts. He says it is prudent that South Dakota takes measures to stay ahead of the game.
“I do know that when you get an animal that is bigger than a lot of men and is as ferocious of a pack-hunter as wolves are known to be, we absolutely want to nip this problem at the onset and not have to worry about how do we contain depredation problems later because of this being introduced in to our state,” says Hoffman.
Supporters of the bill say wolves are at the top of the food chain and hunt in packs so they are capable of doing millions of dollars of damage to the livestock industry. No one spoke in opposition to the bill. The bill passed the House Committee and heads next to the House Floor.