Wyoming Wolf Torture Incident Sparks Calls to Prohibit Killing of Wildlife With Snowmobiles
Wyoming and Idaho allow coyotes and wolves to be chased, bludgeoned and run over by snowmobiles.
Photo: Jim Peaco/National Park Service
More than 60 conservation groups from across North America have filed letters urging the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to prohibit the use of snowmobiles or other vehicles to run down, injure or kill wildlife on all federal lands they manage.
The move comes just weeks after a horrific case of animal cruelty rocked the nation when a young female wolf in Wyoming was run down with a snowmobile, dragged into a local bar, and tormented, before being shot.
The perpetrator, 42-year-old Cody Roberts of Daniel, Wyoming, received just a $250 fine for being in illegal possession of warm-blooded wildlife.
Nearly 15,000 Species Unite supporters sent a message to Sublette County Sheriff K.C. Lehr to say that a $250 fine is not enough and to do the right thing by ensuring this wolf gets justice.
“Parading an injured, terrified animal with his mouth taped shut around a bar is clearly an example of torment and emotional torture,” reads the Species Unite letter. “This is a felony offense, which is punishable with up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
“Cody Roberts must be sentenced to jail time so that he can be rehabilitated and no longer a violent danger to society,” the letter adds.
Due to the widespread outrage, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office has reportedly now launched its own investigation, probing Roberts’ actions for potential animal cruelty violations.
Amaroq Weiss, a senior wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups who filed the letter calling for the prohibitation of the use of snowmobiles, called the incident ‘obscene cruelty’ and called for federal officials to step in: “It’s disgusting that Wyoming and Idaho allow coyotes and wolves to be chased, bludgeoned and run over by snowmobiles. But the American people own the federal lands throughout the country, and we won’t stop until federal agencies ban this horrific practice where they can.”
“Wyoming has created an outdoors torture chamber for wildlife.”
The state wildlife agency, state wildlife commission and governor’s office condemned Roberts’ actions. However, their statements suggested the incident was a “one-off” rather than a systemic failure in the state’s anti-predator laws, which allow wolves to be run down with snowmobiles and offer little-to-know protection for the animals.
“The facts belie state officials’ claims that running over wildlife with snowmobiles and further torturing them doesn’t exemplify Wyoming values,” said Weiss. “By allowing wolves and other predators to be killed by any and all means in most of the state, Wyoming has created an outdoors torture chamber for wildlife. I hope the federal agencies step up to ban this atrocious practice on the lands they manage in Wyoming and across the country.”
Wolves Unprotected
Even though wolves are responsible for less than one percent of all livestock deaths, hunters continue to advocate for limiting or decimating wolf populations based on the misconception of their impact on livestock.
In 2022 a judge reinstated wolves on the Endangered Species List but excluded those in the Northern Rocky Mountains, which encompasses Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.
On Tuesday, the outlook for wolves appeared increasingly dire as the U.S. House voted to remove federal protection for gray wolves, passing a bill that would delist them from the endangered species list across the lower 48 states. The measure will next be considered by the Senate, although the White House issued a statement on Monday expressing opposition to the bill from the Biden administration.
In Wyoming, 85 percent of the state is designated as a "Predator Zone," allowing for the unrestricted killing of wolves and other designated predators such as coyotes, jackrabbits, porcupines, raccoons, red foxes, skunks, and stray cats. There are no limits on the methods or timing of the killings, and no license is required for hunting these animals within this zone.
Take Action
Let’s make sure wolves across the US get the protection they desperately need. Join the campaign by urging Secretary Haaland and President Biden to put wolves back on the Endangered Species List immediately.
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