What's the Latest Development? The governor of the Sakha-Yakutia
region of Siberia has declared a state of emergency to highlight
the growing problem of wolf packs preying on livestock,
including horses and domesticated reindeer. Typically hunters
are paid for each adult and cub pelt they produce, but this year
towns are providing extra incentives, with one even offering a
snowmobile to whoever brings the most pelts. The mayor of
another town said he had to organize a hunting party to kill as
many wolves as possible. According to the Sakha-Yakutia
government, 16,000 reindeer and 313 horses were killed in 2012.
What's the Big Idea? Experts say the problem isn't necessarily
overpopulation, though at 3,500, the number of wolves is about
seven times its normal size. Rabbits are the wolves' primary
source of food, but a cyclical collapse in the rabbit population
has caused those living in populated areas to switch to reindeer
herds and horses. Despite the extra measures being taken to cull
the packs, wolves will m