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WASHINGTON DC (WSAU-WAOW) – Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany’s bill to delist the gray wolf as an endangered species is moving forward.
The House passed the Pet and Livestock Protection Act to remove the gray wolf the federally protected endangered species list. It would allow states to manage gray wolf populations by regulating hunting.
According to the Wisconsin DNR, the wolf population has rebounded from less than 500 in 2006 to an estimated 1,200 in 2025.
Tiffany said the rebounded population without management has begun to cause problems, especially in northern Wisconsin.
“The number of pet deaths as well as livestock deaths, they’ve gone up consistently over the last few years, and it’s time for them to be managed,” Tiffany said. “The thing that really concerns me is there’s been a number of human-wolf attacks that have happened here in just the last couple of years and that gets to be where it’s very dangerous.”
According to the DNR, in 2024 there were 57 incidents of wolves attacking livestock, 31 attacks on pets, and two incidents of wolves attacking humans in Wisconsin.
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