Why are taxpayers restoring an elk herd only to have hunters kill them off? | Letters

I was interested to read Paul A. Smith’s article on April 7 detailing the lengthy and involved efforts over the course of many years to bring back our state’s elk population (“Wisconsin’s elk population topped 500 in 2023, the first time in more than 150 years”).

How wonderful to have recognized the importance of their place in our ecosystem and to have spared no expense to bring their return about.

Imagine my dismay to read the following week Wisconsin will be holding hunting seasons among both existing elk herds this autumn to kill off a portion of this newly-reestablished population (“For first time, both Wisconsin elk herds will have hunting in 2024,” April 14).

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And the price to take a life? About fifty dollars! Aside from the brutality of apparently breeding the elk just to satisfy the urges of hunters, there is the question of how our tax dollars have been spent. It obviously cost more than $50 per animal to create the herds.

To bring the elk into our state, allowing them to roam freely and live fully only to orchestrate their deaths the minute there were deemed enough to kill is a betrayal of not just fiscal responsibility but also the animals themselves.

It’s shocking, but hardly surprising, to see such callous disregard for our fellow creatures once more on full display in our state.

Jill Giencke, Cudahy

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why are taxpayers restoring an elk herd only to have hunters kill them off? | Letters