Defenders of Wildlife Post New Palin Ad

Several months ago, the Defenders of Wildlife created an ad discussing Alaska's aerial wolf hunting policy under Gov. Palin. In the ad, the group claimed that Palin's policy allowed hunters to shoot wolves from helicopters during the winter to artificially inflate moose populations for hunting season. Hunters were even paid a bounty by the state for turning in killed wolf paws.

Many view hunting wolves during the winter when they cannot hide to defend themselves and from helicopters when hunters cannot strategically hit the animals in less painful, more paralizing points, as cruel and unsportsmanlike.

The group's newest ad addresses Palin's views on polar bears. Recently, the United States government deemed polar bears a threatened species because of threats to their sea ice habitat from increased global temperatures. Palin sued the Bush administration to block this distinction because oil and gas companies could face limitations in their drilling and refining capacities in the Alaska region as a result. In addition, Palin has allowed polar bears to be hunted for body parts and trophies, according to the ad.

FactCheck.org has reviewed the first Defenders of Wildlife ad and called it "factually correct, though incomplete." According to FactCheck, the issue of whether aerial hunting is ethical is for individuals to decide, but they say that decreasing wolf populations in Alaska was largely permitted for maintenance of moose and caribous populations for "subsistance hunting." Palin did support a 2007 Alaska law that would have expanded aerial hunting to include wolverines, brown bears and wolves. The law also would have reduced requirements to qualify for aerial hunting in certain areas. However, the existing Alaska law has a complex regulatory structre for hunting permits and wildlife population maintenance. FactCheck points out that the issue of aerial hunting is devisive in Alaska.

To read the Defenders of Wildlife's views on Palin's hunting policies, go HERE.
To read FactCheck.org's review of the ad, go HERE.

Below is the polar bear ad recently created by Defenders of Wildlife. It is being aired in several states.