Armenia in wolf cull drive

The Armenian government announced on Friday a $50,000 program to combat the growing number of wolves in the country, the Armenia Today website reported. Officials are planning to cull 200 wolves by April. Armenia’s wolf population currently stands at around 600. Hunters will be each awarded $285 for a slain wolf, Nature Protection Minister Aram Harutunyan told reporters in Yerevan. Harutunyan said the wolf-culling program is necessary because the predators began “encroaching on towns and villages and bothering the people.” “This cull will not influence the wolf population,” he said.