JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (AP) — The three-month long wolf hunting season is underway in Wyoming.

A dozen wolves were legally harvested in the first 40 hours Sunday, over a quarter of the total wolves that can be killed in the state's managed hunt area.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department carnivore manager Ken Mills attributed the considerable success to the opener falling on a weekend, winter weather pushing lots of sportsmen into the field, and also a species that may temporarily have lost its fear of people.

Mills says it has been three years since the last hunting season. He says because of this, "there's almost a whole new generation of wolves out there and they're naive to human hunters."

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