Wyoming town defends wolf killer Cody Roberts who paraded predator in local bar, insisting the animals are a danger to their way of life

City dwellers need to stay out of the ongoing battle over Wyoming rancher Cody Roberts who killed a wolf after parading it around his local bar with its mouth taped shut.

That's the view of his aunt Jeanne Ivie-Roberts who caused outrage by posing in a wolf's hide with duct tape over her own mouth.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ivie-Roberts, who works at the Green River Bar in the tiny town of Daniel where the animal was taken, insisted her nephew did nothing wrong and says city folk don't understand the problems wild wolves cause.

'I posted that picture on Facebook knowing it was going to cause a sh** storm,' the 59-year-old said. 'People have no idea what damage the wolves do to livestock and domesticated animals around here.

'Cody, his children and the Green River Bar do not deserve the death threats,' she added.

Cody Roberts, 42, captured an injured wolf after hitting it with his snowmobile and paraded it around a local bar before killing it. He's pictured with the animal  

His aunt Jeanne Ivie-Roberts defended Roberts and tells DailyMail.com, 'People have no idea what damage the wolves do to livestock and domesticated animals'

Ivie-Roberts insisted that only country folk understand the real nature of wolves. The tiny town of Daniel only has 108 residents 

Roberts, 42, was fined $250 for being in possession of a live wolf, causing outrage among animal rights activists. 

He was not punished for the death of the year-old animal as it is legal in Wyoming to kill wolves.

Video released on Wednesday by Wyoming Game and Fish Department shows the clearly injured animal lying in the corner of the bar while patrons discuss its fate.

'He's getting ready to go,' one man is heard saying.

Ivie-Roberts insisted that only country folk understand the real nature of wolves.

'Have you ever known a rancher that had to go out and put down his child's horse because it was attacked the night before by a wolf?' she asked.

'Have you lost thousands of dollars in cattle because a pack of wolves went out and killed calves?

'These wolves kill for the sport of it, they don't just kill and then eat their prey ­– they kill for practice.'

Ivie-Roberts said a pack of wolves killed 17 elk just for the sport in the area recently.

'The wolf attacks the tendon on the back of the leg on the animal or rips open the stomach area, causing the animal to bleed to death,' she said.

Roberts ran over the wolf on a snowmobile on February 29. He then took it to the bar – known locally as GRB – to show his drinking buddies.

Ivie-Roberts also said she has no problem with taping the wolf's mouth shut, likening it to a dog's muzzle and pointing out that when wolves were first reintroduced to Wyoming in 1995, they were brought from Canada, muzzled and caged with their legs bound.

'How exactly do you torture a wolf?' she asked. 'Wolves are evil animals. They destroy our livelihoods.

'It's easy to judge from some big city far away, but until you experience the damage that can be done by these animals, you really don't have room to speak on it.

'We have to deal with this every day.'

Photos posted this past week showed Ivie-Roberts seemingly reenacting the scene seen in his now viral photo, putting a piece of duct tape around her own mouth in one 

Video released on Wednesday by Wyoming Game and Fish Department shows the clearly injured animal lying in the corner of the bar while patrons discuss its fate 

The animal has on a muzzle and looks to be tired and despondent on laying in the bar 

But animal lovers take issue with Ivie-Roberts's view. 

'The gray wolf is a misunderstood creature,' Lori Wynn, the CEO of Guardians for Wolves, told DailyMail.com.

'Wolves are not mindless killers. They balance their own populations by conflicting with other packs,' she said, adding that they also avoid humans whenever possible. 

'The innocent wolf that Cody killed mattered,' added Wynn. 'She was vital to our environment.'

Wynn said that wildlife officials in Wyoming recognize that wolves are valuable as they help control the overpopulation of elk in the state.

The group has produced a change.org petition calling for Roberts to be punished more harshly. It has garnered more than 100,000 signatures. 

But Ivie-Roberts said that after she posted her now-infamous picture on Facebook, her nephew called her asking 'how it felt being the second most hated person in the world.'

Cody told her he was the most-hated and thanked her for 'taking some heat off him.'

Roberts has expressed remorse for his actions and apologized, according to TJ Hunt, whose wife Nan owns the Green River Bar.

'He realized he messed up. He wishes he could change what happened, I just told him to quit doing stupid stuff,' Hunt told DailyMail.com. 'I chalk it up to another dumb kid doing dumb kid stuff.

'I have known him for years, he is a good kid, I told him ''Cody, start thinking, on what the hell you are doing.'''

Roberts refused to discuss the case with DailyMail.com.

Witnesses said Roberts dragged or carried the animal through the Green River Bar as patrons looked on

Animal rights groups are calling for the Sublette County Sheriff and county attorney to file felony animal cruelty charges against him. In a petition on change.org, has so far garnered more than 100,000 signatures 

Hunt said his wife's bar is being unfairly singled out and threatened because of the reports that Roberts brought the injured wolf into the bar and paraded it around.

'I don't agree with what Cody did,' Hunt added. 'He should have just shot the animal on site instead of bringing it around when it was still alive showing it off.

'A lot of hunters around here aren't too happy with what he did either.'

'Wolves are predatory animals if they are a danger to a rancher or individual, they need to be disposed of, but there is a proper way to do it and Cody didn't.

'But he's got a wife and three kids, he's been getting death threats. What he did was stupid and unethical, but I don't think he should have to live in fear for his family.

Breanna Ball, Wyoming Game and Fish spokeswoman, told DailyMail.com that the department was 'disappointed' by Roberts's actions, saying, they 'are not reflective of our value for wildlife in the state of Wyoming'.

'In fact, what we believe in the actions that came to light in this case were disrespectful for wildlife and cast a shadow over our state's proven track record of responsibly managing gray wolf populations. We don't condone this behavior.'

Ball further stated that 'animal cruelty charges are not applicable to predatory animals and wolves are considered predatory animals.'

Roberts appears to be an avid hunter who frequently hunts wild animals alongside his kids

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon weighed in on the incident saying on social media, 'Our office has received considerable communication about the actions of an individual involving a wolf that occurred earlier this winter in Sublette County.

'I want to make my position in this absolutely clear.

'Cruelty to any wildlife is absolutely unacceptable. This is not the way anyone should treat any animal.

'I am outraged by this incident, just like thousands of Wyoming ranchers, farmers, sportsmen and sportswoman, and other around the state,' added Gordon.

I would be disappointed if anyone were to paint Wyoming with a broad brush and suggest the Wyoming citizens condone the reckless, thoughtless and heinous actions of one individual.'

Animal rights groups are calling for the Sublette County Sheriff and county attorney to file felony animal cruelty charges against him.

Sheriff K.C. Lehr said he could not speak about the incident as it is the subject of an active investigation.