Ancient Humans Introduced Wolves to Remote Baltic Sea Island 5,000 Years Ago

From Sci.News:

Wolves, the wild ancestor of dogs, are the only large carnivores that have undergone domestication by humans. Yet, it remains unclear if this process took place via direct and deliberate human control of wild wolves or if wolf populations gradually adapted to the human niche. Now, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of two canid individuals with gray wolf genetic ancestry in the Stora Förvar cave on the Swedish island of Stora Karlsö in the Baltic Sea. This island is small (2.5 km2) and, like the neighboring island of Gotland, carries no endemic populations of land mammals, meaning that any such animals must have been brought there by people.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife director steps down after tumultuous tenure marked by controversial wolf reintroduction program

From TheAspenTimes.com:

Colorado’s top wildlife official has stepped down after more than two years in a role that was largely defined by the state’s controversial wolf reintroduction program.

Jeff Davis has left his job as director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, according to a Tuesday news release from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Davis was appointed to the role by Gov. Jared Polis in May 2023, and previously served for more than 20 years with Washington state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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10 Members Of Congress From Minnesota + Wisconsin: ‘Delist Grey Wolves’

From KDHLRadio.com:

U.S. Congressman Pete Stauber is one of 30 members of congress who has cosponsored the Pet And Livestock Protection Act which aims to delist the grey wolf from the endangered species list.

The Pet And Livestock Protection Act would require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the 2020 rule that delisted the gray wolves. The act would also ensure that rule can’t be overturned by a judge, like it was by a California judge in 2022.

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Mexican gray wolf captured, returned to Gila after leaving territory earlier this year

From Yahoo.com:

A Mexican gray wolf spotted north of Interstate 40 earlier this year has been captured by helicopter and returned to the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area.

Male wolf M3065, nicknamed “Taylor” by conservationists due to his apparent affinity for Mount Taylor, was captured north of Gallina on Nov. 7 and transported to the Gila National Forest.

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How Many Wolves Live In Northern Minnesota And Where Are They?

From ESPNSiouxFalls.com:

There’s been a lot of discussion surrounding wolves in Minnesota as of late. Recent reports have shown a substantial decline of the wolf population at Voyageurs National Park. Sightings are on the rise though, just a few weeks back the large canines were spotted strolling through the grounds of a local school in the town of Ely, sparking worry and discussion from the area’s residents.

This begs the question: Just how many wolves live in Minnesota, anyway? And is their population growing or declining?

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Gray wolves in an anthropogenic context on a small island in prehistoric Scandinavia

From PNAS.org:

Wolves, the wild ancestor of dogs, are the only large carnivores that have undergone domestication by humans. Yet, it remains unclear if this process took place via direct and deliberate human control of wild wolves or if wolf populations gradually adapted to the human niche. Here, we report two canid individuals with gray wolf genetic ancestry excavated from a human archaeological site on a small isolated island in the Baltic Sea dated to between three and 5,000 y ago.

The remote island location in combination with the anthropogenic burial context, low genome-wide heterozygosity, marine-rich diet, and small size, are all consistent with a scenario in which these individuals were under human control, but other explanations are also possible.

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Most dog breeds still carry wolf DNA from recent interbreeding: Study

From DailySabah.com:

U.S. scientists announced Monday that nearly two-thirds of all dog breeds carry detectable wolf DNA, indicating that domesticated dogs and wild wolves interbred within the past few thousand years.

And it is not genetic leftovers from when dogs originally evolved from wolves around 20,000 years ago, but instead suggests that domesticated dogs and wild wolves have interbred within the last few thousand years.

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Wolves in the Netherlands feed mostly on wild game, not sheep, study finds

From NLTimes.nl:

Wolves in the Netherlands primarily feed on wild game such as wild boar, roe deer, and red deer, while sheep make up only a small portion of their diet, according to new research based on wolf scat collected in Drenthe and on the Veluwe.

The study, led by the Center for Environmental Sciences at Leiden University in collaboration with Stichting Leo, the University of Antwerp, and the Dutch Mammal Society, analyzed more than 700 wolf droppings collected in 2023. Researchers examined the remains of prey animals to determine the wolves’ diet and found strong regional differences based on available prey.

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Residents in rural Greece struggle as bears and wolves make a remarkable comeback

From EuroNews.com:

There has been a rapid increase in the number of one-on-one encounters between humans and wild animals even in residential areas

The sight of three of his sheep lying dead on the ground was shocking for farmer Anastasios Kasparidis. The large paw prints in the soil left no doubt that they had been killed by a bear, a once-rare but now increasingly frequent visitor in parts of northwestern Greece.

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Emerging [California] wolf pack keeps the state total at 10

From PlumasSun.org:

California wildlife officials recognized a new wolf pack Nov. 17. The new Grizzly pack consists of a single breeding pair and a pup in the southern and southeastern corner of Plumas County, an area known as Clover Valley.

The announcement was a surprise to Rick Roberti, a Sierra Valley rancher and  president of the California Cattlemen’s Association. He has been deeply involved in wolf issues throughout the region for most of the decade since the first California wolf pack was recognized in 2015.

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