From Listverse:
On the surface, wolves follow a predictable life. They lounge in zoos or hunt in the wild to sustain their pack and rear pups. But these animals have more adventures, humor, and courage than we give them credit for.
Some of the best examples of their multi-layered existence come from news reports about individual wolves. From crimefighting clones to a wandering wolf that inspired a book, here are ten paw-some stories to read today.
From Buckrail:
JACKSON, Wyo. — The parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is present in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and can spread to both canines and humans.
According to a 2022 research article, 51.6 percent of the 62 YNP mountain lions tested positive for T. gondi antibodies, meaning that those animals have been exposed to the parasite. The research also utilized 26 years of gray wolf data to confirm that YNP wolves are exposed to transmission due to their overlap in territory with infected mountain lions. The study confirms the wolves contract the parasite either through direct contact with infected cougars or the cats’ feces.
From Colorado Politics:
The chief of Colorado Parks & Wildlife insisted that “non-lethal” means of managing wolves that kill livestock is crucial especially now that the two wolves brought to Colorado have a pup.
“And we believe that there are more pups within the recently named pack,” Jeff Davis said in a round of letters in June with Sen. Janice Rich, who questioned whether he is taking the concerns of citizens who are being “impacted by wolf depredation seriously.”
From Canadian Geographic:
Seventy-four per cent of the 140 encounters between a wolf and a human (with and without a dog) were observed with a distance of over 100 metres (but not more than 150 metres) between the subjects, whereas only 26 per cent were under 100 metres. However, importantly, as all the zeroes in the corresponding columns indicate, not one direct attack, threat or bluff charge toward a human (with or without a dog) was observed in the five years of data observations collected. It’s also important to note that in 71 per cent of all observed encounters, the wolf left the area when confronted by a human (with or without a dog); they only behaved tolerantly in 29 per cent of the documented cases. Bold, Type A wolves left the area in 66 per cent of all encounters with humans (with or without a dog) and behaved tolerantly in 34 per cent of all documented cases. Shy, Type B wolves left the area in 78 per cent of all encounters with humans (with or without a dog) and only behaved tolerantly in 22 per cent of all documented cases (and only 7 per cent of Type B wolves that encountered humans at a distance less than 100 metres behaved tolerantly).
From Wisconsin Public Radio:
The reintroduction of wolves has only had temporary effects on other small carnivores at Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The park is the site of the longest predator-prey study on record between wolves and moose. Over the years, the wolf population has fluctuated there, but the species almost went extinct in the last decade after only two inbred wolves remained. Those wolves couldn’t reproduce to control the moose population.
From ASB Zeitung:
After the initial sighting of a wolf on a Lower Saxony North Sea island, experts have once again discovered the wild animal on Norderney. Employees of the Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal and Nature Protection (NLWKN) Agency and the National Park Administration launched a drone with a thermal imaging camera in the night from Thursday to Friday for further evidence, as Jan Wagner, spokesperson for the National Park Administration, stated. The animal was again found in the resting zone of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park. Previously, a wildlife camera had photographed the wolf on June 6 and 20. Experts later confirmed that it was indeed a wolf, likely a pack.
From Post Independent:
As Colorado’s collared wolves continue to make their way deeper into the Western Slope, Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Colorado Boulder Joanna Lambert pointed to previous wolf re-introduction efforts in the United States to bolster Colorado’s re-introduction plan during the Aspen Ideas Festival on Thursday.
“In talking to folks around Yellowstone, you know, those wolves went in 30 years ago … and it was intense, it was vitriolic,” she said. “Now, when you talk to ranchers right outside the park, say up in Paradise Valley, they’re like, ‘Eh, wolves, schmolves. We don’t want them here, and you guys put them in here, but I’ve figured it out.’”
From Colorado Times Recorder:
There are five large sheep-raising operations in the Big Wood Valley, in central Idaho. Seventeen years ago, they banded together to conduct a long-range experiment focused on whether it was possible to use non-lethal tools and tactics to discourage wolves from preying on their sheep.
Partners in the program included Defenders of Wildlife, Wildlife Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and various academics from universities around the world. The protected area was open-range.
From Reuters:
From Microsoft Start:
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – More than a dozen wildlife groups from around the country visited the Capitol on Wednesday to advocate for the federal protection of wolves.
States like Wyoming, Idaho and Montana do not have regulations in place to prevent the killing of wolves. In 2011, the gray wolf was delisted from the Endangered Species Act by Congress in these three states and several others.
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.