From Sky-Hi News:
On Wednesday, May 22, Colorado Parks and Wildlife released the latest map showing wolf activity across the state.
Parks and Wildlife has released the maps monthly since January after reintroducing 10 wolves in Grand and Summit counties in December.
The map depicts watersheds in which collared wolves have traveled between April 23 and May 21. Just because a watershed indicates wolf activity, does not mean wolves are present throughout the entire watershed.
From NPR for Northern Colorado:
Wildlife biologists were excited last winter when they watched five wolves from Oregon sprint out of their cages into a snowy meadow in Grand County.
“They’re majestic animals,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife species conservation manager Eric Odell told KUNC hours after the release in December. “It’s a pretty awesome thing to see.”
And for about four months, things were relatively quiet as the wolves traveled hundreds of miles around the state, from northwest Colorado all the way east to Larimer County.
From Kuensel:
A recent study on grey wolf distribution by the Nature Conservation Division (NCD) has found that the grey wolf occupies less than seven percent of the country’s area.
This contrasts with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which indicates that the wolf range covers more than 50 percent of the country.
From Powell Tribune:
With Wyoming’s bear, wolf and mountain lion populations on the minds of many in the state as adventurers and tourists head to the hills for the summer season, Game and Fish Large Carnivore Biologist Luke Ellsbury took the mic at the Coe Auditorium in traditional red shirt, wool vest and a full salt and pepper beard that would make Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) proud.
Ellsbury is part of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s elite Large Carnivore Management team based in Cody. He’s one of only 10 wildlife biologists tasked with conservation decisions and conflict mitigation, non-stop work that has them on the run throughout the year. He was invited to speak at the Draper Museum of Natural History at a time when the department has been under attack — mostly by those who don’t live in the state. The recent Sublette County wolf abuse case has weighed heavily on the entire department as those outraged by the case took out their frustrations on the red shirts. Game and Fish employees have faced harsh criticism after the incident, even receiving threats to their safety and sadly their pets, and been on the phones and answering a large volume of emails, according to an official.
From Jackson Hole News & Guide:
As a wildlife biologist, Jenny Fitzgerald has worked with Mexican gray wolves, capturing and studying the canines south of the U.S. border.
She has seen plenty of wolves in the wild and handled plenty of wolves in Mexico but had never been able to get up close and personal with one stateside. Still, she had always wanted to. How it happened Saturday was not what she envisioned.
“I’ve always wanted to be in the presence of one,” Fitzgerald said. “Dead, on the roadside, is not how I anticipated the first experience.”
From Politifact:
Gray wolves bring mixed feelings in Wisconsin and other places where the animals have repopulated over the last several decades.
While advocates support strong protections for the animals, many farmers see them as a nuisance. And for hunters, a wolf can be the ultimate prize.
No matter where the debate falls, in Wisconsin gray wolves are under the federal protections of the endangered species list, meaning they can’t be hunted or killed for any reason. The animals were relisted in February 2022, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report from Feb. 10, 2022.
From Northern News Now:
ELY, Minn. (Northern News Now) – The International Wolf Center in Ely is opening a new exhibit: Starvation, Adaptation, and Survival.
The new space depicts findings from the Voyagers Wolf Project, showcasing wolves’ diets, environmental impacts and profiles of individual wolves.
The study’s major finding is that wolves struggle in the warmer months.
“Summer’s a tough time for wolves in northern Minnesota,” Executive Director Grant Spickelmeir said. “Their natural prey can get away from them pretty effectively in the summer and they have to rely on other food sources.”
From Cowboy State Daily:
Wyoming lawmakers took to solid step Wednesday toward responding to widespread public outcry over the torture and killing of a wolf in Daniel — agreeing to form a legislative subcommittee to look into the matter.
The Legislature’s Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee agreed to form a subcommittee charged with seeking a possible reform of the state’s wildlife policy.
The group will probably focus first possibly raising the penalty for illegal possession of a live wild animal, as well as a penalty for displaying a live wild animal, said committee co-chair Rep. Sandy Newsome, R-Cody.
From Statesman Journal:
Officials are offering a $25,000 reward for information about the illegal poisoning of three gray wolves, two golden eagles and other wildlife in Wallowa County.
It’s the latest in a spate of poisonings that have killed 19 wolves since 2015 and even killed domestic dogs recently in Eastern Oregon.
“The target was likely a wolf, but the collateral damage in northeast Oregon’s ongoing poisoning cases now includes golden eagles, dogs, and other carnivores,” the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
The International Wolf Center uses science-based education to teach and inspire the world about wolves, their ecology, and the wolf-human relationship.