New Study Backs Theory That Wolves Traded the Wild for Table Scraps—and Became Dogs

From Gizmodo.com:

It’s hard to imagine that dogs descended from fierce grey wolves—especially when your fat labrador begs for peanut butter, or your poodle snores on the couch.

And yet, that’s exactly what happened. The ancestors of grey wolves were domesticated into dogs in two distinct periods: around 30,000 to 15,000 years ago, and 15,000 years ago to the modern era. While the more recent period likely saw humans selectively breeding for tamer wolves, the domestication process of the older period has been hotly debated.

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Minnesota bird flu, wolf tracking programs clouded in uncertainty amid Trump’s federal funding freeze

From CBSNews.com:

Minnesota farmers say they are in a valley of uncertainty amid the layoffs and cost-cutting measures of the first few weeks of President Trump’s second term.

“It’s really … a day-to-day, hour-to-hour situation,” Minnesota Department of Agriculture commissioner Thom Peterson said.

Peterson says some programs and initiatives designed to help farmers are now in doubt. He also added that there are freezes on grants for research initiatives. He cited that some research funding that goes to the University of Minnesota, for example, is done.

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[California] Rancher updates supervisors on wolves

From PlumasSun.org:

Sierra Valley rancher Rick Roberti appealed to the Plumas County Board of Supervisors Feb. 11 to support local ranchers. Their businesses are losing as much as $50,000 a year, he said. The culprit: wolves.

“I don’t know what to do anymore when a neighbor calls to tell me he’s been devastated by wolves,” he said.

Roberti, who represents the Sierra Cattlemen’s Association, serves on an ad hoc committee formed by the board of supervisors in July, 2024, to work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on wolf management.

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Arizona Game and Fish Department responds to Mexican wolf depredations on livestock

From GilaHerald.com:

PHOENIX — Over the last month, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has received several calls and viewed social media posts regarding Mexican wolf and livestock interactions in southeastern Arizona. The focus has been suspected Mexican wolf depredations on livestock.

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[Massachusetts] Presentation on The Future of Wolves at MCLA’s Green Living Seminar

From iBerkshires.com:

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Carnivore Conservation Director Renee Seacor will give a presentation on the future of wolves on Feb. 26 as part of MCLA’s Green Living Seminar Series.
Seacor, who directs Project Coyote at the Carnivore Conservation, will discuss the potential of wolf recovery in the Northeast, highlighting the history of wolves in the region, previous attempts at reintroduction in the Adirondack Park, the emerging science of wolf and coyote genetics, and the intersection of these issues with public policy.

Only wolf hunting allowed in Europe. EU won’t review protection status of other predators

From EUNews.it:

Brussels – The wolf is the only species that poses a danger to humans and their activities. Risks of a different nature do not exist and, therefore, “The Commission does not intend to propose amendments to the international or EU legal protection status of species other than the wolf.”

This statement was made clear by Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall in her response to MEPs concerned about what the EU executive might do in the wake of the decision to reopen the hunting season against wolves for personal and personalistic reasons.

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Colorado senator says divide between wolf advocates and ranchers has ‘never been greater’

From Coloradoan.com:

State Democratic Sen. Dylan Roberts didn’t hold back when each panelist at the outset of Colorado Public Radio’s panel discussion in Loveland was asked what is and isn’t working with Colorado wolf restoration.

Roberts, whose district covers much of western Colorado where wolves have been reintroduced the last two years, said what’s worked is there are 29 wolves in Colorado. His what’s-not-working answer made it painfully obvious why continued struggles lie ahead for the reintroduction of wolves made possible by the passage of Proposition 114 in 2020.

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Opportunity ends wolf bounty, as money is spent [Canada]

From TheSpec.com:

During budget, the M.D. of Opportunity considered not having a wolf bounty in 2025, partly because in 2024 only one person brought in wolf pelt. However, in the first six weeks of 2025, all but $250 of the $10,000 budget was paid out. This means that 39 wolf pelts have been brought to the M.D. as proof that they were killed on M.D. land. The hunter or trapper then sells the pelts into the fur trade or uses the fur themselves.

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[Idaho] Federal judge upholds ruling that shortened wolf trapping season

From BoisePublicRadio.org:

A federal magistrate has upheld a previous decision to prohibit trapping and snaring wolves during certain seasons.

The initial lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice, an environmental nonprofit.

Ben Scrimshaw, a Senior Associate Attorney with Earthjustice, said the decision to limit the recreational wolf trapping season to times when grizzly bears are hibernating will help protect the bears.

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2026 ballot measure that would overturn Colorado wolf reintroduction clears first hurdle

From ColoradoSun.com:

A ballot measure in 2020 directed the state to restore wolves. Now a group wants to use the same tool to end the project that has reintroduced 25 gray wolves in Colorado.

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