Washington’s wolf population increases for 10th straight year

From the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:

OLYMPIA – The recovery of Washington’s wolf population continued in 2018 as numbers of individual wolves, packs, and successful breeding pairs reached their highest levels since wolves were virtually eliminated from the state in the 1930s.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) today published its annual year-end report, which shows the state has a minimum of 126 individual wolves, 27 packs, and 15 successful breeding pairs – male and female adults who have raised at least two pups that survived through the end of the year. A year ago, those numbers were 122, 22, and 14, respectively.

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Italy rejects demands for a wolf cull as numbers increase in the Alps and Apennines

From the Telegraph:

Demands by Italian farmers for the country’s burgeoning wolf population to be culled have been rejected by the government, with a newly launched management plan insisting that man and beast can co-exist.

After months of debate, the coalition has come up with a wolf management plan which firmly rejects the shooting, poisoning or trapping of wolves.

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Washington state committee backs money for nonlethal wolf control

From The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington:

OLYMPIA – The state could spend nearly $1 million over the next two years on nonlethal ways to keep wolves from killing livestock in northeast Washington.

A proposal with support from ranchers and some wildlife advocates has already passed the House, and received approval from a key Senate committee Tuesday. It would direct the Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop different management plans for wolves in different regions of the state, with more support to control wolves in the part of the state where they are rapidly multiplying.

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Washington bill concedes uneven wolf recovery

From the Capital Press:

OLYMPIA — Wolves in northeast Washington could be managed differently than in other parts of the state under a bill endorsed Tuesday by the Senate agriculture committee.

If passed by the Legislature, House Bill 2097 would be an unprecedented acknowledgment by lawmakers that wolves have affected life in one corner of the state, even though statewide recovery has lagged.

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Wolf killing outside of Yellowstone impacts tourism operators

From KRTV.com in Great Falls, Montana:

COOKE CITY – Near Yellowstone National Park, residents of a small town where a collared park wolf was shot by a local resident say visitors don’t understand their community.

The road ends in Cooke City during the winter months as the Beartooth and Chief Joseph passes to the east are closed during the snow season. The town of fewer than 200 people just outside the remote northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park depends on snowmobilers and a few winter wildlife watchers to keep its winter economy going.

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There was actually a study to determine if red wolves are wolves. The answer could have doomed them.

From the Washington Post:

Over the federal government’s 30-year effort to revive endangered red wolves in North Carolina, there have been many attempts by opponents to get rid of them. But to argue that the wolves engaged in so much sex with coyotes that the two species somehow became one? That was a novel approach.

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Report: Mexican gray wolf is a subspecies, keeps endangered status

From CronkiteNews in Arizona:

WASHINGTON – The endangered Mexican gray wolf is still endangered – for now.

The National Academy of Sciences said Thursday that a six-month study determined the Mexican gray wolf is a separate subspecies from other gray wolves, which recently lost their endangered species status.

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State Of Idaho Funds Controversial Wolf Bounty Program

From Boise State Public Radio in Idaho:

If you kill a wolf in Idaho, your effort might be worth $1,000. 

A nonprofit in North Idaho covers costs for hunters and trappers who successfully harvest wolves. The group, called the Foundation for Wildlife Management pays up to $1,000 per wolf harvest.

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New study reveals the origin of Sweden’s wolves

From The Local.SE in Sweden:

Sweden’s wolf population isn’t related to dogs at all, a new study shows.

Researchers at Uppsala University used new methods to investigate the origin of Sweden’s wolf population.

Although Scandinavian wolves are thought to have more or less died out during the 1960s, the animal made a sudden comeback in the Värmland region two decades later.

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Isle Royale’s new black wolf moves away from others, GPS tracker shows why

From MLive.com:

ISLE ROYALE, MI – Early reports show Isle Royale’s new wolves are settling in well. The remote island and national park in Lake Superior saw its longtime wolf population of two rise to 15 over the past several months, the result of an effort to bring in more wolves from Canada and Minnesota.

The latest batch of seven wolves arrived last weekend. One black wolf was net-trapped on mainland Ontario, and the remaining six were caught on Canada’s Michipicoten Island Provincial Park, where they had been facing starvation.

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