FWP calls for higher wolf quotas, bag limits based on [Montana] report

From MissoulaCurrent.com:

The estimated number of wolves in Montana decreased slightly in 2024, but Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is proposing more wolf hunting and trapping to push the statewide population down to 450.

On Monday, FWP released its annual wolf report for 2024, which says the statewide wolf population was estimated at slightly less than 1,100 wolves at the end of 2024 while the previous year’s estimate was about 1,100. But because that number is an estimate based on a computer model that isn’t exact, the number could be as high as 1,240 and as low as 920.

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Onlooker captures unbelievable encounter between hikers and wolf pack: ‘They have no clue’

From TheCoolDown.com:

A pair of Yellowstone tourists averted potential disaster after obliviously hiking within mere yards of multiple wild wolves.

“They really don’t see that?” an offscreen voice asked incredulously in a video posted to Facebook showing the two hikers walking past the wolves.

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Feds close the door on a ‘national wolf conversation’

From EENews.net:

An ambitious “national wolf conversation” begun in the Biden administration has ended for now, although the voices can still be heard.

Convened under a three-year contract issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the wolf conversation ended up culminating a year early with a three-day session held last January in Tucson, Arizona. Now, some of the work is becoming available to the broader public with the release of brief participant commentaries, a 30-minute video and a “common ground” statement endorsed by all 22 of the nongovernmental participants in the January sessions.

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Road trips, bear spray and a full moon(ing): How we made the Howl podcast and story series

From IdahoCapitalSun.com:

Here’s the inside scoop on the behind the scenes reporting on wolves in the some of the most remote places in the Lower 48.

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A Closer Look at the Kestrels, Hedgehogs and Other Wild Animals That Inhabit Rome

From SmithsonianMag.org:

Long ago, the story goes, a king kidnapped two sons of a god, stuffed them in a basket and set them afloat on Italy’s Tiber River. A female wolf rescued the brothers and nursed them as though they were her own pups. A woodpecker brought them food. Nourished by these wild creatures, Romulus and Remus went on to overthrow the king and found Rome—a city whose mythological roots and documented history are both entangled with the animals who have crept, slithered, scurried and flown among its pillars and palaces for thousands of years.

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FWP Proposing More Western, Northwest Montana Wolves Be Harvested

From KYSSFM.com:

The comment period from both sides of the argument could get contentious to say the least.

Even though wolf hunting and trapping are already such polarizing subjects in the state, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has made the decision to propose new regulations aimed at increasing harvests, at least in some parts of the state. And the public comment period is underway.

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A battle is unfolding in Europe over the future of wolves

From NPR.org:

PESCASEROLLI, Italy — On Sept. 1, 2022, under an almost-full moon, a male wolf slipped into a paddock in the hamlet of Burgdorf-Beinhorn in Germany. He was following the scent of Dolly, a sweet chestnut mare with a white stripe on her muzzle. At 30 years old, Dolly was vulnerable. She became his next meal.

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FWP releases 2024 wolf report; [Montana] population relatively stable despite increase in harvest

From MontanaOutdoor.com:

The wolf population has remained relatively stable in the past few years with only slight declines in the statewide population estimates, according to the 2024 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks annual wolf report.

When looked at by FWP administrative region, wolf numbers are seeing a more definitive decline in Region 3, where wolf population estimates have gradually declined from 215 in 2020, to 173 in 2024. In western and northwest Montana, regions 2 and 1 respectively, populations are estimated to be nearly the same as last year.

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The intended and unintended consequences of wolf reintroduction programs

From NPR.org:

2025 marks 30 years since the federal government reintroduced wolves to the western United States, one of the most successful and controversial wildlife programs in U.S. history. To mark the anniversary, reporters Heath Druzin and Clark Corbin embarked on a thousand-mile road trip through wolf country to talk to the people who brought wolves back and those who never wanted them to return. Their journey is documented in the Boise State Public Radio podcast, “Howl.” Heath Druzin, welcome.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife acknowledges “complex, emotional” conflicts with Copper Creek wolf pack

From SkyHiNews.com:

Following the recent escalation of conflict between the Copper Creek wolf pack and livestock producers in Pitkin County, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission hosted a special meeting on Monday, July 7, to discuss the pack’s behavior and agency action in recent weeks.

“This is a pretty complex, emotional issue,” said Jeff Davis, the director of Parks and Wildlife, in his opening comments.

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