Russian scientists conduct autopsy on 44,000-year-old permafrost wolf carcass

From Reuters:

YAKUTSK, Russia, June 28 (Reuters) – In Russia’s far northeastern Yakutia region, local scientists are performing an autopsy on a wolf frozen in permafrost for around 44,000 years, a find they said was the first of its kind.
Found by chance by locals in Yakutia’s Abyyskiy district in 2021, the wolf’s body is only now being properly examined by scientists.
“This is the world’s first discovery of a late Pleistocene predator,” said Albert Protopopov, head of the department for the study of mammoth fauna at the Yakutia Academy of Sciences.

Wildlife advocates push for federal protection of wolves on Capitol Hill

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.

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Colorado awards group $28K for non-lethal wolf deterrents, range riders

From Fox 31:

DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are extending an agreement with the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association to continue supporting on-the-ground, non-lethal wolf deterrents.

The pair of state agencies are adding another $28,000 to support the association’s non-lethal deterrence plan, which includes a nighttime range rider to help prevent further conflicts between wolves and humans or livestock.

 

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Changes to Wyoming’s predator laws take shape in response to the wolf incident

From Wyoming Public Media:

“Before” the capture, and “after.” That’s how a state-appointed group examined the events that led up to and followed the now infamous incident in Sublette County of alleged wolf abuse.

The nine-member Treatment of Predators Working Group held their first meeting in Lander this week. The lawmakers, agriculture representatives and wildlife advocates took their first stab at reforming Wyoming’s predator laws.

The working group spent three hours reviewing the incident, state management laws and common hunting and agricultural practices. They’re expected to share a proposed bill to the Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resource Committee this fall.

 

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Reintroduction of Wolves to Isle Royale Shows Fleeting Impact on Wildlife

From Nature World News:

In 2019, 19 wolves were reintroduced into Isle Royale National Park with a view to returning its ecosystem to its natural balance. Climate change made it impossible to bridge ice bridges between the island and the mainland, causing the population of wolves on the island to drop, leaving only two inbred individuals, which made this effort necessary.

The study, which was just published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, used DNA analysis from fox and marten scat and hair to evaluate the effects of the wolves’ return.

 

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‘Wolves at Our Doorstep’: Advocates introduce gray wolf, address rancher concerns at Aspen Ideas Festival

From The Aspen Times:

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.’”

 

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Wolves reintroduced to Isle Royale temporarily affect other carnivores, humans have influence as well

From Phys.org:

In a rare opportunity to study carnivores before and after wolves were reintroduced to their ranges, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison found that the effects of wolves on Isle Royale have been only temporary. And even in the least-visited national park, humans had a more significant impact on carnivores’ lives.

The paper, published recently in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, uses DNA from foxes and martens’ scat and hair to understand where these animals were and what they ate before  were reintroduced, following the first year of their reintroduction, and as they formed packs across the island.

 

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Colorado wolves still active in Grand, Jackson counties, while moving deeper into Summit, Eagle counties

From Sky-Hi News:

Colorado’s collared wolves have traveled deeper into Eagle and Summit counties while somewhat withdrawing from parts of Routt and Grand counties, according to a map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife Wednesday.

The map, posted on the agency’s website, uses Colorado watershed boundaries to indicate where wolves have been detected. It is updated on the fourth Wednesday of every month.

State officials have released the maps monthly since January after reintroducing 10 wolves in Grand and Summit counties in December.

 

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Running Predators Down With Snowmobiles Could Stay Legal In Wyoming

From Cowboy State Daily:

Despite widespread outrage over a wolf being run down with a snowmobile in the infamous Daniel wolf torture incident, banning that practice in Wyoming doesn’t seem imminent.

Instead, the focus should be on requiring predators be killed quickly, regardless of the method.

That’s the takeaway from members of a legislative working group Tuesday looking into reforming Wyoming’s predator polices in the wake of the Daniel incident.

 

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Vote nears on ending ‘endangered’ status for WA wolves

From The Seattle Times:

The Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission will decide next month on lowering gray wolves’ status under the state’s endangered species law.

Environmentalists and others say this would lead to inadequate protection for the animals when they still haven’t recovered in parts of the state. State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials and others contend that not much would change in terms of how the animals are shielded from hunting and argue the move makes sense because wolf numbers have strongly rebounded.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recommendation is to downlist wolves from “endangered” to “sensitive.”

 

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