From CBS58.com in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
TOWN OF HANSEN, Wis. (AP) — A central Wisconsin farm has lost the majority of its livestock in an attack by a pack of wolves.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 13 sheep were killed on a farm in the Wood County Town of Hansen. WSAW-TV says the dead sheep were discovered Monday. An investigator determined they were killed by wolves. Only one sheep survived.
From 9News.com:
JACKSON COUNTY, Colorado — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) biologists are working to confirm a wolf sighting in Jackson County and another in Grand County, according to a CPW Facebook post.
That’s a pretty big deal because the gray wolf and the Mexican wolf (listed separately as a subspecies) are classified as federally endangered in Colorado, CPW says on its website. And until recently, gray wolves were gone from Colorado, the last ones were killed by about 1940.
From Colorado Public Radio:
Last year, Eric Washburn shot and killed a mule buck in Northern Colorado. Its thick coat and massive rack of antlers convinced him of the animal’s health, so he had the meat processed and chucked it into his freezer.
A few weeks later, a mandatory Colorado Parks and Wildlife test revealed the animal had chronic wasting disease. The deadly neurological condition was first discovered in Fort Collins, in 1967. It’s similar to mad cow disease, but affects deer, elk and moose.
From The Atlantic:
Isle Royale is 200 square miles of land in the watery expanse of Lake Superior. One cold winter 70 years ago, wolves came over an ice bridge and settled into a largely isolated island existence. Unfortunately, island life has not been good for them.
By 2016, the number of wolves on Isle Royale declined from a peak of 50 to just two, a male and a female. As a result of inbreeding, they were half-siblings as well as father and daughter. They had a pup together that lived less than a year. Even before that, scientists were finding wolves on Isle Royale with crooked spines and extra ribs.
From phys.org:
Rewilding is often thought of as a fantastical vision of the future. One day we might share the landscape with wolves and bears, but in the present day, it seems unlikely. For many people in Europe though, that’s exactly what they’ve been doing for at least the past decade.
Rewilding means bringing back the species and habitats which have disappeared from a region. Initially, conservationists imagined creating vast nature reserves which could be connected by “wildlife corridors” of forest, so that carnivores such as lynx could be reintroduced and thrive in a landscape that’s been heavily altered by humans.
From newsinenglish.no:
A police investigation is underway in Hedmark, the southeastern Norwegian county where farmers feel most threatened by wolves, after a local sheep rancher shot a wolf three times with a rifle early Tuesday morning. He claims he found the wolf in an area where his sheep were grazing, but police haven’t found any injured or dead sheep.
Click here for the full story.
(Warning: Graphic photo included in post.)
From Gazette.com:
Like many people, Rosemary Scott grew up believing the wolf is a bloodthirsty man-eater that kills on sight.
Having been raised in the country where farmers sought to eradicate the wolf for destroying crops added to the controversy. Attending educational seminars and interacting with live wolves convinced the area resident she was wrong about these creatures whom she now calls, “The most misunderstood animal in the world.”
From WisFarmer.com:
Wisconsin DNR reports that the wolf population has grown from 14 wolves in 1985 to more than 900 in 2018. This remarkable comeback is due in part to education, legal protection and habitat protection efforts through the DNR. This is an exceptional success story of many stakeholders working together on a collaborative effort.
From National Geographic:
You might say that National Geographic Explorer Doug Smith is obsessed with wolves. After all, he’s spent his entire career studying them. A wildlife biologist, he leads the Wolf Restoration project in Yellowstone National Park, trekking on foot, riding horseback, and leaping from helicopters to research and protect these native canines.
From the Ashland Tidings in Oregon:
Good fences make good neighbors, as the saying goes, but for a local cattle rancher, a fence may be the last hope.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to build a tall, strong fence around the property of cattle rancher Ted Birdseye in the latest attempt to keep OR-7 and his Rogue Pack of gray wolves from devouring any more of his cattle — and also to protect the wolves.
The International Wolf Center uses science-based education to teach and inspire the world about wolves, their ecology, and the wolf-human relationship.