U.S. Fish and Wildlife counts, treats and gathers data on Mexican gray wolf population in Gila National Forest

From the Albuquerque Journal:

APACHE CREEK – It was a clear, sunny day with snow on the ground, when a helicopter landed in a clearing on the Gila National Forest. A woman in a baggy jumpsuit, orange helmet and aviators approached the helicopter and came away with a 50 pound Mexican gray wolf.

The pup of the year in a soft, winter coat was limp in her arms. She was greeted by the crew of government and nonprofit workers about 100 feet away, where they weighed her and laid her on a padded truck bed. A half dozen people, including veterinarians, swarmed in.

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Washington: Bill to delist gray wolves in certain counties introduced

From Newsradio 560KPQ in Washington:

An Okanogan County lawmaker says more needs to be done to protect ranchers, cattlemen, and rural families from a rising wolf population.

According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the state’s gray wolf population has grown nearly 28-percent each year since 2008.

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Colorado: 2 gray wolves collared to better understand behaviors for wolf management plan

From CBSNews.com:

More information is being collected on gray wolves and their habits as the animals navigate new territory in Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers are capturing, collaring and releasing gray wolves.

On Thursday, CPW officers captured and collared, and in one case, recollar, two gray wolves in North Park. Male wolf 2101 was collared two years ago and was fitted with a new collar. Wolf 2301, another male presumed to be one of 2101’s pups, was also fitted with a collar.

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Colorado: Ranchers to be compensated up to $8,000 for each head lost to wolf depredation, CPW says

From the Post Independent in Colorado:

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is coming to Rifle next week to discuss and collect public feedback over the state’s contentious plan to restore gray wolves in its ecosystem.

The meeting is slated for 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday at Colorado Mountain College Rifle, 3695 Airport Road. Anyone who can’t attend the meeting in-person but are interested in making a public comment can fill out a form online, at engagecpw.org. The deadline for filling out and submitting this public comment document is Feb. 22.

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New York Officials: DNA Confirms Wolf Killed in 2021

From Grand View Outdoors:

DNA tests confirmed that a licensed New York hunter killed a wolf during the 2021 coyote season, state officials said. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officials confirmed an animal killed by a hunter in Cherry Valley, Otsego County, was a wolf.

Initial DNA analysis completed in summer 2022 determined the wild canid to be most closely identified as an Eastern coyote. The hunter voluntarily submitted DNA for further analysis to Dr. Bridgett vonHoldt, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, as part of a joint research effort by multiple parties.

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Save the wolf, EU environment ministers urge Brussels

From Politico:

EU environment ministers are howling that the European Commission should do more to protect wolves.

Twelve of the bloc’s environment ministers reacted to a European Parliament resolution that called to downgrade the gray wolf’s protection status to help livestock farmers, by urging the Commission to preserve its place as a protected species.

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Germany: Fate of wolf that killed von der Leyen’s pony to be decided today

From Politico:

In the next few hours, it will be decided if the wolf that killed the pony of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will survive.

On September 1, 2022, a wolf used the cover of darkness to sneak into a well-guarded compound in northwest Germany and kill Dolly, the 30-year-old pony belonging to von der Leyen.

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Idaho’s wolf numbers are declining. Fish and Game hopes to whittle population by 60%

From the Idaho Statesman:

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game estimates wolf populations have dropped, and officials said they hope to implement a plan that would slash numbers to a fraction of the current population. In a Fish and Game Commission meeting last week, agency officials presented a new wolf population estimate and debuted a draft for a wolf management plan that will likely be approved this spring.

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Italy: The incredible rescue of a wolf that fell into a stream

From MSN.com:

Firefighters in Verona (Italy) rescued a wolf that ended up in a waterway, in the city center. Initially mistaken for a dog, the wolf, exhausted, had stopped on the branches of a fig tree and then ended up in the ditch.

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US plans end to wolf protections, critics say it’s premature

From News8000.com:

U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that’s run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told The Associated Press.

Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the proposal during a Wednesday speech at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Denver, a weeklong conservation forum for researchers, government officials and others, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Spokesman Gavin Shire said in an interview with the AP.

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