Yellowstone’s Wolves And The Controversy Racking Ecologists Right Now

From IFLScience.com:

There are plenty of things that make Yellowstone National Park special. It’s the US’s oldest National Park, dating back more than 150 years. It’s dotted by hot springs that are both fantastically vibrant and existentially (and immediately) perilous. It’s the only place in the country where you could, at least theoretically, get away with murder.

But equally striking is the flourishing wildlife. Flora and fauna abound, harkening back to an America not yet touched by colonialist hands: bison roam wild (indeed, sometimes they’re positively livid); grizzly bears are born and live in safety; cougars are… well, the cougars aren’t doing too hot, to be honest, but they’re trying their best.

And, at the very apex of the local food chain, there are the wolves.

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Was that a wolf in Whatcom County [Washington]? Here’s what state wildlife officials say

From BellinghamHerald.com:

A photograph going around social media claims to show a gray wolf standing in a field on Smith Road in rural Whatcom County. It’s a grainy color image of what appears to be a canine larger than a coyote, making it one of dozens of wolf sightings that have been reported in Whatcom County since 2020 — from the flanks of Mount Baker to Blaine, Ferndale and the Lummi Reservation.

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Gray wolves continue to move throughout [Colorado] state

From AlamosaCitizen.com:

Colorado gray wolves continue to move throughout the state, showing activity in watersheds near population centers. Colorado Parks and Wildlife clarified how watersheds are highlighted as wolves move in and out of them.

In November, CPW’s Gray Wolf Activity Map showed much of the San Luis Valley’s watershed lit up with wolf activity. The map seemingly showed movement from Rio Grande County, through Alamosa County and into Costilla County.

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Wolves more afraid of human voices than of barking dogs, [Polish] study finds

From ScienceInPoland.pl:

Wolves fear human voices more than barking dogs or bird calls, according to research from the University of Gdańsk. In a field experiment, Maciej Szewczyk, PhD, and his colleagues used cameras with speakers playing human voices and other sounds.

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Participatory action: An appeal for change in Switzerland

From WildBeimWild.com:

A few days ago, due to a recent legislative change, the culling of numerous wolves was approved in Switzerland.

However, wolves are, according to the Bern Convention and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats – both agreements ratified by Switzerland – a ‘strictly protected species’. The now approved culling undermines these agreements and thus the protection of wolves. Moreover, the decision to cull contradicts the result of a national referendum in 2020.

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How the European Ombudsman closed an inquiry on the protection of wolves

From BrusselsTimes.com:

The European Ombudsman opened an investigation in October 2024 into the Commission’s proposal to weaken the protection status of wolves following a complaint from an NGO that the proposal was not based on sufficient scientific evidence and proper stakeholder consultation. A year later it closed the inquiry at the request of the European Commission.

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Wolves kill 9 people, mostly kids, in separate attacks in India: “Our children are not safe”

From CBSNews.com:

Forest rangers in India have deployed drones to track wolves after nine people, mostly children, were killed by the animals in recent weeks, officials said Sunday.

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Turkistan Region Farmers Report Increased Wolf Attacks on Livestock

From AstanaTimes.com:

ALMATY – Turkistan Region’s Baidibek district has seen a surge in wolf attacks on livestock in recent months, causing significant losses for local farmers. Residents of the villages say the number of attacks has increased sharply since August.

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Ancient Humans Introduced Wolves to Remote Baltic Sea Island 5,000 Years Ago

From Sci.News:

Wolves, the wild ancestor of dogs, are the only large carnivores that have undergone domestication by humans. Yet, it remains unclear if this process took place via direct and deliberate human control of wild wolves or if wolf populations gradually adapted to the human niche. Now, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of two canid individuals with gray wolf genetic ancestry in the Stora Förvar cave on the Swedish island of Stora Karlsö in the Baltic Sea. This island is small (2.5 km2) and, like the neighboring island of Gotland, carries no endemic populations of land mammals, meaning that any such animals must have been brought there by people.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife director steps down after tumultuous tenure marked by controversial wolf reintroduction program

From TheAspenTimes.com:

Colorado’s top wildlife official has stepped down after more than two years in a role that was largely defined by the state’s controversial wolf reintroduction program.

Jeff Davis has left his job as director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, according to a Tuesday news release from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Davis was appointed to the role by Gov. Jared Polis in May 2023, and previously served for more than 20 years with Washington state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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