From KLCC:
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The first full moon of the year comes later this month, and it has got a name.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
January is the time of the wolf moon. The “Old Farmer’s Almanac” says it got the nickname because wolves were likely to be heard howling in midwinter.
From the Nugget:
State biologists say Oregon’s gray wolf population may have reached its ecological limit in the eastern third of the state and that packs will probably spread out to the west and south in greater numbers.
Those comments, made at a meeting of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, came as Colorado released five wolves trapped from Oregon as part of a historic reintroduction program.
From Sci Tech Daily:
Firsthand accounts of wolves hunting and successfully capturing a harbor seal, and another instance of a wolf pack preying on and consuming a sea otter along the coast of Katmai, Alaska, have prompted researchers to reconsider assumptions about wolf hunting behavior.
Wolves have previously been observed consuming sea otter carcasses, but how they obtain these and the frequency of scavenging versus hunting marine prey is largely unknown. Scientists at Oregon State University, the National Park Service, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game are beginning to change that with a paper recently published in the journal Ecology.
From Swiss Info:
The Swiss government’s plan for a preventative cull of wolves has been partially put on ice after a legal appeal. But Bern’s approach could yet be a sign of what’s to come elsewhere in Europe.
From Idaho News6:
BOISE, Idaho — Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the state of Idaho claiming that traps and snares will have a negative impact on grizzly bears in the Idaho Panhandle and Yellowstone Region and will violate the Endangered Species Act.
From Elkhorn Media Group:
JOHN DAY – Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Assistant District Wildlife Biologist Ryan Platte was on KJDY’s Coffee Time Wednesday morning and discussed wolves within Grant County. Platte mentioned that their management tactics are more limited in certain parts of the county than others:
From DL-Online:
DETROIT LAKES — More than 600 people attended a wolf predation meeting hosted by Hunters for Hunters on Friday, Dec. 29, at the Detroit Lakes Holiday Inn.
“There are two types of deer enthusiasts in Minnesota; ones that have wolf problems and ones that are about to have wolf problems,” said host Steve Porter.
From Capital Press:
A northwest Washington lawmaker has introduced a bill to allow ranchers to shoot the first wolf that comes back to feed on dead livestock.
Rather than indiscriminately culling a pack, killing the wolf that returns to the carcass will make it “far more likely to get the proper wolf,” said Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Woolley.
From the Fence Post:
Todd Schmidt is the owner of Highmark Builders in Kremmling, Colo., and he spends a great deal of time behind the wheel back and forth to building sites and his home near Sweetwater. He is always watching for wildlife, and snaps the occasional photo of the large elk herds and other animals that he sees from the road in Grand County.
From the Coloradoan:
The first images of what are believed to be one of Colorado’s released wolves in the wild was captured Tuesday in Grand County.
That photo comes after a representative of Windler Ranch, located near Yampa in southern Routt County, said in a video on its Instagram page Dec. 22 that on Dec. 21 the family saw what they believe were four of the five wolves from Colorado’s initial wolf release Dec. 18.
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.