Retired wildlife leaders decry firings as ‘existential threat’ [United States]

From Wildlife.org:

Retired leaders of agencies that work on wildlife conservation and management fear the loss of capacity, leadership and collaborative relationships caused by the ongoing slew of mass terminations.

“What we’re seeing is the start of a trophic cascade for the conservation institution,” said John Organ, retired chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Cooperative Research Unit (CRU) Program. “These cuts, which are just the beginning, are going to have impacts well beyond the federal government. It’s going to impact state fish and wildlife agencies, NGOs and ultimately, biodiversity on this continent.”

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Inside the Fight to Save the World’s Most Endangered Wolf

From GardenAndGun.com:

Every twenty-four to fifty hours, a set of coordinates pings out from each of the orange radio collars fastened around the necks of seventeen tawny-hued canines roaming the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula, in North Carolina. The latitudes and longitudes transmit to wildlife biologist Joe Madison’s cell phone, updating the seventeen lone dots on a map that represent the beating hearts of the only wild red wolves in existence.

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[Montana] House Fish and Game Committee hear lengthy debate on gray wolf management bills.

From HiLineToday.com:

HELENA — Tuesday’s Senate Fish and Game Committee meeting was dedicated entirely to three hours of fiery debate on two controversial gray wolf management bills from Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls.

House Bill 258 would extend the seven-month wolf hunting season by another three months and House Bill 259 would legalize infrared and thermal imagery for wolf hunting.

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Jackson County [Colorado] ranch cattle dog attacked by wolf, wildlife officials confirm

From Coloradoan.com:

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed a dog was attacked by a wolf or wolves in Jackson County, just more than a month after the last confirmed wolf depredation, also in Jackson County.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in an email to the Coloradoan on Wednesday it is not sharing information other than what is posted on its confirmed wolf depredation page.

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Illegal killing of endangered gray wolf in Sisters, Ore. prompts investigation

From Yahoo.com:

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking information that leads to finding the person responsible for illegally killing an endangered gray wolf in early March.

The offer follows several other poaching investigations that have resulted in reward offers totaling more than $130,000 for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest or citation for those involved in killing the animals across the state in the past two years.

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Northland gray wolf’s future as a threatened species in question [Minnesota]

From BemidjiPioneer.com:

Gray wolves protected stay on the Endangered Species Act of 1973 may be coming to a permanent end. A forced Minnesota hunting season could follow.

The ESA aimed to protect the apex predator from hunters, crafting a safe environment to allow its recovery after being hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states.

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California’s gray wolf packs blamed for cattle killings. Will it turn people against wolves?

From Redding.com:

As California’s gray wolf population grows, so are the reports of wolves killing cattle in the state’s rural corners, prompting at least one county to recently declare a local emergency that urges state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials to fix the problem.

“Authorities are requested to to consider euthanizing or relocating problem wolves to prevent livestock losses and ensure the safety of the general public in affected communities,” the Modoc County Board of Supervisors’ March 13 resolution declares.

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Last year [Minnesota] saw a record number of wolf-related calls

From FarmProgress.com:

This year’s Minnesota legislative session is in full swing, and on the list of farmer and rancher concerns is the status of depredation funding for the losses of livestock, standing crops and/or stored forage to wolf, elk and/or deer.

Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association President Jake Thompson, who is a cow-calf producer near Barnesville, testified in both the Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate Ag Committees in late February in support of bills providing continued funding for both elk and wolf depredation funds used to reimburse farmers and ranchers for their losses.

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Grand Teton National Park’s ‘Jackson Five’

From WyomingPublicMedia.org:

Billy Fabian is a wildlife guide for Jackson Hole EcoTour Adventures where, among other job responsibilities, he creates Instagram videos of Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem wildlife from bears and bison to moose, elk and wolves.

In one January video racking up over 200,000 likes on the social media platform, three wolves chase the ankles of a bull elk about three times their size.

Fabian details the action like a color commentator.

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Wolves make a rapid recovery in Europe, increasing by 58% in a decade

From Phys.org:

Wolf populations in Europe increased by nearly 60% in a decade, according to a study led by Cecilia Di Bernardi and Guillaume Chapron at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, published in the open-access journal PLOS Sustainability and Transformation.

Large carnivore populations are declining worldwide. However, in Europe, conservation policies have supported the recovery of wolves (Canis lupus) in recent decades.

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