Wolf behaviour analysis: an excerpt from The Pipestone Wolves

From Canadian Geographic:

Seventy-four per cent of the 140 encounters between a wolf and a human (with and without a dog) were observed with a distance of over 100 metres (but not more than 150 metres) between the subjects, whereas only 26 per cent were under 100 metres. However, importantly, as all the zeroes in the corresponding columns indicate, not one direct attack, threat or bluff charge toward a human (with or without a dog) was observed in the five years of data observations collected. It’s also important to note that in 71 per cent of all observed encounters, the wolf left the area when confronted by a human (with or without a dog); they only behaved tolerantly in 29 per cent of the documented cases. Bold, Type A wolves left the area in 66 per cent of all encounters with humans (with or without a dog) and behaved tolerantly in 34 per cent of all documented cases. Shy, Type B wolves left the area in 78 per cent of all encounters with humans (with or without a dog) and only behaved tolerantly in 22 per cent of all documented cases (and only 7 per cent of Type B wolves that encountered humans at a distance less than 100 metres behaved tolerantly).

 

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Study tracks how wolf reintroduction at Isle Royale affected foxes, martens

From Wisconsin Public Radio:

The reintroduction of wolves has only had temporary effects on other small carnivores at Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The park is the site of the longest predator-prey study on record between wolves and moose. Over the years, the wolf population has fluctuated there, but the species almost went extinct in the last decade after only two inbred wolves remained. Those wolves couldn’t reproduce to control the moose population.

 

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Wolf spotted on Norderney again: Search with drone

From ASB Zeitung:

After the initial sighting of a wolf on a Lower Saxony North Sea island, experts have once again discovered the wild animal on Norderney. Employees of the Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal and Nature Protection (NLWKN) Agency and the National Park Administration launched a drone with a thermal imaging camera in the night from Thursday to Friday for further evidence, as Jan Wagner, spokesperson for the National Park Administration, stated. The animal was again found in the resting zone of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park. Previously, a wildlife camera had photographed the wolf on June 6 and 20. Experts later confirmed that it was indeed a wolf, likely a pack.

 

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‘Wolves at Our Doorstep’: Advocates introduce gray wolf, address rancher concerns at Aspen Ideas Festival

From Post Independent:

As Colorado’s collared wolves continue to make their way deeper into the Western Slope, Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Colorado Boulder Joanna Lambert pointed to previous wolf re-introduction efforts in the United States to bolster Colorado’s re-introduction plan during the Aspen Ideas Festival on Thursday.

“In talking to folks around Yellowstone, you know, those wolves went in 30 years ago … and it was intense, it was vitriolic,” she said. “Now, when you talk to ranchers right outside the park, say up in Paradise Valley, they’re like, ‘Eh, wolves, schmolves. We don’t want them here, and you guys put them in here, but I’ve figured it out.’”

 

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Is Colorado Ignoring The Best Wolf Deterrence Program in Country?

From Colorado Times Recorder:

There are five large sheep-raising operations in the Big Wood Valley, in central Idaho. Seventeen years ago, they banded together to conduct a long-range experiment focused on whether it was possible to use non-lethal tools and tactics to discourage wolves from preying on their sheep.

Partners in the program included Defenders of Wildlife, Wildlife Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and various academics from universities around the world. The protected area was open-range.

 

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Russian scientists conduct autopsy on 44,000-year-old permafrost wolf carcass

From Reuters:

YAKUTSK, Russia, June 28 (Reuters) – In Russia’s far northeastern Yakutia region, local scientists are performing an autopsy on a wolf frozen in permafrost for around 44,000 years, a find they said was the first of its kind.
Found by chance by locals in Yakutia’s Abyyskiy district in 2021, the wolf’s body is only now being properly examined by scientists.
“This is the world’s first discovery of a late Pleistocene predator,” said Albert Protopopov, head of the department for the study of mammoth fauna at the Yakutia Academy of Sciences.

Wildlife advocates push for federal protection of wolves on Capitol Hill

From Microsoft Start:

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – More than a dozen wildlife groups from around the country visited the Capitol on Wednesday to advocate for the federal protection of wolves.

States like Wyoming, Idaho and Montana do not have regulations in place to prevent the killing of wolves. In 2011, the gray wolf was delisted from the Endangered Species Act by Congress in these three states and several others.

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Colorado awards group $28K for non-lethal wolf deterrents, range riders

From Fox 31:

DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are extending an agreement with the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association to continue supporting on-the-ground, non-lethal wolf deterrents.

The pair of state agencies are adding another $28,000 to support the association’s non-lethal deterrence plan, which includes a nighttime range rider to help prevent further conflicts between wolves and humans or livestock.

 

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Changes to Wyoming’s predator laws take shape in response to the wolf incident

From Wyoming Public Media:

“Before” the capture, and “after.” That’s how a state-appointed group examined the events that led up to and followed the now infamous incident in Sublette County of alleged wolf abuse.

The nine-member Treatment of Predators Working Group held their first meeting in Lander this week. The lawmakers, agriculture representatives and wildlife advocates took their first stab at reforming Wyoming’s predator laws.

The working group spent three hours reviewing the incident, state management laws and common hunting and agricultural practices. They’re expected to share a proposed bill to the Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resource Committee this fall.

 

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Reintroduction of Wolves to Isle Royale Shows Fleeting Impact on Wildlife

From Nature World News:

In 2019, 19 wolves were reintroduced into Isle Royale National Park with a view to returning its ecosystem to its natural balance. Climate change made it impossible to bridge ice bridges between the island and the mainland, causing the population of wolves on the island to drop, leaving only two inbred individuals, which made this effort necessary.

The study, which was just published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, used DNA analysis from fox and marten scat and hair to evaluate the effects of the wolves’ return.

 

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