Wolves eliminate deer on Alaskan Island then quickly shift to eating sea otters, research finds

From Oregon State University:

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Wolves on an Alaskan island caused a deer population to plummet and switched to primarily eating sea otters in just a few years, a finding scientists at Oregon State University and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game believe is the first case of sea otters becoming the primary food source for a land-based predator.

Using methods such as tracking the wolves with GPS collars and analyzing their scat, the researchers found that in 2015 deer were the primary food of the wolves, representing 75% of their diet, while sea otters comprised 25%.

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Mexican gray wolf that roamed beyond recovery area captured

From APNews.com:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A female Mexican gray wolf that roamed beyond the endangered species’ recovery area into the more northern reaches of New Mexico has been captured, authorities said Monday.

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish used a helicopter to locate and capture the wolf Sunday.

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Colorado: Rancher details wolf challenges to Parks, Wildlife panel

From The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Colorado:

After more than a year of dealing with the threat of wolves killing his cattle, Walden-area rancher Don Gittleson has gained some hard-won perspective on where to turn to for insights on wolf behavior and how to protect his livestock from them.

Over that time he has found, among other things, that while people had told him it would be a female wolf that decides when a pack attacks, that isn’t what he saw happening. Instead, it was a collared male that was involved in every attack.

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Belgium now has 24 wolves, new pack likely on the way

From The Brussels Times:

Five years after wolf Naya was spotted in Limburg, an estimated 24 wolves already live in Belgium, and a new pack is now on its way, according to wolf researcher Joachim Mergeay of the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO).

The exact number of wolves is of little relevance as it varies constantly, but the number of different packs (family groups) is more important. In one year, the number of wolves within such a pack can vary considerably, Mergeay told De Morgen.

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Wolf Packs Suffer When Humans Kill Their Leaders

From Psychology Today:

Wolves are amazing and magnificent carnivores. They are highly social, pack-living animals whose numbers have been decimated globally because of their predatory ways.

While it’s been known that human intrusions into their lives can affect their behavior, a new, landmark study–called “one of the most important papers to come out of Yellowstone in his 28 years with the park” by Doug Smith, one of the world’s leading wolf experts who led Yellowstone’s wolf reintroduction for many years–shows that when people kill wolves their pack becomes less stable and can disband and cease to exist.1

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Gray Wolf Population in Michigan Continues Trend of Stability, New Report Shows

From Nature World News:

The population of gray wolves in Michigan showed a good sign of a steady stability trend, according to the latest report and 2022 survey.

The 2022 survey aimed to determine the population of gray wolves in Michigan.

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When humans kill a single wolf, it can decimate an entire wolf pack

From the Star Tribune:

The wolf had been shot and killed by a poacher in the spring of 2022. She was the breeding female of the Tamarack Pack, followed by the …

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Gianforte orders new wolf management plan

From the Helena Independent Record:

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Thursday ordered state wildlife officials to develop a new wolf management plan.

Officials completed environmental analysis on wolves in the early 2000s in anticipation of federal delisting, releasing the state’s management plan in 2002. Wolves were first delisted in 2009, only to be returned to federal protections the following year by a federal judge. In 2011, wolves were delisted by Congress, and have remained under state management, which has included hunting and trapping.

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Oregon OKs killing 2 wolves in new pack

From The Lewiston Tribune:

UNION, Ore. — Oregon officials approved Thursday the killing of two wolves in a new pack that they said have been attacking calves in the northeastern part of the state.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said it would allow the landowner or potentially USDA Wildlife Services to shoot the wolves on the private land where the attacks happened, east of Union.

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Canada: Wolves searching for food attack pet dogs in northern Ontario First Nation

From CBC.ca:

Wolves have roamed into the remote Attawapiskat First Nation, along northern Ontario’s James Bay coast, and attacked local dogs.

Jack Linklater Jr., Attawapiskat’s deputy chief, said community elders believe higher than normal snowfall in the region has driven wolves searching for food into the community during the last three weeks.

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