From The Denver Post:
Colorado ranchers are urging state wildlife officials to define what constitutes a wolf that chronically hunts livestock and to kill or remove a wolf that has killed several cattle in Grand County.
A wolf killed or injured seven cattle along the Williams Fork of the Colorado River near Kremmling between April 2 and May 11, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have declined to kill the wolf citing, in part, evidence that the wolf is part of a breeding pair that likely has pups.
“If this ain’t chronic depredation, what is?” Conway Farrell, who has lost six cattle to the wolf, asked Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners during an hours-long meeting on wolf control Thursday.
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Are Colorado’s reintroduced wolves having pups? Signs point to yes
From Fox31:
DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife is tracking what biologists believe is a wolf den in Colorado, although they have not seen the pups yet or the actual den itself.
However, officials also believe this is the only den active this year, according to statements made during a Thursday Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting. CPW is tracking the reintroduced wolves through GPS collars, and one of the female wolf’s movements has been “typical for a denning female.”
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When should a cattle-killing wolf be put down? Colorado wildlife officials punt question to new advisory group
From The Denver Post:
Colorado ranchers are urging state wildlife officials to define what constitutes a wolf that chronically hunts livestock and to kill or remove a wolf that has killed several cattle in Grand County.
A wolf killed or injured seven cattle along the Williams Fork of the Colorado River near Kremmling between April 2 and May 11, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have declined to kill the wolf citing, in part, evidence that the wolf is part of a breeding pair that likely has pups.
“If this ain’t chronic depredation, what is?” Conway Farrell, who has lost six cattle to the wolf, asked Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners during an hours-long meeting on wolf control Thursday.
Click here for the full story.
No charges in killing of gray wolf in southern Michigan. Experts stumped about how it got there.
From WNEM5:
Wildlife experts have hit a dead end in their quest to determine how a gray wolf arrived in southern Michigan for the first time in more than 100 years.
The wolf was killed in January by a hunter who told investigators that he had mistaken it for a coyote. It was a shock: While gray wolves are common in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — the latest estimate is more than 700 — the state’s southern Lower Peninsula doesn’t offer the proper habitat.
“We just don’t know how it got there,” Brian Roell, wolf expert at the state Department of Natural Resources, said.
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DNR: U.P. wolf population likely at ‘carrying capacity’
From WoodTV8:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The latest survey from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources estimates that the state’s wolf population is the highest it has been since the start of its semiannual surveys.
The 2024 winter wolf population survey estimates at least 762 wolves across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, up from 631 in 2022 and fairly consistent with the estimates over the last several years.
“This year’s survey findings are statistically consistent with our wolf population surveys for the past 14 years,” DNR large carnivore specialist Brian Roell said in a statement.
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Officials confirm another wolf depredation in Jackson County
From The Aspen Times:
Another calf was killed by a wolf or wolves in Jackson County. This latest depredation occurred June 9.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently updated the wolf depredation page on its website to reflect this information. Since the beginning of 2024, CPW has confirmed that 11 cattle have been killed by wolves. These depredations all occurred in Grand or Jackson counties.
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Idaho advocates worry about politicization of endangered species
From KTVB:
IDAHO, USA — This story originally appeared in The Idaho Press.
Snakes. Bears. Fish. Wolves. Whatever they may be, almost every state’s endangered species work is done by an independent state department.
But in Idaho, the Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation (OSC) is a subsidiary in Gov. Brad Little’s office — squarely in the hands of the governor.
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Backhaus proposes restricted protection for wolves.
From ASB Zeitung:
Germany has seen an increase in wolf population as per Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Environment Minister, Till Backhaus (SPD). As a result, these wolves no longer require the highest level of protection everywhere. According to Backhaus, “We need to consider regional variations and develop joint solutions for the ‘favourable conservation status’.”
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Michigan refers wolf killing case to prosecutors for possible charges
From Bridge Michigan:
State wildlife officials have ended their investigation into the January killing of an endangered wolf in southern Michigan and are referring the case for possible criminal charges.
In a statement to Bridge Michigan, Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Ed Golder said the agency has turned over investigative materials to the Calhoun County prosecutor.
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Colorado hunts for co-existence between people and wolves
From KLXH Helena:
At the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center near the town of Divide, CEO and founder Darlene Kobobel points out her furry permanent residents.
“This here is Nanook. That’s Raven,” she says, approaching an enclosure with two gray wolves.
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Capturing the hidden moments of Wyoming wildlife management
From Wyoming Tribune Eagle:
JACKSON — For years, Susan Patla tried to find funding to tag harlequin ducks, migratory sea birds that migrate from the West Coast to summer in Jackson Hole, the farthest eastern edge of their range.
Patla spent decades working as the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s non-game biologist and studied the species people couldn’t hunt.
She knew the ducks wintered on the west coast of Washington. But there was no data showing whether they had multiple migratory paths and winter ranges or one. Patla worried about an oil spill wiping out their breeding population. When the Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund eventually funded her research, Mark Gocke captured the resulting field work on camera, documenting Patla’s joy as she released a duck into the wild.
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