From The Spokesman-Review in Washington:
Responding to pressure from Gov. Jay Inslee, Washington wildlife managers are considering implementing new wolf-livestock rules.
Per the proposal, which was announced in a news release last week, before the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife could kill wolves that attacked livestock, agency staff would need to confirm that livestock owners had implemented appropriate nonlethal deterrents. The proposal would also create Chronic Conflict Zones within the state. These zones would have area-specific criteria for the use of nonlethal and lethal measures.
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‘The number of wolves poached in Oregon is growing sickeningly high’
From KATU.com
COVE, Ore. — Information on a wolf found shot to death last month is the subject of a reward up to $22,500, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife said Wendesday.
Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Troopers located the carcass of OR109 while responding to a mortality signal from the wolf’s tracking collar outside of the town of Cove in Union County in northeastern Oregon.
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Some Minnesota wolf trapping resumes after timeout
From the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota:
DULUTH — A U.S. government program that captures and kills wolves near where livestock have been killed in Minnesota is back in business after a pause caused by a recent federal court decision.
A federal judge in California ruled on Feb. 10 that wolves across most of the U.S. have regained protections under the federal Endangered Species Act, including in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
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Wolf hunting, trapping ends in southwestern Montana
From the Challis Messenger:
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wolf hunting and trapping ended for the season in southwestern Montana after hunters killed 82 wolves in the region, the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Feb. 17.
Yellowstone National Park officials had asked the state in December to suspend wolf hunting and trapping in some areas along the park’s border, saying the number of wolves killed marked a significant setback for the long-term viability of Yellowstone’s wolf packs.
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Two critically endangered red wolves released in NC wildlife refuge
From The Hill:
Two red wolves were released this month into a conservation area west of the Outer Banks in North Carolina, the Red Wolf Recovery Program announced on Saturday.
“First steps towards the wild!” the program wrote alongside a video on Facebook, adding: “These 2 red wolves (Female 2272 from Zoo Knoxville and Male 2141 from the Western North Carolina Nature Center) are the first of the 10 wolves brought to the NC NEP during the winter 2021/2022 to be released.”
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Canada: Rare coastal wolves reported at Royal Roads University in Colwood, B.C.
From CTV News in Vancouver Island:
Royal Roads University (RRU) is warning visitors of recent wolf reports on campus, specifically reports of the Vancouver Coastal Island wolf.
This rare subspecies of grey wolf is generally found on Northern Vancouver Island. However, the university says there have been recent reports of the wolf being “seen and heard” on the RRU campus in Colwood, B.C.
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Responding to pressure from Inslee, Washington wildlife managers consider implementing new wolf-livestock rules
From The Spokesman-Review in Washington:
Responding to pressure from Gov. Jay Inslee, Washington wildlife managers are considering implementing new wolf-livestock rules.
Per the proposal, which was announced in a news release last week, before the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife could kill wolves that attacked livestock, agency staff would need to confirm that livestock owners had implemented appropriate nonlethal deterrents. The proposal would also create Chronic Conflict Zones within the state. These zones would have area-specific criteria for the use of nonlethal and lethal measures.
Click here for the full story.
Montana: Officials say hunting wolves from aircraft is prohibited
From the Associated Press:
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Despite a recent interpretation of Montana state law that aerial hunting of wolves is not prohibited, doing so runs afoul of federal law.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks argued in state District Court recently that state law does not prohibit aerial hunting of wolves. FWP’s arguments came as legal justification for the agency removing language from the state’s wolf regulations that had stated hunting wolves from aircraft was barred. The agency says that inclusion of that language in the regulations for a decade was an error.
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Isle Royale wolf relocation inspires documentary, coursework for students
From the StarTribune.com
A helicopter blows into view, in urgent pursuit in the Ontario wilderness of something small and overmatched moving through a white expanse below. Soon enough the furry quarry — a gray wolf — is seen captured in the knee-deep snow of a frozen, remote landscape.
The action on the screen is arresting and methodical. It’s also an enticing way into its purpose: The scene is part of a new documentary produced along with related lesson plans for school-age children to engage in the ongoing relocation of wolves to restore their population on Isle Royale, the national park in northwestern Lake Superior.
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Wolves are returning to European farmland – but they’re not motivated by a taste for sheep
From The Conversation:
Few animals are as adaptable as the wolf, which boasts one of the widest distributions of any land carnivore. Wolves were eradicated from many areas of Europe in the 19th century after prolonged persecution, but they have staged a comeback in recent decades. Today, there are thought to be at least 12,000 wolves roaming the continent, and their numbers are increasing.
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Grizzly Bears Make Yellowstone Wolves Behave in Unexpected Way, Study Finds
From Newsweek:
The behavior of wolves towards their kills in Yellowstone National Park changes when bears are around, a new study has shown.
The research was published in the journal Ecological Monographs, and compared wolf behavior in the presence of brown bears in both Yellowstone and in Scandinavia.
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