From The Paper in Albuquerque, New Mexico:
The Lobo, or Mexican gray wolf, listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1976 is the smallest, most genetically distinct and one of the rarest subspecies of the gray wolf. Wildlife advocates and science say a healthy wolf population supports the balance of ecosystems because predators act as checks on populations lower on the food chain which can benefit many other plant and animal species.
Wolves are highly intelligent pack animals and have been widely misunderstood through the millennia as wild and deadly beasts. They are the creatures of myth and folklore, often to their detriment. They are extremely social animals that develop very close social bonds with family members and their pack, often showing significant displays of affection and other emotions with each other. They avoid people as much as possible and are rarely seen along a highway or on a hiking trail.
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Wolf hazing legalized in Colorado
From High Country News:
In 2020, Coloradans voted for wolf reintroduction. But you can’t establish wolf packs unless you ensure their survival, and that requires human tolerance and landscape-wide protections. Scientists traced the Green River wildlife corridor from Wyoming to Colorado in order to understand the political and physical obstacles that wolves face, and the reasons why they haven’t repopulated the West on their own (“A Hostile Country,” September 2021).
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Wolves use trails created by humans for convenient hunting and easier access to prey
From The Conversation:
Zoom in and explore the northern boreal forests of western Canada on Google Earth and you’ll see long straight lines making their way through the forest. These lines are cleared trails through the forest to extract resources, creating roads for forestry and seismic lines searching for underground oil and gas deposits.
Now picture yourself faced with the task of moving across this landscape: Will you push your way through dense trees and underbrush, or will you choose to walk on the trails?
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Additional Support for Mexican Gray Wolf Gaining Traction
From The Paper in Albuquerque, New Mexico:
The Lobo, or Mexican gray wolf, listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1976 is the smallest, most genetically distinct and one of the rarest subspecies of the gray wolf. Wildlife advocates and science say a healthy wolf population supports the balance of ecosystems because predators act as checks on populations lower on the food chain which can benefit many other plant and animal species.
Wolves are highly intelligent pack animals and have been widely misunderstood through the millennia as wild and deadly beasts. They are the creatures of myth and folklore, often to their detriment. They are extremely social animals that develop very close social bonds with family members and their pack, often showing significant displays of affection and other emotions with each other. They avoid people as much as possible and are rarely seen along a highway or on a hiking trail.
Click here for the full story.
New study shows wolves change behavior around bears
From NBCMontana.com:
MISSOULA, Mont. — A new study at University of Montana shows Yellowstone wolves change their behavior around bears.
Biologists wanted to know more about how predators interact with each other.
Research shows wolves hunt less when competing with bears but mountain lions hunt more.
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New Documentary Examines Wolves Of Isle Royale National Park
From NationalParksTraveler.org:
How Isle Royale National Park’s wolves form new packs, how researchers capture individual wolves for research, and what they learn from that research, is laid out in a documentary film released by the National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation.
The nearly 40-minute film follows researchers as they develop the science to expand understanding of the predator/prey relationship between wolves and moose on Isle Royale and how it affects the ecosystem. The park has been home to the longest running predator/prey study in the world, with more than 60 years of data collected, but there are still many unanswered questions.
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Feds launch review of western gray wolf protections
From the Casper Star Tribune in Wyoming:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has initiated its 12-month status review of the western gray wolf, the agency said in a letter sent Monday to interested parties.
Last summer, ahead of controversial wolf hunts planned in Montana and Idaho, conservation groups filed two petitions with the Fish and Wildlife Service calling for emergency relisting of the species. The agency announced in September that the petitioners’ concerns about the threat of hunting were credible enough for it to initiate a full status review.
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Feds announce plan to release nine endangered red wolves just west of Outer Banks
From OBXToday.com:
Partners, stakeholders, and residents from the local eastern North Carolina community joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an informational meeting and listening session focused on plans regarding a recent transfer and upcoming court-ordered release of nine red wolves into the wild on the mainland of eastern N.C.
Red wolves, which are native to the southeastern United States, have dwindled to only a handful in the wild scattered across parts of Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington and Beaufort counties.
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Opposition to B.C.’s wolf cull mounts in aftermath of government’s program extension
From GlobalNews.ca in Canada:
B.C.’s controversial wolf cull was extended for five more years starting this winter, according to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.
The ministry said in a statement that authorizations are now in place for the predator reduction program that sees wolves shot at from helicopters to begin in selected caribou herds throughout B.C., including the Kootenay, Cariboo, Omineca, Skeena and Peace regions.
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IDFG estimates 1,543 wolves, a number stable since 2019
From the Idaho County Free Press:
Idaho has had a summer population of about 1,500 wolves for the last three years.
Idaho’s wolf population has remained stable and consistent over the last three years based on camera surveys done last summer and since 2019. The 2021 population estimate for Aug. 1 was 1,543 wolves. The 2020 and 2019 estimates were 1,556 and 1,566.
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Endangered wolf blocked by Trump’s border wall found shot in New Mexico
From the Washington Times:
Environmentalists are blaming President Trump’s border wall after a Mexican gray wolf who was trapped in the U.S. by the barrier was found shot in the leg in New Mexico this week.
Named Mr. Goodbar, the wolf was released into the wild in 2020. He made headlines late last year when he was tracked roaming around the border wall, seemingly searching for a way across the man-made boundary before turning back north.
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