From FoxTV 6 in Michigan:
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – Last Thursday a federal court in California, protections were restored for the gray wolf, overturning laws that allowed animal owners to use lethal force.
If a wolf is preying on livestock, pets, or hunting dogs, it is once again illegal to kill it in Michigan. With federal gray wolf protections restored, two state laws have been suspended. Republican Senator, Ed McBroom said this decision could influence the daily lives of many Yoopers.
Click here for the full story.
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.
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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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B.C. wolf hunt resumes despite public opposition
From The Globe and Mail in Toronto, Canada:
Contractors hired by the B.C. government are shooting wolves from helicopters this winter, part of a five-year plan to protect endangered caribou that was approved by the province despite its own public consultation that showed a majority of residents are against the hunt.
Opponents of the hunt say killing the wolves is only a superficial measure that won’t protect the caribou in the long run. Harder choices are needed, they say, to cut back on industrial activity in endangered caribou habitat. In addition, the federal government still hasn’t imposed an emergency protection order, despite declaring caribou at “imminent” risk four years ago.
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Colorado collars wolf pup
From The Wildlife Society:
Colorado wildlife workers have placed a GPS collar on a female wolf pup. The pup is one of eight wolves in the North Park area of the state, which has seen resident wolves return after being extirpated in the 1940s. Identified as 2202, the pup is one of six produced by a female numbered F1084, which migrated from the Snake River Pack in Wyoming, and a male numbered 2010. The pup was collared on Feb. 9, after F1084’s collar stopped transmitting.
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Michigan: New gray wolf law changes could influence some
From FoxTV 6 in Michigan:
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – Last Thursday a federal court in California, protections were restored for the gray wolf, overturning laws that allowed animal owners to use lethal force.
If a wolf is preying on livestock, pets, or hunting dogs, it is once again illegal to kill it in Michigan. With federal gray wolf protections restored, two state laws have been suspended. Republican Senator, Ed McBroom said this decision could influence the daily lives of many Yoopers.
Click here for the full story.
Colorado’s wolf reintroduction plan worries ranchers
From KOAA.com in Colorado:
WALDEN — The decision made by Colorado voters in 2020 to reintroduce grey wolves into the state continues to generate controversy.
State ranchers argue the state isn’t equipped to handle the 250 wolves scheduled to be reintroduced in December 2023.
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Most U.S. wolves are listed as endangered—again. Here’s why.
From National Geographic:
Gray wolves in most of the United States are once again protected under the Endangered Species Act, according to a new legal decision.
A U.S. District Court judge in Oakland, California, ruled on February 10 that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted improperly in delisting wolves. That decision, which went into effect in October 2020 toward the end of the Trump Administration, removed federal protections for the animals, arguing they had recovered within substantial parts of their range. This delisting decision has been upheld—and defended in court—by the Biden Administration.
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