From the Star Tribune in Minnesota:
Over the course of a few months this winter, the wolf population on Isle Royale National Park ballooned from 2 to 15 in an extraordinary project to artificially shift the balance of a wilderness.
Captured on the mainland and a neighboring island in Lake Superior, the wolves were anesthetized, vaccinated, collared with GPS devices, and transported across the icy waters by boat and helicopter to their new home. In all, it took the combined effort of a university; a cadre of scientists; state, federal, Canadian and tribal governments; and a couple of nonprofit organizations to accomplish the feat between ferocious winter storms.
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Hunting, fewer pups, disease reduce Wyoming wolf population
From the San Francisco Chronicle and the Associated Press:
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Biologists estimate the overall Wyoming wolf population at 286 this year, which is down 61 animals from a year ago.
The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that’s the fewest wolves counted in the state since the Wyoming Game and Fish Department took over management and initiated wolf hunting seven years ago.
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Wolf population declining in Yellowstone National Park
From Buckrail.com and the Associated Press:
POWELL, Wyo. (AP) – Officials say Yellowstone National Park’s gray wolf population has dropped to about 80 wolves—less than half of the highest population mark in the park.
The Powell Tribune reported on Thursday that while park officials won’t have an accurate count until the fall after surviving pups are visible, the park’s top biologist, Doug Smith, doesn’t expect the numbers to rise dramatically after litters are included in population estimates.
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Wolves: The most political animal
From The Atlantic:
The day was cold, gray, and rainy, and the wolf smelled exactly like a wet dog. I sat on my heels, my shoulders just a few inches higher than hers, and hesitantly scratched her belly, her thick, black-tipped gray fur soft and greasy between my fingers. She nosed at my face, bumping my chin and lapping my cheeks. She tried to slide her long, flexible tongue into my mouth, and when that failed, an unguarded nostril.
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Proposed Plan Outlines When Oregon Can Kill a Wolf
From Jefferson Public Radio in Oregon:
Wolf populations are increasing in Oregon, which makes a proposed wolf management plan released Monday all the more controversial. In fact, neither conservationists nor cattle owners are entirely happy with the proposal.
Under current regulations, a wolf that commits two depredations — livestock attacks — within any period of time is a “chronic depredator.” That’s when state officials could consider killing it.
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Can hungry wolf immigrants save Isle Royale forests?
From the Great Lakes Echo:
The recent transfer of six starving wolves to Isle Royale benefits not only them but the island’s entire forest ecosystem.
For the past three years only two wolves populated the 207 square mile island in the northwest of Lake Superior, according to the National Park Service. The male is the female’s father as well as half-brother, said Sarah Hoy, an assistant professor at Michigan Technological University who studies how the increasing moose population affects the island.
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By design, wolf counts shrink in Wyoming
From the Jackson Hole News & Guide:
A dearth of wolves in places like the Gros Ventre River valley this winter was not an anomaly, as wildlife managers are reporting reduced numbers throughout wolf range in the state.
The overall Wyoming wolf population, estimated at 286 as the calendar turned to 2019, was down 61 animals from a year ago. That’s the fewest animals counted since the Wyoming Game and Fish Department took over management and initiated hunting seven years ago.
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Lawmakers debate future of Montana wolves
From the Great Falls Tribune in Montana:
HELENA — The future of the gray wolf in Montana has led to a tug-of-war between conservationists and ranchers over policy proposals in the 2019 legislative session, and both sides have claimed victories.
On Thursday, a Senate committee advanced two house bills that would make wolf hunting licenses cheaper. Rep. Bob Brown, a Republican from Thompson Falls, is carrying House bills 407 and 280, which would reduce a the license fee from $19 to $12 and add more of a discount for class AAA combination sports licenses.
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An epic experiment on Lake Superior’s islands, starring wolves, moose and caribou
From the Star Tribune in Minnesota:
Over the course of a few months this winter, the wolf population on Isle Royale National Park ballooned from 2 to 15 in an extraordinary project to artificially shift the balance of a wilderness.
Captured on the mainland and a neighboring island in Lake Superior, the wolves were anesthetized, vaccinated, collared with GPS devices, and transported across the icy waters by boat and helicopter to their new home. In all, it took the combined effort of a university; a cadre of scientists; state, federal, Canadian and tribal governments; and a couple of nonprofit organizations to accomplish the feat between ferocious winter storms.
Click here for the full story.
Wolves are Back in the Netherlands After Over a Century
From Care2.com:
The Netherlands has a resident wolf population after 140 years without wolves making their home in the Dutch country, but not everyone is happy.
Ecologists report that two female wolves have settled in the Hoge Veluwe nature reserve, with a male also roaming in that same region. Experts from groups such as FreeNature and Wolven in Nederland, as well as scientists from Wageningen University, have been tracking paw prints and scat (wolf droppings) since wolves were first sighted back in the Netherlands in 2015. At the time of their sightings, it seemed likely the wolves were passing over the border from Germany and would return there in short order.
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Scientists conduct study on habitat of Indian grey wolf
From the Millennium Post in India:
Kolkata: A team of scientists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have categorically demonstrated the importance and maintenance of probable suitable areas for Indian grey wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) along with its landscape connectivity between Chotta Nagpur Plateau and Lower Gangetic Planes. The study titled “Identifying suitable habitat and corridor for Indian Grey Wolf in Chotta Nagpur Plateau and Lower Gangetic Planes” that has recently been published in the reputed journal PlosOne assumes significance as wolves are suffering from loss of habitat and loss of connectivity in the landscape.
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