From BirdGuides.com:
Sweden has this month begun culling its Wolf population in a move campaigners say is illegal under EU law.
The cull officially began on Thursday 2 January, with the country aiming to halve the population of the canid. Five entire families can be killed, totalling 30 individual Wolves.
Sweden’s Wolf population dropped by almost 20% in 2022-23 and there are now an estimated 375 individuals in the country. The decline is due to increased hunting pressure, and the government announced that it intendedto halve the population, with 170 Wolves becoming the new minimum level for “favourable conservation status”, instead of the current minimum of 300.
Click here for the full story.
Developments in Effort to Restore Red Wolves to NC
From PBS North Carolina:
Human families need to move sometimes to accommodate growing families and find new opportunities.
It turns out the same is true for critically endangered red wolves.
The Museum of Life and Science’s family of seven red wolves is moving from Durham to the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York. Biologists believe relocating the family to the new facility offers the best chance for the first-time parents to breed again.
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Wolf-livestock conflict hit new high in Washington last year
From The Spokesman-Review:
Conflict between wolves and livestock hit a high in Washington in 2024.
Wolves injured or killed at least 56 cattle in the state in 2024, according to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife records.
The total, which includes confirmed and probable depredations, is the highest the department has recorded since it started tracking wolf-livestock conflict, and it’s more than double the total cattle injured by wolves in 2023.
Click here for the full story.
Sweden begins Wolf cull
From BirdGuides.com:
Sweden has this month begun culling its Wolf population in a move campaigners say is illegal under EU law.
The cull officially began on Thursday 2 January, with the country aiming to halve the population of the canid. Five entire families can be killed, totalling 30 individual Wolves.
Sweden’s Wolf population dropped by almost 20% in 2022-23 and there are now an estimated 375 individuals in the country. The decline is due to increased hunting pressure, and the government announced that it intendedto halve the population, with 170 Wolves becoming the new minimum level for “favourable conservation status”, instead of the current minimum of 300.
Click here for the full story.
CPW starts gray wolf relocation operation in British Columbia
From SteamboatPilot.com:
Colorado Parks and Wildlife began its gray wolf capture operations Friday in the Canadian province of British Columbia as part of its Wolf Restoration and Management Plan objectives for 2025.
The operation will see 15 wolves captured and relocated to Colorado under an agreement reached between the agency and the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. Colorado voters approved the state’s wolf restoration work in a 2020 ballot measure and CPW says it plans to release 10-15 wolves on the Western Slope each year for the three to five years as outlined in the restoration management plan.
Click here for the full story.
Survey: Idaho Big-Game Hunters Would Ban Drones and Thermals, But Keep Most Other Tech
From OutdoorLife.com:
Idaho’s big-game hunters generally think that modern hunting technology in the form of conventional optics and firearms, digital mapping services, and even ATVs and side-by-sides is acceptable. But they overwhelmingly think thermal, night-vision devices, and drones violate fair-chase ethical standards and oppose their use in big-game seasons.
Click here for the full story.
Health Risks and Legal Violations Plague Colorado Wolf Introduction Program
From Morningstar.com:
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Jan. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Colorado Conservation Alliance, Inc. (CCA) today provided an update on mounting concerns surrounding Colorado’s wolf introduction program, including confirmation that non-native gray wolves released into Colorado have tested positive for Echinococcus Granulosus, a dangerous tapeworm that causes Hydatid Disease. This pathogen was previously unknown in Colorado before the introduction of the wolf, raising serious public health concerns as the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) rushes to expand the controversial program.
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Wolf management program in N.W.T. comes to an end after 5 years of collaring, and incentivized hunting
From CBC/Radio Canada:
A wolf management program by the Tłı̨chǫ Government and the Government of the Northwest Territories is in its final stages after five years of GPS-collar monitoring and incentives for wolf hunting.
The program was part of an effort to reduce wolf predation on the Bathurst and Bluenose East caribou herds.
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Conflict around gray wolves has become so hostile, the U.S. hired a mediator
From AOL.com:
When Francine Madden heard about a Wyoming man who killed a gray wolf after injuring it with his snowmobile and showing it off at his local bar, she was disturbed, but not very surprised.
She’s seen a lot during her almost three decades working as a mediator for wildlife conflict. She’s resolved disputes over gorillas in Uganda and tigers in Bhutan, but for 50-odd years, the management of gray wolves has been an intractable American problem.
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Federal Regulators Deny Petitions to Reduce Protections for Wolves
From Urban Milwaukee.com:
Federal wildlife regulators have denied petitions submitted by hunting groups that sought to remove or reduce protections for gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region and West Coast states.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Michigan Bear Hunters Association and Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen Association filed the petitions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in June 2023.
Click here for the full story.
California’s growing wolf population seen as threat to livestock
From Agri-Pulse.com:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s year-end estimate of the state wolf population has rounded up to nine packs – an increase from seven at the end of 2023.
Click here for the full story.