From ArsTechnica.com:
In May 2025, the European Parliament changed the status of wolves in the EU from “strictly protected” to “protected,” which opened the way for its member states to allow hunting under certain conditions, such as protecting livestock. One of the arguments behind this change was that the “tolerance of modern society towards wolves” led to the emergence of “fearless wolves” that are no longer afraid of people.
“Regulators made it clear, though, that there is no scientific evidence to back this up,” says Michael Clinchy, a zoologist at Western University in London, Canada. “So we did the first-of-its-kind study to find out if wolves have really lost their fear of humans. We proved there is no such thing as a fearless wolf.”
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Bounty on wolves: Canton Schwyz [Switzerland] makes hunting policy out of date
From WildBeimWild.com:
At first glance, this sounds like a formality.
In truth, it is a momentous step: the government is paving the way for not only gamekeepers but also private hobby hunters to be involved in the killing of wolves in the future.
Under the pretext of “increasing efficiency,” local hobby hunters will in future be officially hunt protected wild animals such as wolves . What is already practiced in Valais and St. Gallen will now also be introduced in Schwyz, despite its clear protection status under federal law.
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California euthanizes 4 gray wolves after ‘unprecedented’ surge in livestock kills
From NPR.org:
After being wiped out in California for nearly a century, the gray wolf has been making a comeback in the state, in a change that’s been celebrated by conservationists and wildlife lovers. But as their population has grown over the last decade, so too has the number of conflicts between wolves and ranchers.
It’s a pattern that’s played out in other states, where wolf populations have rebounded in recent years.
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Trump administration tells Colorado wolves must come from U.S. Rockies states, not Canada
From TheColoradoSun.com:
he Trump administration is telling Colorado to stop importing gray wolves from Canada as part of the state’s efforts to restore the predators, a shift that could hinder plans for more reintroductions this winter.
The state has been releasing wolves west of the Continental Divide since 2023 after Colorado voters narrowly approved wolf reintroduction in 2020. About 30 wolves now roam mountainous regions of the state and its management plan envisions potentially 200 or more wolves in the long term.
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Wolves prefer the night to avoid encountering this animal
From Earth.com:
A large field experiment across 425 square miles in northern Poland shows a simple truth. Wolves fear humans more than anything else they encounter during their lives. Researchers hid camera and speaker units in the forest and let wildlife trigger them. Calm human voices made wolves bolt more than any other sound.
Lead researcher Liana Zanette from Western University, along with other colleagues, designed the test to measure fear, not curiosity. The team compared reactions to humans, dogs, and harmless bird calls.
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Most Americans don’t believe in the big bad wolf, new survey shows
From HumaneWorld.org:
New survey results confirm just how deeply Americans care about wolves: 78% of those surveyed support continuing federal Endangered Species Act protections for wolves. Moreover, those in strong support of continued protection outnumber those who strongly oppose it by nine to one. This suggests that a better future for wolves is within our reach once we can set aside the political motivations of some of those determined to hunt and trap them—recklessly, dangerously and without regard for their significant status and role in healthy ecosystems.
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Colorado agency denies livestock associations’ claims that Canadian wolves released in mountains violated Endangered Species Act
From SummitDaily.com:
Livestock associations are questioning whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife violated the federal Endangered Species Act when it imported 15 gray wolves from Canada last year.
The livestock associations signed two letters on Monday, requesting records from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service related to whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife had the approvals it needed to import the wolves.
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Wolves at the coast: marine diets, ecosystem impacts
From URI.edu:
KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 23, 2025 – On Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, gray wolves are doing something unexpected: hunting sea otters. This surprising dietary shift appears to have notable implications for both ecosystems and wolf health, but little is known about how the predators are capturing marine prey. Patrick Bailey, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rhode Island, is researching these understudied behaviors of gray wolves.
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Even with protections, wolves still fear humans
From ArsTechnica.com:
In May 2025, the European Parliament changed the status of wolves in the EU from “strictly protected” to “protected,” which opened the way for its member states to allow hunting under certain conditions, such as protecting livestock. One of the arguments behind this change was that the “tolerance of modern society towards wolves” led to the emergence of “fearless wolves” that are no longer afraid of people.
“Regulators made it clear, though, that there is no scientific evidence to back this up,” says Michael Clinchy, a zoologist at Western University in London, Canada. “So we did the first-of-its-kind study to find out if wolves have really lost their fear of humans. We proved there is no such thing as a fearless wolf.”
Click here for the full story.
Could Colorado see widespread ecosystem changes from wolf restoration?
From PostIndependent.com:
In Yellowstone National Park — where gray wolves were reintroduced starting in 1995 — researchers have gone back and forth on whether the restoration of wolves has impacted the ecosystem.
The idea is referred to as a “trophic cascade,” where a change in an ecosystem’s food chain — typically the removal or reintroduction of an apex predator like wolves — has a ripple effect on the other levels in the food chain and ecosystem. This can include changes to other species, plant life, the environment and more.
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Colorado county proposes wolf reintroduction ban with penalty of $1,000 per day
From DenverGazette.com:
A new ordinance has been formally introduced in western Colorado that’s designed to prohibit the introduction, transport, release, support facilities, or habitat establishment of non-native animal species within unincorporated Montrose County. As noted in a press release on the matter, among species that would be prohibited are Canadian gray wolves.
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