From the Wildlife Society:
Gray wolf (Canis lupus) conservation has switched from trying to recover the species in the U.S. three decades ago, to trying to manage conflicts that arise as the predators’ populations and ranges expand.
“From a strictly biological standpoint, they’ve clearly recovered across the Lower 48 states,” said David Mech, a senior research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Mech, a senior research scientist with USGS, and his colleague David Ausband, also with the USGS, recently published a paper in Bioscience looking at the challenges gray wolf recovery has brought across the U.S. and the different ways science can help managers with those problems.
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The presence of wolves leads to spatial differentiation in deer browsing pressure on forest regeneration
From Scientific Reports:
With the recent return of large carnivores to forest ecosystems, an important issue for forest owners and managers is how large predators influence the behaviour of their natural prey and, consequently, cervid browsing pressure on forest regeneration. To investigate this issue, we analysed deer pressure on Scots pine and European beech plantations in northern Poland’s ecosystems with and without permanent wolf populations. Two characteristics were used to describe deer browsing patterns in plantations: distance from the forest edge (spatial pattern of browsing) and number of saplings browsed (browsing intensity). Beech saplings were more intensively browsed by deer compared to pine saplings. In a forest ecosystem not inhabited by wolves, spatial variation in browsing patterns on small-sized beech plantations was the same between the edge and the center. In contrast, browsing pressure by deer was greater at the edges on large-sized pine plantations. The presence of wolves reduced deer browsing on beech and increased browsing on pine saplings. In addition, deer foraging behaviour changed in large-sized pine plantations, and browsing pressure increased only in the central areas of the plantations. We assume that the presence of wolves in a forest landscape is an important factor that alters browsing pressure on the youngest stands and their spatial pattern, and that this may be a major factor in stand regeneration, especially in small forest patches.
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UP ‘Wolf Abundance Project’ aims to find accurate wolf count
From TV6:
ESCANABA, Mich. (WLUC) – A new research project on wolves in the U.P. is using new estimator tools to ensure the wolf count in the U.P. is accurate.
Researchers from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division and Michigan State University are working to better identify the number of wolves across the U.P. through the “Wolf Abundance Project.”
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Watch: Yellowstone Wolf Seen Walking Around Without Its Lower Jaw
From Outdoor Life:
Harrowing footage of wolf 1276F from Yellowstone’s Junction Butte pack emerged on Instagram on Oct. 4. In the video, captured by Yellowstone wildlife photographer Peggy Peregrine-Spear, the collared female wolf walks across a field sporting a brutal injury that claimed her lower jaw, leaving nothing but a thin piece of flesh behind.
“Her injury is possibly from a hunting encounter with either an elk or bison and is said to have happened around Sept 26,” Peregrine-Spear writes in the caption. “YNP is aware of her situation.”
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Red wolf recovery plan complete
From Smokey Mountain News:
A final recovery plan for the red wolf, a document from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that will guide recovery efforts for an imperiled native species, is now complete.
“The final revised plan underscores the service’s commitment to working with others to conserve the red wolf while also maintaining a rural way of life by working farms and ranches,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams. “Successful recovery requires collaboration with all who are involved and interested in red wolf recovery, including continued transparent engagement with the community to facilitate a coexistence between people and red wolves.”
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Gray Wolf Recovery Brings New Management Challenges
From the Wildlife Society:
Gray wolf (Canis lupus) conservation has switched from trying to recover the species in the U.S. three decades ago, to trying to manage conflicts that arise as the predators’ populations and ranges expand.
“From a strictly biological standpoint, they’ve clearly recovered across the Lower 48 states,” said David Mech, a senior research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Mech, a senior research scientist with USGS, and his colleague David Ausband, also with the USGS, recently published a paper in Bioscience looking at the challenges gray wolf recovery has brought across the U.S. and the different ways science can help managers with those problems.
Click here for the full story.
Wolf advocates continue to push for canid protections
From Adirondak Explorer:
With a brown satchel slung over his shoulder and eyes scanning the ground, Joe Butera walked down a logging road in a remote section of the northern Adirondacks.
He was looking for canid tracks and scat, like he’d seen this past winter and spring.
“This is where I found three individual scats that were huge,” said the 70-year-old retired electrician, as he turned around at a gate and about 75 feet before an expanse of bog opened along the road.
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The latest clash over managing Washington’s wolves
From My Edmonds News:
Eleven conservation groups are asking Washington state to tighten its guidelines for when wolves that attack livestock can be killed.
The groups are concerned too many wolves are dying needlessly under the current system. Their petition to Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission describes the existing standards the state uses to authorize lethal action against the animals as “ineffective,” and calls for the panel to open a process to update the rules.
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Zoo works to recover endangered red wolves
From Tacoma Weekly:
At Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, it’s a big “howl yes!” for American red wolf conservation.
The Tacoma zoo has been a national leader in bringing this critically endangered species back from the brink of extinction since the 1970s. And decades later, 2023 has been one of the most successful years in the zoo’s history of working to recover this iconic American species.
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Bay area sounds off on wolf plans
From The Country Today:
As a Washburn farmer, Larry Ekholm is concerned about livestock and the threat wolves pose to his animals.
Wolves haven’t killed any of his cattle so far this year, but he knows fellow farmers who have been victim and has heard horror stories. He credits his own safeguards with keeping his herd safe.
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Final Red Wolf plan released
From Bertie Ledger-Advance:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is releasing the final revision of the Red Wolf Recovery Plan to guide recovery efforts for “America’s Red Wolf.”
The original recovery plan for the Red Wolf was approved in 1982 and was revised in 1984 and 1990. The Service published a draft revised recovery plan in September 2022 and is now making the final revised plan available to the public.
Click here for the full story.