From Le Monde diplomatique:
Since the wolf returned to France in the 1990s, numbers have grown to nearly 1,000 animals. The public are overwhelmingly supportive, so why are so many wolves being shot?
Wolves pose no danger to humans and have strict legal protection under the Bern Convention (1979) and the EU’s Habitats Directive (1992). Individual animals are only supposed to be killed as a last resort to prevent significant damage to livestock. For the past 30 years, the French government has spent large sums to smooth the coexistence of wolves and livestock (nearly €30m in 2021 alone). This figure gives some sense of the efforts made by farmers to protect their herds under the national action plan. Roughly three quarters of affected farms suffer only one or two attacks a year, largely as a result of enhanced security, fences and guard dogs.
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Mexican Wolf Puppies Born at Zoo Placed in Wild Packs Across US to Help Boost Population of Endangered Species
From Inside Edition:
Authorities have placed several of Mexican wolf pups in dens across the United States in a bid to strengthen the population of the endangered species.
Could Mexican wolves born at an Illinois zoo help bolster the species’ dwindling numbers in the wild? That’s the hope of authorities who have placed several of the pups in dens across the United States in a bid to strengthen the population.
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New approach to removing wolves from endangered species list
From Wisconsin Public Radio:
Wisconsin’s gray wolves would lose their endangered species status under a bill being introduced by Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Baldwins’ bill follows decades of legal and political battles over whether the wolf population has recovered enough to warrant dropping federal protections. Her “Northern Great Lakes Wolf Recovery Act” would take a somewhat novel approach by expanding the definition of Minnesota’s wolf population — which has been federally listed as “threatened” since 1978 — to include wolves in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
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Warning issued after wolves in southern Oregon show ‘lack of wariness’ around people
From The Register-Guard:
Two wolves in southwest Oregon have shown an uncharacteristic “lack of wariness around people,” prompting state wildlife officials to issue a warning to anyone recreating in the upper North Umpqua River area east of Roseburg.
Videos and photos show one wolf, a yearling, “approaching and laying down near vehicles and not reacting to human voice or honking horns … which is uncommon behavior,” officials with Umpqua National Forest said in a news release.
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New bill introduced to delist gray wolves in Upper Midwest
From WDIO:
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin has introduced a new bill to delist the gray wolf population in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The Northern Great Lakes Wolf Recovery Act would create an advisory committee comprised of agriculture representatives, Native and Tribal communities, heads of impacted state agencies, and wolf management experts and scientists to create the final delisting rule for the region.
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Macron goes on a wolf hunt
From Le Monde diplomatique:
Since the wolf returned to France in the 1990s, numbers have grown to nearly 1,000 animals. The public are overwhelmingly supportive, so why are so many wolves being shot?
Wolves pose no danger to humans and have strict legal protection under the Bern Convention (1979) and the EU’s Habitats Directive (1992). Individual animals are only supposed to be killed as a last resort to prevent significant damage to livestock. For the past 30 years, the French government has spent large sums to smooth the coexistence of wolves and livestock (nearly €30m in 2021 alone). This figure gives some sense of the efforts made by farmers to protect their herds under the national action plan. Roughly three quarters of affected farms suffer only one or two attacks a year, largely as a result of enhanced security, fences and guard dogs.
Click here for the full story.
Six endangered red wolf pups born at the Great Plains Zoo
From Dakota News Now:
The red wolf is one of the most endangered animal species.
It’s estimated there are only about two dozen red wolves surviving in the wild right now.
The conservation team at the Great Plains Zoo is putting in a lot of work to save the species from going extinct.
The red wolves at the Great Plains Zoo are part of what’s called the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan. It aims to breed pairs with the greatest possible genetic diversity, with the goal of bolstering the wild population.
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News briefs: Yellowstone wolf increase; invasive mussels; bear killed
From Montana Public Radio:
The wolf population inside Yellowstone National Park increased over the last year, largely thanks to a successful breeding season.
The Wyoming Fish & Game Department reported that there were at least 108 wolves in 10 packs as of the end of December 2022. In total, the population increased by at least 11 wolves from the previous year.
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Endangered Mexican wolf pups fostered in Arizona packs this month, wildlife officials say
From KTAR:
Three Mexican wolf pups were fostered into a pack in Arizona in efforts to increase genetic diversity in the endangered wild populations, wildlife officials said.
Sixteen captive-born pups were placed with wild packs in Arizona and New Mexico over an eight-day period in early May, the Arizona Game and Fish Department announced on Friday.
The Mexican wolf was listed as endangered in 1976, and a captive breeding program led to the reintroduction of 11 wolves in Arizona in 1998.
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Idahoans react to Fish and Game’s new wolf management plan
From KTVB:
Idaho’s Fish and Game Commission unanimously passed a new wolf management plan in early May, hoping to gradually cut the state’s wolf population by about 60%.
Currently, about 1,300 wolves live around the Gem State. Roger Phillips, Fish and Game spokesperson, said they are trying to bring that number down to 500 based on what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended when wolves in Idaho were removed from the Endangered Species list.
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A wolf-dog hybrid has been confirmed in India for the first time
From New Scientist:
A strange canine was spotted in a pack of wolves near Pune in western India, but it stood out for its lighter coat and dog-like facial features. It was confirmed to be a wolf-dog hybrid through genetic sequencing.
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