FromNewser:
Animal in Alaska ate lots of salmon, likely from humans, study suggests.
When did wolf become dog? It’s a debated question and central to a new study presenting what appears to be the earliest evidence of the human-dog relationship in the Americas. It comes from the 12,000-year-old bones of a canid—a wolf, coyote, or dog—found at Swan Point in interior Alaska. This canid, living far from the coast, ate salmon on the regular, and researchers think it was getting the fish from humans. Other ancient canids in the region did not eat salmon. This suggests, according to researchers, that the animal was living with and being fed by humans, or at least that there was some kind of mutually beneficial relationship, some 2,000 years earlier than previously known, per a release.
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Polis blames ranchers for high cost of wolf restoration at CCI meeting
From TheFencePost.com:
The state of Colorado is facing a $1 billion deficit in the 2025-26 budget and as cuts are considered, Gov. Jared Polis placed the blame for the $5 million wolf restoration on ranchers.
Colorado Counties, Inc., is comprised of county commissioners from 63 of 64 counties, Denver being the exception. Gov. Polis spoke to the group at their meeting earlier this week and, when asked about pausing upcoming wolf releases until a more cost-effective route than sourcing from Canada could be identified, the governor pointed the finger at ranchers.
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Wolf-induced ‘landscape of fear’ doesn’t explain Yellowstone aspen regeneration, study says
From The Spokesman-Review:
BILLINGS – For more than a decade a passionate debate has reverberated within Yellowstone National Park’s scientific community regarding wolf reintroduction.
Did wolves improve aspen growth by helping to reduce elk populations, called a density-mediated indirect effect ?
Or did the mere presence of wolves make elk so nervous they didn’t eat as many aspen, or avoided areas where they may have encountered wolves, called a trait-mediated indirect effect ?
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Lodges That Let People “Sleep With The Wolves” A Bad Idea, Wyoming Wildlife Experts Say
From CowboyStateDaily:
A Canada wildlife preserve offers rental lodges where people can gawk at a pack of wolves just on the other side of giant ground-level picture windows and sliding glass doors. It’s billed as an up close and personal wildlife experience. While an intriguing tourism draw, Wyoming wildlife experts say trying it with Wyoming’s national parks would be a terrible idea.
“I get nervous that something like that would give people a false sense of security or an unnatural sense of how wolves behave in the wild,” Kristin Barker, a Wyoming wildlife researcher, told Cowboy State Daily.
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Council of Europe investigates Swiss wolf policy
From SwissInfo.ch:
The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention in the Council of Europe has decided to initiate an investigation into Switzerland’s wolf-shooting policy. A complaint by two Swiss wolf conservation organisations has been upheld.
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Wolf populations in Spain ‘not out of the woods yet’: Europe votes to downgrade protection status of struggling predator
From the Olive Press:
WOLF populations in Spain have had their protection status downgraded after a Europe-wide vote by the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.
Spain was one of only two member states in the EU to vote against the European Commission’s proposal to move wolves from a ‘strictly protected species’ to a ‘protected species.’
But since the other 25 members voted in favour, Spain’s vote at the Bern Convention was lost since the EU votes as a bloc.
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Wolf pups born
From presspubs.com:
Officials announced the birth of several gray wolf puppies April 27 at the Wildlife Science Center in Columbus.
The mother of these pups is the daughter of a wolf from Yellowstone National Park. The Wildlife Science Center is sharing two of the puppies with the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn., in an effort to further wolf education in Minnesota and beyond. The remainder of the litter will stay at the Center.
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Colorado Reintroduced Wolves. They Might Have the Wrong Personalities to Succeed
From SentientMedia.org:
A growing body of research suggests animal personalities can impact reintroduction to the wild. When wolves were first released in remote parts of Grand County, Colorado, one year ago, researcher Marc Bekoff noticed differences in the way the individual wolves reacted. While two of the five wolves remained cautious — staying in their holding cages until coaxed out — another bolted as soon as the opportunity arose. A growing body of research says these variations in behavior can be explained by the personality of the wolves in question, but researchers and government officials don’t necessarily agree on how to take these personalities into account.
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As California’s wolf population claws its way back, some ranchers are nervous
From USA Today:
SAN FRANCISCO – The last wild wolf in California was shot in 1924. It wasn’t until 2011 that another padded across the Oregon border.
Today, gray wolves are making a major comeback in the Golden State. This year the state is home to nine packs containing an estimated 70 wolves, up from 44 last year. Most live in the northeastern part of the state, though there is one pack about 200 miles north of Los Angeles.
State wildlife staff believe at least 30 pups were born this year, meaning more packs are likely to form in the coming years.
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Europe’s growing wolf problem
From The Week:
Plans are underway to allow EU farmers to kill wolves but is the predator being unfairly attacked?
In 2022, a grey wolf in Germany’s Lower Saxony region killed a pony called Dolly. It’s not unknown for wolves to kill other animals but this one had messed with the wrong pony: Dolly was the beloved pet of Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
Dolly’s death-by-wolf set in motion a chain of events that culminated in an historic vote in Strasbourg this week, which modified the protection status of wolves. It’s seen as a “major win” for farmers who want “more freedom to shoot animals that threaten their livestock”, said Politico.
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Ancient Wolf’s Diet Suggests He Was a Pet
FromNewser:
Animal in Alaska ate lots of salmon, likely from humans, study suggests.
When did wolf become dog? It’s a debated question and central to a new study presenting what appears to be the earliest evidence of the human-dog relationship in the Americas. It comes from the 12,000-year-old bones of a canid—a wolf, coyote, or dog—found at Swan Point in interior Alaska. This canid, living far from the coast, ate salmon on the regular, and researchers think it was getting the fish from humans. Other ancient canids in the region did not eat salmon. This suggests, according to researchers, that the animal was living with and being fed by humans, or at least that there was some kind of mutually beneficial relationship, some 2,000 years earlier than previously known, per a release.
Click here for the full story.