From Oregon State University:
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Wolves on an Alaskan island caused a deer population to plummet and switched to primarily eating sea otters in just a few years, a finding scientists at Oregon State University and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game believe is the first case of sea otters becoming the primary food source for a land-based predator.
Using methods such as tracking the wolves with GPS collars and analyzing their scat, the researchers found that in 2015 deer were the primary food of the wolves, representing 75% of their diet, while sea otters comprised 25%.
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US plans end to wolf protections, critics say it’s premature
From News8000.com:
U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that’s run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told The Associated Press.
Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the proposal during a Wednesday speech at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Denver, a weeklong conservation forum for researchers, government officials and others, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Spokesman Gavin Shire said in an interview with the AP.
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IDFG: Wolf population down 13 percent in Idaho
From KXLY.com in Spokane, Washington:
IDAHO — According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the wolf population in the state has gone down 13 percent.
Surveys show that Idaho’s wolf population estimate in 2022 has gone down 206 wolves compared to 2021 estimated. IDFG says these estimates are based on camera surveys measuring the population at its annual peak in the summer.
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Asha the wolf, captured in the U.S., to be shipped to Mexico
From Reuters.com:
TAOS, N.M., Jan 25 (Reuters) – Environmentalists on Wednesday protested U.S. government plans to transfer an endangered Mexican gray wolf captured in New Mexico to Mexico, saying it should be allowed to roam free and repopulate the Rockies.
The she-wolf, named Asha by schoolchildren, was captured near Taos, New Mexico, on Sunday after heading further north than any other Mexican wolf recorded since the species’ 1998 reintroduction after near extinction.
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Czech conservationists return wolf struck by car back into the wild
From expats.cz:
Although experts doubted its chances of survival, an injured wolf made a surprising recovery and is once again wandering in its natural habitat in the mountains near the Czech-German border.
The first recovery of its kind in Czechia, this was a learning experience for conservation groups now better prepared to handle a similar incident in the future.
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Wolves eliminate deer on Alaskan Island then quickly shift to eating sea otters, research finds
From Oregon State University:
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Wolves on an Alaskan island caused a deer population to plummet and switched to primarily eating sea otters in just a few years, a finding scientists at Oregon State University and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game believe is the first case of sea otters becoming the primary food source for a land-based predator.
Using methods such as tracking the wolves with GPS collars and analyzing their scat, the researchers found that in 2015 deer were the primary food of the wolves, representing 75% of their diet, while sea otters comprised 25%.
Click here for the full story.
Mexican gray wolf that roamed beyond recovery area captured
From APNews.com:
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A female Mexican gray wolf that roamed beyond the endangered species’ recovery area into the more northern reaches of New Mexico has been captured, authorities said Monday.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish used a helicopter to locate and capture the wolf Sunday.
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Colorado: Rancher details wolf challenges to Parks, Wildlife panel
From The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Colorado:
After more than a year of dealing with the threat of wolves killing his cattle, Walden-area rancher Don Gittleson has gained some hard-won perspective on where to turn to for insights on wolf behavior and how to protect his livestock from them.
Over that time he has found, among other things, that while people had told him it would be a female wolf that decides when a pack attacks, that isn’t what he saw happening. Instead, it was a collared male that was involved in every attack.
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Belgium now has 24 wolves, new pack likely on the way
From The Brussels Times:
Five years after wolf Naya was spotted in Limburg, an estimated 24 wolves already live in Belgium, and a new pack is now on its way, according to wolf researcher Joachim Mergeay of the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO).
The exact number of wolves is of little relevance as it varies constantly, but the number of different packs (family groups) is more important. In one year, the number of wolves within such a pack can vary considerably, Mergeay told De Morgen.
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Wolf Packs Suffer When Humans Kill Their Leaders
From Psychology Today:
Wolves are amazing and magnificent carnivores. They are highly social, pack-living animals whose numbers have been decimated globally because of their predatory ways.
While it’s been known that human intrusions into their lives can affect their behavior, a new, landmark study–called “one of the most important papers to come out of Yellowstone in his 28 years with the park” by Doug Smith, one of the world’s leading wolf experts who led Yellowstone’s wolf reintroduction for many years–shows that when people kill wolves their pack becomes less stable and can disband and cease to exist.1
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Gray Wolf Population in Michigan Continues Trend of Stability, New Report Shows
From Nature World News:
The population of gray wolves in Michigan showed a good sign of a steady stability trend, according to the latest report and 2022 survey.
The 2022 survey aimed to determine the population of gray wolves in Michigan.
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