Tag Archives: gray wolves

Grizzly carcass-stealing doesn’t mean wolves kill more

Environmental Issues, News, , ,
In Yellowstone National Park, hungry wolves wait to access their elk kill as grizzly bears feast on the spoils - Daniel Stahler, NPS
In Yellowstone National Park, hungry wolves wait to access their elk kill as grizzly bears feast on the spoils – Daniel Stahler, NPS

Science is at its best when it produces unexpected results . . .

Research that compared Yellowstone National Park grizzly bear and wolf interactions with those same animals in Sweden has produced a surprising finding: brown bear presence in both ecosystems reduces the wolf kill rate.

“It’s a baffling finding,” said Doug Smith, Yellowstone’s wolf biologist. “To be honest, for 20 years I’ve been saying bears increase wolf kill rates because bears steal so many carcasses.”

That data from two very different ecosystems pointed to the same conclusion helped convince Yellowstone bear biologist Kerry Gunther that the research was “not just a fluke.”

Read more . . .

Conservation groups want USFWS to continue wolf monitoring

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Gray Wolf

Several conservation groups want the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue keeping an eye on things in areas where the gray wolf has been delisted . . .

Five conservation groups on Tuesday asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to extend its oversight of wolves in Montana and Idaho that is set to expire in May.

The agency removed the two states’ gray wolf populations from the Endangered Species List in 2011 after finding they were sufficiently recovered. The delisting order required the Fish and Wildlife Service to continue monitoring the population for five years as the states’ wildlife agencies assume management of the species.

Read more . . .

Montana, other states urged to set clear goals for wolves

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Collared Wolf - courtesy USFWS

A group of scientists feels that Montana, as well as other states with wolf populations, are more or less just playing things by ear . . .

A group of 14 scientists with backgrounds in large carnivore research have called on state wildlife management agencies to set “clearly defined, quantitative policy goals” for wolf management.

“One of the big issues in science-based management is to have clear goals,” said Scott Creel, a professor in the Department of Ecology at Montana State University in Bozeman and the lead author of the paper published in the December issue of Science magazine. “Avoiding being listed under the Endangered Species Act is one of the goals, but it’s not clear if that’s the only goal.”

Creel said the conservation policy paper is an “attempt to redefine what is a sustainable level” of wolf removal through hunting, trapping and those killed by stockmen.

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Death and life in the North Fork

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Here’s a fascinating and moving video created by Henry Roberts from a series of game cam photos taken by North Forker Ray Brown. Thanks to Walter Roberts (no relation to Henry, I’d guess) for getting up on Facebook and giving this work the publicity it deserves. The sound track is from music by Josh Woodward. Highly recommended . . .

In February of 2014, Ray Brown of Polebridge, Montana came home to discover that wolves had killed an elk just off his driveway.

He set up a game camera near the carcass to see who might come back for it.

Three weeks went by.

The following photos are what he found — the inhabitants of the forest that helped return the carcass to the ecosystem.

Direct link to the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BKurgZtvtw

Montana wolf population declines

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Hunting pressure decreased the number of wolves in Montana . . .

The number of gray wolves in Montana continues to decline under the state’s management efforts but remains above federal recovery goals, according to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks department.

State officials released an annual report detailing the status of the controversial animal, which remains the subject of scrutiny and debate throughout the West.

Read more . . .

See also: FWP Releases Minimum Wolf Count For 2014

Legal battles put some Wyoming wolf research on-hold

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Lawsuits over wolf management in Wyoming are hampering some research efforts . . .

Fur piled in a mess under a fallen tree. A jawbone lay nearby. The spine was farther down the hill by some ribs. Part of a shoulder was 50 yards in another direction. They were the first signs of a female moose killed months before by a pack of wolves. Little remained of her body. But her bones told a story…

She was sick, and that may have lowered her defenses, which is what matters to wolves, said Ken Mills, wolf biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department…

Mills, 35, was gathering information in late July on how many moose, deer and elk wolves have killed in the Gros Ventre Range in northwestern Wyoming.

Read more . . .

Wolves making comeback in Eastern Washington

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Gray wolves seem to be making a steady recovery in Eastern Washington . . .

The state says Washington’s wolf population grew by more than 30 percent last year and formed four new packs.

The annual survey by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife found at least 68 gray wolves in the state through Dec. 31, 2014. That was up from at least 52 wolves counted in 2013.

The state also found there are now 16 wolf packs and at least five successful breeding pairs.

Read more . . .

Oregon wolf population hits threshold for delisting

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Oregon wolves, including the famous wandering wolf OR-7, have reached sufficient numbers to be considered for delisting as an endangered species in Oregon . . .

Wolves in Oregon have hit the threshold for consideration of taking them off the state endangered species list.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday the latest wolf census confirms at least seven breeding pairs — six in northeastern Oregon and one, led by the famous wanderer OR-7, in the southern Cascades.

The state wolf management plan calls for a status review once there have been four breeding pairs producing pups that survive a year for three years running. That review will be presented to the state Fish and Wildlife Commission when it meets April 24 in Bend. The earliest a decision could be made would be at the commission’s June 5 meeting in Salem.

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Bill would take wolves off endangered list in 4 states

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A bill is in the early stages that would take gray wolves off the endangered species list in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming . . .

Several members of Congress are preparing legislation to take gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming off the endangered list in an attempt to undo court decisions that have blocked the states from allowing wolf hunting and trapping for sport and predator control.

U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., is leading the effort, his office confirmed Tuesday. Co-sponsors include U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., Dan Benishek, R-Mich., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.

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