Tag Archives: wolf introduction

Oregon’s wandering wolf has offspring

Gray Wolf
Gray Wolf

Remember “OR7,” the Oregon-based wolf that created a stir when it wandered into Northern California about three years ago? It looks like he has fathered at least two pups . . .

Trail camera photos confirm that Oregon’s famous wandering wolf, OR-7, has fathered at least two new pups.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist John Stephenson said Thursday that brings to seven the number of wolves in the Rogue pack, which lives on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in the Cascades of southwestern Oregon. That includes three pups from last year.

Biologists had confirmed the second set of pups last July, but didn’t know how many.

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Wolf reintroduction 20 years later

Has it been only 20 years? . . .

Twenty years after their ancestors were released here in one of the most controversial wildlife projects of the century, wolf howls punctuated the cold winter air Monday to the delight of dozens of wolf watchers…

It was 1995 when the first eight wolves live-trapped in Canada were placed inside fenced enclosures in Yellowstone to acclimate them to the area in hopes they would not immediately bolt back to their homeland – called a soft release…

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Oregon’s wandering wolf hard to collar

“OR7,” the wolf that created a stir when it wandered into Northern California a couple of years ago and then found a mate and settled down in Oregon, is back in the news again. It’s proving very difficult to get a new tracking collar on him . . .

Oregon’s wandering wolf, OR-7, has so far eluded attempts to put a new GPS tracking collar on him.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist John Stephenson tells The Oregonian (http://bit.ly/1E5QRZY) that he and another biologist backpacked into the wilds of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in the southern Cascades and set out traps to catch OR-7. But neither OR-7, nor his mate, nor any of their pups stepped into one.

The biologists plan to try again after hunting season ends Nov. 7.

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Montana’s wolves not ‘transplants’

Steve Gniadek recently submitted the following letter to the Flathead Beacon . . .

The article on the proposed wolf management stamp (Beacon, Aug 20) was succinct and generally accurate.  However, one important omission contributed to what I referred to in my comments at the hearing as a raging ignorance among some segments of the public.  The article states correctly that “wolves were introduced back into Yellowstone National Park and the central Idaho wilderness in 1995 and 1996 . . .”.   By omitting the fact that wolves naturally recolonized Northwest Montana, readers may conclude that wolves in this area are from those reintroductions.  In reality, after an absence of 50 years, wolves from Canadian populations began expanding into Northwest Montana more than 30 years ago.  They were not relocated here.

Right before the 2010 election I attended a forum on wolves at Flathead Valley Community College sponsored by Montanans for Multiple Use.  A biologist from the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Department was scheduled to appear on the panel, but was prohibited from participating due to legal wrangling over the wolf hunt.  Thus, there was no one on the panel who could provide an objective view of wolf biology and management, and ignorance ran rampant.  Panelists and audience members repeatedly complained that wolves were transplanted to Montana by the feds, ignoring the fact that wolves in our area came in on their own and were not transplanted.  This was only one of numerous distortions bandied about at the forum.

Present at the forum were most if not all the local Republican candidates, who tried to outdo one another in their support for the misinformation dispensed by the crowd.  In a democracy, we should expect our political representatives to help educate their constituents rather than reinforce ignorance and prejudice.  We should expect the same from our media sources.

Steve Gniadek

Wandering Oregon wolf may have found a mate

Remember “OR7,” the Oregon-based wolf that created a stir when it wandered into Northern California a couple of years ago? It looks like it has found a mate and settled down in Oregon . . .

Oregon’s famous wandering gray wolf, dubbed OR-7, may have found the mate he has trekked thousands of miles looking for, wildlife authorities said Monday. It’s likely the pair spawned pups, and if confirmed, the rare predators would be the first breeding pair of wolves in the Oregon’s Cascade Range since the early 1900s.

Officials said cameras in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in the southern Cascades captured several images of what appears to be a female wolf in the same area where OR-7’s GPS collar shows he has been living.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist John Stephenson said it is not proof, but it is likely the two wolves mated over the winter and are rearing pups that would have been born in April. Biologists won’t start looking for a den until June, to avoid endangering the pups.

Read more . . .

Wandering wolf settled in Northern California — for now

“OR7,” the first wild wolf to enter California in almost 90 years (see earlier story), seems to have settled down in Northern California for now after a brief excursion back into Oregon . . .

A young male wolf from Oregon that has won worldwide fame while trekking across mountains, deserts and highways looking for a mate has had what appears to be his first close encounter with people, and got his picture taken, to boot.

A federal trapper, a state game warden and a state wildlife biologist were visiting ranchers in Northern California on Tuesday to notify them that GPS signals showed the gray wolf was in the area, when they stopped to look over a sagebrush hillside with binoculars, said Karen Kovacs, wildlife program manager for the California Department of Fish and Game in Redding, Calif.

“There, all of a sudden, out pops a head, and there he is,” she said. “He appeared very healthy.”

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Scientists debate “magic number” of wolves needed for species’ survival

A good summary of the science and opinion behind the debate on wolf recovery numbers from yesterday’s Missoulian . . .

One of the biggest arguments left unresolved by last year’s wolf lawsuit was the most obvious: How many wolves are enough?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took the gray wolf off the endangered species list in 2009, with the caveat that at least 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs endure in each of the three states in the northern Rocky Mountain population (Montana, Idaho and Wyoming).

Recent surveys found at least 1,700 wolves in that area – more than enough to justify delisting.

But a coalition of environmental groups sued the government, claiming those numbers were wrong. To survive and thrive, they argued, the population needed at least 2,000 and preferably 5,000 wolves.

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Congressional move to reduce wolf protections raises concerns about precedent

This is a pretty good article about the potential implications of the budget bill rider that will remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List in several western states . . .

The White House is poised to accept a budget bill that includes an unprecedented end-run around Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in five Western states — the first time Congress has targeted a species protected under the 37-year-old law.

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‘Wolfer’ author to discuss hunting predators, appreciation for reintroduction

Yeah, I know, another wolf post. But this one is a little different, not to mention pretty interesting . . .

Carter Niemeyer didn’t set out to become an expert on wolves.

For the first 26 years of his career, the author of “Wolfer, A Memoir” was the man behind the gun who killed predators that threatened livestock.

This week, Niemeyer will tell that part of his story in appearances around Missoula.

He’ll also let people know how he learned to appreciate the need to bring wolves back to the American West.

Continue reading . . .