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Wolves Removed from the Federal Endangered Species List
by Cornelia Hutt
Wolves in the Midwest were removed from the federal endangered
species list, according to a January 2007 announcement by Deputy
Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett. The deputy secretary
also proposed removing wolves in the Northern Rockies from the
list in about a year, after appropriate legal procedures. Such
"delisting" signifies that wolf populations in the affected
areas have recovered to the point where they are no longer
either endangered or threatened. It ends federal protection of
the animals and turns wolf management over to individual states.
SIEGE SLOUGH CREEK: Yellowstone Wolf Packs Vie for Territory
by Rick McIntyre
On April 4, 2006, crew members of the Yellowstone Wolf Project
spotted what seemed to be a new pack of 12 wolves (6 adults and
6 pups) in Lamar Valley in the northeastern corner of
Yellowstone. Since we did not know who they were, we called them
the Unknown pack. For the next few days, we saw them off and on
in the valley. At times the Unknowns would look toward Slough
Creek, a mile or two to the west, and howl. The Slough Creek
pack, numbering 9 adults and 3 pups, would howl back.
A Rare and Historic Glimpse of a Wolf in the Swiss Alps
by Peter Dettling
When I was a kid, nothing caught my interest more than TV
documentaries on wild places and wild animals. When I was grown,
I went out in the world to see the wild places for myself. In
places like Alaska and Canada I could find what I was missing in
Switzerland, my home country, namely, big wide-open spaces free
of human activity and filled with big game and plenty of
predators. Every time I returned to my home in Switzerland I
dreamed of the wild places I was able to visit only during my
vacations.
Webster's dictionary defines the word chance as something that
happens without plan or intent, such as the relationship between
the International Wolf Center and Barbara Chance of Rogers,
Arkansas. It was by chance when she saved a hybrid puppy that
she learned about the Center.
by Walter Medwid
The announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
in January to delist the western Great Lakes population of
wolves and to start the clock on the delisting of wolves in the
Northern Rockies will cause a ripple (or a tsunami) of concern
among wolf advocates. Only 30 years have passed since wolves in
the lower 48 hung on only in Minnesota and on Isle Royale, so
this concern about a fundamental shift in wolf management is not
without basis. Idaho's governor has alarmed many people with his
inflammatory proposals to significantly reduce wolf numbers in
his state. In Wisconsin, similar steps have been suggested by
two groups
to lower the wolf population.
Coming of Age
by Lori Schmidt, Wolf Curator, International Wolf Center
Born in May 2004, International Wolf Center ambassador wolves
Grizzer and Maya experienced the 2006-07 winter as their first
as mature adults. Not surprisingly, the hormonal influence on
the behavior of these young adults led to some testing of the
arctic wolves, Shadow and Malik, which will be turning 7 years
of age in May 2007.
Nature's Lessons
by Joann Earle
It's Sunday morning in Taiga, and elsewhere in Minnesota people
are gathering at their churches for Sunday services. I, for lack
of a church structure, will praise god from a quiet, small stand
of pine, aspen and brush on the shore of Stoney Lake in the
Superior National Forest. It has been cold, 20 to 30 degrees
Fahrenheit the past three days, and the lake is frozen, but the
southeast wind is mild, so I dress appropriately and leave our
modest dwelling, a yurt, at 9:00 a.m. My husband has been
hunting deer and is after the elusive "big buck" he saw days
before, so he heads northeast from the yurt.
Fold a Wolf Pack
Reprinted with permission from The Wonder
of Wolves: A Story and Activities, by Sandra Chisholm
Robinson.
Wolves may be rare or common where you live, but through origami
you can create your own wolf pack. Read about the social
behavior of wolves in the wild, or even about the International
Wolf Center's ambassador wolves, and play act their interactions
with your folded animals.
Visit our Just for Kids section to download current and past Wild Kids articles.
Recovery of the Mexican Gray Wolf Requires a New Plan
by Michael Robinson
The sole wild Mexican gray wolf population in the world is
operated like a put-and-take fishery: Many wolves are released
from captivity, then removed, and more wolves are put in. But
even new releases are not sufficient to stave off inbreeding
depression, as low reproductive rates may indicate. To create a
viable wild population before the captive population also begins
to lose its genetic diversity, more wolves will have to be
allowed to live and reproduce. And that means predator control
will have to be greatly reduced.
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