Wolf Management Might Be Keeping Woodland Caribou from Going Extinct in Canada, Study Suggests

From Field & Stream:

A government-sponsored wolf-reduction program is playing a major role in the rebound of endangered woodland caribou populations in Canada, according to a recently published study in the journal of Ecological Applications. Authored by 32 researchers from Canada, the United States, and New Zealand, the study found that wildlife managers in British Columbia and Alberta were able to increase the numbers of struggling populations of woodland caribou by more than 50 percent by targeting and removing wolves and by providing cows and calves with supplemental feed inside fully-enclosed penning sites.

 

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One of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves is dead, another is likely expecting pups

From The Colorado Sun:

Just a few hours after U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists confirmed that one of the 10 gray wolves transplanted to Colorado in December was found dead in Larimer County, the state’s top wildlife official told ranchers he will not kill a wolf blamed for the death of four cows in Grand County because it is likely the mate to a wolf that appears to be denning.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis on Tuesday said GPS points from the female wolf’s collar indicate that she is likely in a den. In early April, GPS points stopped uploading and very recently those points began to upload again.

 

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One of Colorado’s released wolves found dead in Larimer County

From The Coloradoan:

One of Colorado’s 10 released wolves has been found dead in Larimer County.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the Coloradoan on April 23 it was made aware of the deceased gray wolf April 18 and determined it was one of the wolves captured in Oregon and released in Grand or Summit counties in late December as part of the state’s reintroduction program.

 

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CPW Confirms Wolf Predations

From Tri-State Livestock News:

Four yearling cattle have been killed by wolves in Grand and Jackson counties according to confirmation given to the producer by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The four yearlings, weighing about 600 pounds, all came from the same ranch with three killed Monday night or Tuesday morning and a fourth on Wednesday.

 

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Yellowstone’s Wolves: A Debate Over Their Role in the Park’s Ecosystem

From New York Times:

In 1995, 14 wolves were delivered by truck and sled to the heart of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where the animal had long been absent. Others followed.

Since then, a story has grown up, based on early research, that as the wolves increased in number, they hunted the park’s elk herds, significantly reducing them by about half from 17,000.

 

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Large study shows caribou herds in Alberta, B.C., growing from wolf culls, cow pens

From City News Everywhere:

Fresh research suggests western Canada’s once-dwindling caribou numbers are finally growing.

But the same paper concludes the biggest reason for the rebound is the slaughter of hundreds of wolves, a policy that will likely have to go on for decades.

“If we don’t shoot wolves, given the state of the habitat that industry and government have allowed, we will lose caribou,” said Clayton Lamb, one of 34 co-authors of a newly published study in the journal Ecological Applications.

 

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Yellowstone Wolves Kill Elk, Drag Carcass onto High School Football Field

From Outdoor Life:

Living in a gateway town to Yellowstone National Park comes with the usual perks and challenges, from abundant wildlife to summers flooded with tourists. But a new spectacle arose on April 12 for Gardiner Public School students and faculty when they discovered that a pack of wolves had killed a cow elk, dragged the carcass onto the GHS football field, and eaten part of it right there — leaving behind a mess of blood, meat, and hide.

 

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Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2023 Annual Report

From Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:

Each year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) submits a report to the federal government for Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 6 activities. This document details the results of its annual gray wolf (Canis lupus) population survey and summarizes wolf recovery and management activities from the previous year.

Washington’s wolf population was virtually eliminated in the 1930s but has rebounded since 2008, when a resident pack was documented in Okanogan County. Since then, the number of wolves has increased to a minimum of 260 wolves reported in 2023. Packs range across public and private land in Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties in the northeast corner of the state and Asotin, Garfield, Columbia, and Walla Walla counties in southeast Washington, and increasing numbers are present in Okanogan, Chelan, and Kittitas counties in the Northern Cascades Recovery area. Although the first pack to recolonize the South Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery region only had one wolf during the year end counts in 2023, we have observed multiple collared wolves cross I-90 in the last year, which likely means it is only a matter of time before new packs begin to establish in that recovery region.

 

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Wolf from Great Lakes population confirmed in Colorado

From Summit Daily:

A rancher in Elbert County, Colorado, contacted Colorado Parks and Wildlife after discovering a dead wolf-like animal in a legal coyote trap on April 3 on a ranch in eastern Colorado. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that this animal is a gray wolf from the Great Lakes wolf population. This is not a wolf from the 10 recently released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December 2023.

As a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, the service is investigating this incident and is working in coordination with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. As an open and active investigation, no additional details are available at this time.

 

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