WOLF REPORT
| Here's the latest wolf report, from the Wisconsin
DNR News & Outdoor Report of May 28, 2003: Wisconsin wolf population shows slight increase PARK FALLS, Wis. -- Wisconsin’s population of gray wolves increased only slightly in 2003 but is closing in on the state management goal of 350 animals outside of Indian reservations, state wildlife officials say. The late winter population of wolves in Wisconsin, before the birth of pups in the spring, was estimated between 335 to 354, a slight increase from the adjusted wolf count of 327 estimated for 2002. Those estimates are based on factors including aerial surveys of packs with radio collared wolves, ground surveys of 3,000 miles of snow-covered trails and roads for wolf sign, trained volunteer surveys of 3,600 miles of trails and roads, and reports of wolf observations by the public or other government agency personnel. “The 2003 count includes 94 packs in northern and central Wisconsin, and at least 12 lone wolves, but lone wolves are probably undercounted,” says Adrian Wydeven, Department of Natural Resources mammalian ecologist and wolf specialist. “Lone wolves are very mobile, and recently one was killed by a vehicle near Oconomowoc in Waukesha County. That was the third verified wolf in southern Wisconsin in recent years.” Wolf packs, or family groups, are mostly restricted to the heavily forested areas of northern and west central Wisconsin. The most southern packs are a group of five in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, Juneau County and a pair in the Colburn Swamp area of Adams County. A wolf pack usually consists of two to 10 animals: a dominant male and female -- the breeding pair -- pups from the previous year and the current year's pups. Additional subordinate adults may join the pack upon occasion. A pack's territory may cover 20-120 square miles, about one-tenth the size of an average Wisconsin county. The state Natural Resources Board in 1989 approved a Wolf Recovery Plan that determined wolves should be reclassified to threatened when the population remained at 80 for three or more years. In 1999 the board approved a Wolf Management Plan that calls for maintaining a long-term population of 350 animals outside of Indian reservations, largely through protecting the wolf in some areas, public education, and controlling problem wolves on private lands. The 350 goal was thought to be the number of wolves Wisconsin’s available habitat could support and public tolerance would accept. The state and federal governments now list the gray wolf as a threatened species in Wisconsin. The state reclassified wolves from endangered to threatened in October 1999, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the federal change effective April 1, 2003. The federal change gave state biologists more flexibility to deal with problem wolves, including allowing government agents to destroy wolves that kill domestic animals. The state has exercised that flexibility recently in responding to depredation on livestock at three of four farms in northern Wisconsin that have previously suffered livestock losses from wolves. Since late April, Wydeven says, wolves have killed five calves on three farms, and four sheep on a fourth farm. U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services staff set live traps for wolves on three of the farms and subsequently trapped three wolves on a farm in Burnett County and one on a farm in Barron County. All four wolves were euthanized by DNR wardens. The Burnett County farm has suffered wolf damage most years since 1995, with eight wolves trapped and removed from the farm in 2001 and nine in 2002. All farmers have received payments in the past for all verified depredation and some missing calves. Before the federal government’s reclassified of wolves to threatened status, most captured wolves were relocated to other areas of the state. “With the change in federal status, we will no longer be relocating problem wolves under most circumstances for several reasons,” Wydeven says. “Most suitable wolf range is currently occupied, and few areas exist for releasing problem wolves. If problem wolves are released into areas occupied by other wolves, the released wolves run the risk of being killed by the local pack. Further, with most suitable areas of habitat occupied, problem wolves are more likely to move into other areas where they will cause additional depredation.” “We will continue to explore non-lethal methods for controlling problem wolves,” Wydeven says. “Scare devices, cleaning up of farm animals carcasses, changing calving areas, using guard animals, and other non-lethal methods are all considered where feasible. Trapping and euthanizing wolves only occurs after at least two incidents of verified wolf depredation, or on farms that have had chronic wolf depredation in previous years.” Under Wisconsin’s wolf management plan, the population goal for removing wolves from the threatened species is 250 wolves outside of Indian Reservations for at least one year. In 2002 at least 314 wolves occurred outside of Indian reservations, and 327 occurred outside reservation in 2003, so Wydeven says the state process to delist wolves from the threatened species list will occur soon. The process could be completed by spring 2004. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to start the federal delisting process in late 2003 or early 2004, and complete the process late in 2004 or early 2005. Once removed from the list, wolves would continue to be protected as nongame species, and would continue to receive high levels of protection and the goal will be to maintain a wolf population of about 350 wolves outside of Indian reservations in Wisconsin. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrian Wydeven - (715) 762-4684 ext. 107 _____ Editor's note: January, 1998 (see below for 1999 Information...) Wisconsin's wolf population was estimated at about 150 animals during the annual winter population survey last year. Adrian Wydeven, a mammalian ecologist and chief wolf biologist for the Department of Natural Resources, said he expects the population will increased 20 to 25 percent when the survey is taken again this winter. The state's wolf population reached the goal established in the current wolf recovery plan last year, and the DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are currently considering upgrading their status in Wisconsin from endangered to threatened. The DNR has begun work on a wolf management plan to outline how wolves are managed in Wisconsin once they are reclassified from endangered to threatened and eventually removed from these categories. For more information contact: Adrian Wydeven (715) 762-3204. DNR Note as of December, 1998: Timber wolf population continues to grow; management plan being developed... Wisconsin's population of timber wolves continued to grow and wolf packs occupied more territories in the state. A population survey found between 175 to 180 wolves in 46 packs across northern and central Wisconsin. This was the fourth year in a row that the stateâs wolf population was at or above the recovery goal of 80 or more wolves established when the state developed its timber wolf recovery plan in 1989. The DNR began work on a new wolf management plan that will outline how wolves will be managed in the state, and will determine criteria for removing wolves from the state endangered list. The draft plan for Wisconsin calls for a management goal of 300 to 500 wolves. ...Click here for "Something Special From Wisconsin"= Howling wolf or wolf stereogram (skip the running wolf) -- actually, a Colorado Greeting Card link -- and then come back for the rest of the Wolf Report... BAYFIELD COUNTY WOLF SHOOTING UNDER INVESTIGATION: December, 1997 MADISON -- State conservation wardens and wildlife officials are investigating the apparent shooting of a timber wolf in northern Bayfield County last weekend. The yearling female wolf was found shortly before noon Saturday, Dec. 20, off a logging road south of Cornucopia after the radio collar it was wearing began giving off a "mortality signal," a special signal that indicates the wolf had not moved in several hours, according to Adrian Wydeven, a mammalian ecologist and chief wolf biologist for the Department of Natural Resources. It appeared the wolf had died from a bullet wound in its chest, Wydeven said. The wolf carcass is being transported to the National Wildlife Health Laboratory in Madison for a necropsy to verify the cause of death. The eastern timber wolf, or gray wolf, is on the state and federal endangered species list. Someone found guilty of the intentional killing of a wolf could face a jail sentence and federal fines up to $25,000. "Wisconsin's wolf population has been growing, so the illegal killing of one wolf doesn't have as drastic of an impact on the state's population as it did a few years ago. Still, the death of a dispersing female wolf reduces the potential of wolves establishing packs in new areas," Wydeven said. This particular wolf, a 35- to 40- pound female, was being closely monitored by a Northland College professor and his students as part of a wolf research project. DNR wildlife officials originally trapped and collared the wolf in June near the Flambeau River State Forest. She remained in that area until October, at which time she moved north into an area of the Chequamegon National Forest near Mellen. She moved again in early November to the area where she was found dead. "She apparently had joined a wolf pack member, who because of an injury, had developed a habit of hunting along roadways. As a result, she lost her fear of vehicles and was frequently seen along the edge of the roadway. She was very likely the most seen wolf in the state," Wydeven said. Anyone with information on the shooting may contact the toll-free DNR poaching tip line at 1-800-TIP-WDNR (1-800-847-9367) or contact DNR Conservation Warden Pat Quantance at (715) 779-4030, extension 16 or (715) 779-5104. The last shooting of a wolf in Wisconsin occurred in November 1996 during the gun deer season when another yearling female was shot near Minong in Washburn County. For more information contact: Adrian Wydeven (715) 762-3204. THE PACKS ARE BACK: TIMBER WOLVES IN WISCONSIN REACH ANOTHER RECOVERY GOAL: Report from DNR Conservation Newsletter, April, 1997. The endangered eastern timber wolf has reached another significant milestone on its road to recovery in Wisconsin: With the wolf population remaining at above 80 animals for the past three years in the state, the process will begin next fall to reclassify wolves to threatened species in Wisconsin. Wolf numbers are continuing to increase in Wisconsin, according to surveys completed earlier this spring (1997) by Department of Natural Resources biologists. "Our surveys indicated that Wisconsin currently has a population of about 150 timber wolves," explains Adrian Wydeven, a DNR endangered resources biologist at Park Falls.. "Our survey found there are at least 35 different groups, or packs, and at least 5 loners. This represents a 50 percent increase from last year's count of 99-105 wolves." Wydeven attributes Wisconsin's increased wolf population to the recovery efforts that focused on protection and education. "Their return is the result of natural re-colonization by wolves that moved into the state from Minnesota. Protection provided by the Federal Endangered Species Act allowed wolves to expand and re-occupy former range in the Great Lakes region. We did not rely on the stocking of wolves -- such as was done in Yellowstone National Park, -- to re-establish wolves in Wisconsin." Wolves were considered extirpated from Wisconsin, or no longer found in the state, by 1960. They returned to the state in the mid 1970s, and by 1980 the population had increased to 25 wolves. The populations dropped to 15 in 1985 after parvovirus started to affect wolves. Since 1985, the wolf population has grown at a fairly steady pace. The 1989 Wolf Recovery Plan for Wisconsin set a goal of achieving a population of 80 or more wolves by the year 2000. That goal was achieved in 1994-1995. The current wolf population represents the third year that this goal has been maintained. "With the results of this year's survey, we can now begin the process of reclassifying wolves from endangered to threatened in Wisconsin," Wydeven says. Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service have indicated that the process for reclassifying wolves will begin in October and the new status could go into effect by June 1998. The Wisconsin DNR has begun working on developing a new wolf management plan for the state. This plan will outline how a reclassified wolf population will be managed in the state, and will determine criteria for delisting wolves as neither endangered nor threatened. Wolf population counts have been made annually since 1979 using observations of radio collared wolves and their companions. Normally only about 20 percent of the population is collared, and collared wolves usually occur in about 50 percent of the packs in the state. Snow tracking by DNR wolf workers, other biologists, and more than 100 volunteers, provides information on wolves that are not collared. The combination of aerial counts and snow tracking provide a count of the state wolf population... FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrian Wydeven (715) 762-4684 ext. 107. |