Federal Protection for Wolves Lifted

  • The federal government has removed protections for the gray wolf in the western Great Lakes region and is considering lifting protections of wolves in the Rocky Mountains. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources 2001)

Gray wolves in two regions of the US could
be on the verge of losing federal endangered species
protection. A wildlife group says the next step should
be to reduce public fears about the animal. Chuck
Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Gray wolves in two regions of the U-S could
be on the verge of losing federal endangered species
protection. A wildlife group says the next step should
be to reduce public fears about the animal. Chuck
Quirmbach reports:


The Interior Department is removing gray wolves in the Western
Great Lakes area from the lists of threatened and endangered
species. The federal agency is proposing the same de-listing for
the gray wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountain region.


The group Defenders of Wildlife support the Great Lakes plan.
Spokesperson Gina Schroeder says as the wolves are removed from
the lists, one task will be to dispel some myths about the
animals:


“…And it’ll be very important that there’s a better
understanding of the biological and sociological aspects of
wolves.”


Schroeder says for example, wolves are extremely unlikely to
attack humans and there are non-lethal ways to discourage wolves
from coming near livestock. But the Humane Society of the US
says if it doesn’t think the wolves are being protected well
enough, it might file a lawsuit challenging the de-listing plans.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach

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Wolf Takes Long Trip South

  • Canis lupus: Gray Wolf – Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources © 2001.

The gray wolf is making a comeback in the upper Midwest, and for some young wolves the area may be getting a little too crowded. It’s not unusual for young wolves to travel long distances to stake out a territory of their own, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… one wolf’s trip has surprised everyone:

Transcript

The gray wolf is making a comeback in the upper Midwest. And for some young wolves the area may be getting a little too crowded. It’s not unusual for young wolves to travel long distances to stake out a territory of their own, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… one wolf’s trip has surprised everyone:


The wolf was first seen two and half years ago as a young pup in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. At that time he was caught in a trap, and wildlife officials tagged him as “Wolf No. 18.” They fitted him with a radio collar and followed his movements for nine months before they lost track of him.


About a year and a half… and over 450 miles later, the wolf’s luck came to an end. A bow hunter from central Missouri saw the wolf snooping around his sheep pen. The hunter shot and killed the wolf – apparently mistaking it for a coyote. He realized his mistake when he noticed the radio collar.


Typically, young wolves travel west or northwest from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, so when Michigan Wildlife Division Supervisor Jim Hammill heard the news that one of their wolves had turned up in Missouri… he could only think of one explanation:


“My first reaction was that somebody possibly killed the wolf in Michigan and transported it to Missouri and they found the carcass of the animal down there… but that was not what happened… and you know this animal was seen alive in Missouri before it was killed, so you know, it’s obvious that this was a natural movement and, uh, really sort of a stunning thing to have happened.”


Stunning because Hammill has never heard of a wolf traveling this far south before. They’ve seen wolves travel as far west… and northwest, but typically those wolves have an easier trip. Wolf Number 18 would have had to overcome huge obstacles, such as a number of major highways, a number of rivers including the Mississippi, and large open spaces like farms.


Hammill says this wolf’s trip will likely shed some light on the gray wolf’s behavior. And that may be especially helpful to biologists in the northeast – a region that hasn’t heard the howl of a wolf for some time:


“A lot of folks up there feel that there’s no way that wolves could re-populate the area without a trap and translocation program. But, you know, I wonder about that because of the kinds of movements that we’ve been seeing here in the Midwest.”


Wolf 18’s body has been shipped back to a Michigan Department of Natural Resources lab. There – they’ll try to piece together just what this wolf encountered on his historic trip south. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.