Conservation officers are worried that an increase in illegal shootings could hamper the gray wolf’s recovery in the northwest Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett explains:
Transcript
Conservation officers are worried that an increase in illegal shootings could hamper the
gray wolf’s recovery in the northwest Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports:
Michigan and Wisconsin would like to upgrade their gray wolf populations from
“endangered” to “threatened.” Minnesota’s herd is already classified as “threatened.”
That means the wolf is no longer on the brink of extinction. Pat Lederle is the
endangered species coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He
says although the number of illegal killings is on the rise, that should not affect federal
plans to upgrade the gray wolf’s status. But Lederle says moving the gray wolf off the
endangered list altogether will require a closer look at poaching numbers:
“They’ll take into consideration things like the level of illegal takings that are occuring, if
there’s any disease issues in the population, is the population still expanding.”
Six collared wolves have been shot and killed already this year in Michigan. And at least
eight have been shot in Wisconsin, although that number could climb to ten, once
autopsies of two more wolves are complete.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m
Sarah Hulett.