Tracking Wolves In Northern Minnesota with Dr. David Mech
Reported by Don Shelby- WCCO-TV- Minneapolis
The wolf has been protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1974 and before that, Minnesota was the only state in the lower 48 states that had not exterminated its wolf population. Now the federal government is expected to make a new attempt to take the gray wolf off the endangered list, in a process known as delisting.
Dr. David Mech is a wolf biologist who has watched the recovery of the wolves in Minnesota. He has also greatly influenced wolf management around the northern hemisphere.
WCCO-TV tracked wolves in northern Minnesota in 1992 with the help of Mech. In 1992, the wolf population was a little more than half what it is now.
The wild animals wore collars designed by Mech that would inject a tranquilizer by remote control. Mech would then weigh the animal, take samples and track the animal's health. Mech has been studying the wolves near Ely, Minn. for more than 30 years.
WCCO-TV's Don Shelby was recently invited aboard a U.S. Forest Service beaver plane, where biologist Mike Nelson used a different kind of radio tracking to check the status of a few wolf packs. The Minnesota wolves Nelson and Mech were trying to look at represent a great success story and some said it has been too successful.
"Do we have a healthy population of wolves now?" Shelby asked Mech.
"Yes," Mech replied. "We do have a very healthy population of about 3,000 now in Minnesota They're living in all the wilderness areas where they could live and are starting to encroach into agricultural land and that kind of thing. And that's where they create problems, that's where there's conflicts with people."
As for preventing the wolves from entering those areas, Mech said that problem is part of a larger problem with wildlife management. Mech gave the example of trying to keep geese from proliferating in the city parks of the Twin Cities and keeping deer from proliferating in the suburbs.
"And wildlife management's answer so far has been you've got to kill them," Mech said.
It is because Mech is a man of science that he says such things, but right now, the most common cause of death for Minnesota wolves is being killed by other wolves. Mech said wolves often kill other wolves because they intrude on other's territory and wolves are very competitive. That territory is creeping closer and closer to man.
"Do you have a particular position of a time and a place when it would be worthwhile and right to delist the wolf?" Shelby asked.
"Well, to delist the wolf in Minnesota?" Mech replied. "It should have happened 10 years ago."
Mech is a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize, which is the world's top award for animal conservation. The $100,000 prize will be given out in September.
Nice video report with aerial footage and Mech interview on WCCO-TV Web Site:
WCCO-TV
The wolf has been protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1974 and before that, Minnesota was the only state in the lower 48 states that had not exterminated its wolf population. Now the federal government is expected to make a new attempt to take the gray wolf off the endangered list, in a process known as delisting.
Dr. David Mech is a wolf biologist who has watched the recovery of the wolves in Minnesota. He has also greatly influenced wolf management around the northern hemisphere.
WCCO-TV tracked wolves in northern Minnesota in 1992 with the help of Mech. In 1992, the wolf population was a little more than half what it is now.
The wild animals wore collars designed by Mech that would inject a tranquilizer by remote control. Mech would then weigh the animal, take samples and track the animal's health. Mech has been studying the wolves near Ely, Minn. for more than 30 years.
WCCO-TV's Don Shelby was recently invited aboard a U.S. Forest Service beaver plane, where biologist Mike Nelson used a different kind of radio tracking to check the status of a few wolf packs. The Minnesota wolves Nelson and Mech were trying to look at represent a great success story and some said it has been too successful.
"Do we have a healthy population of wolves now?" Shelby asked Mech.
"Yes," Mech replied. "We do have a very healthy population of about 3,000 now in Minnesota They're living in all the wilderness areas where they could live and are starting to encroach into agricultural land and that kind of thing. And that's where they create problems, that's where there's conflicts with people."
As for preventing the wolves from entering those areas, Mech said that problem is part of a larger problem with wildlife management. Mech gave the example of trying to keep geese from proliferating in the city parks of the Twin Cities and keeping deer from proliferating in the suburbs.
"And wildlife management's answer so far has been you've got to kill them," Mech said.
It is because Mech is a man of science that he says such things, but right now, the most common cause of death for Minnesota wolves is being killed by other wolves. Mech said wolves often kill other wolves because they intrude on other's territory and wolves are very competitive. That territory is creeping closer and closer to man.
"Do you have a particular position of a time and a place when it would be worthwhile and right to delist the wolf?" Shelby asked.
"Well, to delist the wolf in Minnesota?" Mech replied. "It should have happened 10 years ago."
Mech is a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize, which is the world's top award for animal conservation. The $100,000 prize will be given out in September.
Nice video report with aerial footage and Mech interview on WCCO-TV Web Site:
posted by wolf saga at 1:53 PM
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