Professor awarded grant for wolf study
By Mike Fossano
Staff Reporter
A team of Central Michigan University researchers recently made a deal to help survey Michigan’s wolf population.
Tom Gehring, assistant biology professor, received a $78,000 three-year grant from the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians to study wolf populations in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula.
Gehring, along with two students, will be surveying 295,000 acres of land in the Cheboygan, Emmet and Presque Isle counties to track and locate wolf populations.
The wolf, indigenous to Michigan, was absent from the state’s landscape for many years, but recently has returned. Some people, including the tribe, believe there might be several packs living in the Lower Peninsula.
The team is using several techniques for the track studies, which began in January, Gehring said.
“We drive a lot,” he said. “Within 24 hours of a large snowfall, we go out looking for fresh wolf tracks and follow them and hope to find more wolf-like evidence.”
Gehring has been studying wolves for almost 14 years and chose the two students because of their wolf research experience.
The students, Ohio graduate student Anna Cellar and Pentwater graduate assistant Shawn Rossler, both have backgrounds in non-lethal wolf protection.
One technique the researchers use is “howling,” where they mimic a wolf’s howl and listen for a response.
“It’s a good way to determine if wolves are in the general area and also if there are pups,” Cellar said.
The goal of the project is to help the progression of wolf studies in Michigan, researchers said.
“It will provide baseline data if there are wolves and their population in the Lower Peninsula, along with refining monitoring techniques,” Rossler said.
American Indians have a close tie with the animals and an interest in ensuring their existence, Gehring said.
He said to American Indians, the wolf represents a warrior, and they feel an obligation to make sure it will not be exterminated in Michigan again.
© 2006 Central Michigan LIFE
Central Michigan Life
Staff Reporter
A team of Central Michigan University researchers recently made a deal to help survey Michigan’s wolf population.
Tom Gehring, assistant biology professor, received a $78,000 three-year grant from the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians to study wolf populations in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula.
Gehring, along with two students, will be surveying 295,000 acres of land in the Cheboygan, Emmet and Presque Isle counties to track and locate wolf populations.
The wolf, indigenous to Michigan, was absent from the state’s landscape for many years, but recently has returned. Some people, including the tribe, believe there might be several packs living in the Lower Peninsula.
The team is using several techniques for the track studies, which began in January, Gehring said.
“We drive a lot,” he said. “Within 24 hours of a large snowfall, we go out looking for fresh wolf tracks and follow them and hope to find more wolf-like evidence.”
Gehring has been studying wolves for almost 14 years and chose the two students because of their wolf research experience.
The students, Ohio graduate student Anna Cellar and Pentwater graduate assistant Shawn Rossler, both have backgrounds in non-lethal wolf protection.
One technique the researchers use is “howling,” where they mimic a wolf’s howl and listen for a response.
“It’s a good way to determine if wolves are in the general area and also if there are pups,” Cellar said.
The goal of the project is to help the progression of wolf studies in Michigan, researchers said.
“It will provide baseline data if there are wolves and their population in the Lower Peninsula, along with refining monitoring techniques,” Rossler said.
American Indians have a close tie with the animals and an interest in ensuring their existence, Gehring said.
He said to American Indians, the wolf represents a warrior, and they feel an obligation to make sure it will not be exterminated in Michigan again.
© 2006 Central Michigan LIFE
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