Slough Creek dens abandoned to Unknown Pack

The Slough Creek females have abandoned their den sites, which have been taken over by the Unknown Pack. The fate of their pups is unknown, but other details are posted on Ralph Maughan's site:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

Wisconsin DNR receives permit for control of problem wolves

River Falls Journal

MADISON -- The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources can now trap troublesome wolves using both lethal and non-lethal means. They received a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is for 2006 an allows the DNR to trap up to 46 wolves that are killing livestock and domestic animals.

A preliminary count by the DNR of Wisconsin's gray wolf population for the winter of 2005-2006 shows that there are from 450 to 520 wolves in the state. "The wolf population apparently increased slightly from last year's levels," said Adrian Wydeven, mammalian ecologist for the Department of Natural Resources.

"The Natural Resources Board approved a Wolf Management Plan for Wisconsin in 1999," said Signe Holtz, director of the DNR's Bureau of Endangered Resources. "The goal of the plan is a healthy, sustainable gray wolf population. This permit is one of several tools we need to help us attain that goal."

Wisconsin has had authority from the federal government to trap and translocate or use lethal control on depredating wolves in the past, say wildlife officials, but temporarily lost that authority while the status of wolves across North America was examined in the courts.

"The ability to remove depredating wolves is necessary in our efforts to address landowner problems," said Holtz. "The state will use this authority to reduce damages caused to owners of hunting dogs and livestock from depredating wolves."

Wolves currently are listed as a federally endangered species in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board reclassified wolves from endangered to threatened in 1999, and delisted wolves to protected wild animal status on August 1, 2004. However, the federal listing takes precedence. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has announced its intent to remove wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and parts of neighboring states from the federal Endangered Species List. Once that occurs, management of the wolf in Wisconsin will be guided by the Wisconsin Wolf Management Plan.

"Delisting at the federal level is the next big step in wolf management in Wisconsin," says Holtz. "Once that process is complete population management will occur at the state level allowing more flexibility and additional management options."

River Falls Journal

Reward offered in UP wolf poaching case

A $1,000 reward has been offered by the DNR for information about a suspected wolf poaching in the eastern Upper Peninsula. A mortality signal from a gray wolf's radio collar was picked up Dec. 13 near Pickford, and the collar was recovered from the Munuscong River in Chippewa County in March. The collar apparently had been cut off the wolf. The reward will be paid if information leads to an arrest and conviction. Call the DNR's poaching hotline at 800-292-7800.

Detroit Free Press

Wolf packs boom after sterility experiment fails

A plan to reduce the carnivore's population by birth control has backfired

Larry Pynn - Vancouver Sun

It was a strange experiment from the start: Biologists netting wolves from helicopters in an area of B.C. known as the Serengeti of the North, immobilizing them with tranquillizer darts, whisking them away to a laboratory where a veterinarian would perform sterilization surgery, then returning them to the wild as though nothing had happened.

The simple theory: If you reduce the ability of wolf packs to breed, you end up with fewer wolves and more ungulates such as moose, mountain sheep, and caribou -- the sort of big-game animals that two-legged predators also like to kill.

Midway through the five-year experiment, the B.C. Environment Ministry is finding that when you mess with nature, the outcome is rarely that simple. Documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun through freedom of information legislation show that that the wolves being studied have actually increased in number and perhaps increased their level of predation on ungulates as well.

"This is a learning process, part of the research," Andy Ackerman, regional manager with the environment ministry, said Tuesday in an interview from Fort St. John. "You do expect behaviour change. When you make changes within their social structure, their normal behaviour, you're going to see changes happening."

The setting is the Muskwa-Kechika management area, a vast roadless wilderness area encompassing 6.4 million hectares that has the continent's largest and most diverse game population. Declines in certain ungulate populations, however, served as impetus for the sterilization experiment, the sort of kinder-gentler program that, presumably, would not generate the sort of negative publicity associated with a direct wolf-kill program. Since the study started in 2003, ministry officials have sterilized 26 wolves in two packs at a cost of up to $2,500 per wolf. All wolves within Gemini pack were sterilized, whereas only some members of Birches pack were sterilized.

That's where it gets interesting. The ministry documents show that one wolf left Gemini pack and two other adults joined, "resulting in a 15-per-cent increase in size. In contrast, some members of the Birches pack were sterilized but the pack produced pups."

Typically, only the alpha male and alpha female breed in a wolf pack, raising the question whether biologists in fact sterilized the dominant pair in the Birches pack or whether other members of the pack figured that if the dominant wolves were not going to raise pups, they might as well give it a try. Regardless, the Birches pack wound up splitting twice, into three packs, and increasing its size by 25 per cent.

"Again, that is something we didn't predict," Ackerman said. "These are things we're learning."

The documents also note that depriving a wolf pack of pups may alter its foraging behaviour. Pups require the pack to stay closer to the den in summer and feed more heavily on beaver. Without pups, the wolves are free to roam more widely and perhaps take even more ungulates than if humans had not intervened.

"That's one of the side-effects of not having kids," Ackerman quipped. "They have less to support, they are more mobile."

Despite the setbacks, Ackerman remains philosophical, saying that the whole purpose of research is to see what happens. "The idea is to find what works and what doesn't work, and whether it's a feasible way of doing business in that part of the world. This is a very wild population."

Monitoring will continue for another two years before any decision is made on the effectiveness of the sterilization program.

The documents report that sterilization in arctic and subarctic regions has proven to be "reasonably straightforward," however in forested northern B.C. "it is much more difficult to use this technique." The forests have made it almost impossible to spot wolves from the air. Biologists are relying largely on tracks and radio collars to monitor behaviour although even that is proving difficult, because the wolves that left for other packs are not radio-collared.

The documents include a letter from Environment Minister Barry Penner saying "the research project has been very successful."

Vancouver Sun

Wisconsin DNR: State wolf population estimated at 450 to 520

Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. - The latest count shows Wisconsin's gray wolf population may have grown to as many as 520 wolves, exceeding the goal set by state game managers, the Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday.

Adrian Wydeven, DNR coordinator of the wolf program, said winter surveys put the population between 450 to 520 wolves, up slightly from a year ago.

At 520 wolves, the population would be more than 100 over the DNR's management goal for the species.

Wydeven has said Wisconsin's habitat can support more wolves but the public's tolerance probably wouldn't allow it.

The wolf was native to Wisconsin but the species was wiped out by the late 1950s after decades of bounty hunting. Since the animal was granted protection as an endangered species during the mid 1970s, wolves migrated into the state from Minnesota and their numbers have been growing ever since.

Minnesota has the largest wolf population in the lower 48 states at around 2,400.

According to Wydeven, the DNR received a federal permit allowing it to kill 43 wolves this year if they are causing problems for livestock and domestic animals. The permit allows both lethal and non-lethal trapping of problem wolves to address landowner concerns.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun the process of removing the wolf from the federal endangered species list in Wisconsin. Once that is done, the state would have complete say in the management of the animals, Wydeven said.

Duluth News Tribune

Eleven years with wolves - what we've learned

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game posts a report summing up the restoration of wolves in their state.

"In 1995, wolves were reintroduced in Idaho and have been intensively observed ever since. During that time we have learned a great deal about these animals, enough to be able to clear up some misunderstandings."

Full text at IDFG site:

Idaho Fish and Game

National park proposes shooting elk to shrink herd- wolves to the rescue in Colorado?

By JUDITH KOHLER - Associated Press Writer

DENVER — The elk that thrill visitors with statuesque poses and haunting, bugle-like mating calls in Rocky Mountain National Park have become so numerous that park officials want hundreds of them shot and suggest wolves could help keep the herds in check. The recommended alternative in a draft elk management plan released Monday doesn’t suggest releasing wolves in the park 70 miles northwest of Denver. Still, park officials said wolves would best meet environmental objectives and do the least damage.

‘‘This is a 20-year plan and a lot can happen in 20 years. Wolves may come in on their own,’’ park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said.

There are between 2,200 and 3,000 elk roaming the park and the animals are frequent visitors to the adjacent town of Estes Park. The preferred alternative in the draft plan calls for park employees or contractors to shoot between 200 to 700 elk over four years and between 25 to 150 elk annually for the next 16 years. The goal is a population of 1,200 to 1,700 elk. Park officials say the solution must begin now because the herds are becoming a nuisance — to visitors who often sit in traffic as the animals cross the park’s winding mountain roads and to area’s flora. The elk chew up willows and aspen so important to other species, including songbirds and beavers.

Predators such as wolves and grizzly bears would force the elk to move around more and lead to some culling. But they haven’t been in the park for years, and a ban on hunting in national parks has resulted in big herds. Elk densities, reaching as high as 260 elk per mile, are ‘‘the highest concentrations ever documented for a free-ranging population in the Rocky Mountains,’’ according to the park’s proposal.

Park officials realize some people will object to elk being killed, Patterson said. The plan calls for park employees and contractors to shoot the animals at night with silencers in part to keep the culling out of the public eye.

Shooting hundreds of the animals isn’t a long-term solution to overgrazing and habitat damage, said Rob Edward of Sinapu, a Boulder-based wildlife advocacy group that supports restoring wolves to Colorado. ‘‘The only thing that will change that permanently is the presence of wolves unbridled by human management,’’ Edward said. ‘‘Politics is driving this. It should be good science and thoughtful policy.’’

Wolves were wiped out in Colorado by the 1930s after ranchers, government agents and others shot, trapped and poisoned the predator. A state task force was formed after a wolf traced by its radio collar to Yellowstone National Park was found dead west of Denver in 2004.

Any proposal to restore wolves to Colorado would have to be considered by federal and state agencies and likely would meet strong opposition from ranchers and others. Critics argue that wolves are destroying big-game herds in Yellowstone and central Idaho, where a restoration program began in 1995.

Park officials included an option in the management plan to release at least two pairs of wolves to help control elk. Biologists say wolves would keep elk on the move and help ease the animals’ effect on vegetation. Even if wolves were released, biologists believe up to 500 elk still would have to be shot the first four years. Under another proposal, contraception would be given to elk.

Park officials will prepare a final environmental impact statement after taking public comments until July 4.

Helena Independent Record

Five Mexican wolves to be released in Gila forest

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTA FE (AP) - Five endangered Mexican gray wolves will be released in the Gila National Forest over the next few months.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began releasing wolves into the wild on the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1998 to re-establish the species in part of its historic range.

A male and a pregnant female are to be turned loose on the eastern side of the Blue Range Recovery Area in late April, just prior to the female giving birth. Program officials said that would increase the likelihood that the pair will remain in the area.

The site was chosen because the owners of the closest private land and the grazing permit-holder said the release was acceptable. The area also is a considerable distance from the San Carlos Reservation. The wolves were removed from the reservation last year over boundary issues.

Two females and one male will be released in June in one of four approved sites in the Gila Wilderness. The exact site will be determined after other wolf packs in the area have established dens, so the distance between the existing packs and the new wolves can be maximized.

The female wolves were captured in the Gila National Forest in 2005 as pups when their pack was removed from the area because of livestock killings. The male was captured outside its boundary in 2005.

The reintroduction program allows Mexican gray wolves to be released in New Mexico only if they previously were released in Arizona and have experience in the wild.

"We are aware of the need for caution in releasing wolves that have been captured elsewhere," said wolf biologist Saleen Richter. "It is important that we work to release wolves that will adapt to their new surroundings without conflict."

As of the end of 2005, there were an estimated 35 to 49 wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.

Wolves outside New Mexico's Gila National Forest and Arizona's Apache National Forest can be removed at the request of landowners. Fish and Wildlife officials say that has resulted in a number of previously captured wolves that can be moved to the Gila Wilderness and surrounding areas.

A five-year review of the reintroduction program recommended expanding the range in which the animals are allowed. The program is awaiting a response from the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ranchers have objected to wolf reintroduction, contending the animals threaten their livestock and that expanding the program could jeopardize more ranchers as well as population centers. A year ago, two New Mexico groups lost a federal lawsuit aimed at ending the program.

Environmental organizations have argued that wolf reintroduction is hampered by people more than biological concerns and that ranchers who oppose the program never will be satisfied.

Free New Mexican

Slough Creek den standoff continues

The latest news from the Slough Creek denning area is on Ralph Maughan's site. Females 380F and 527F seem to be coping with the "Unknown" invaders, but the future of their pups is in doubt:

Ralph Maughan's Wlidlife Reports

Hundreds of US campgrounds face closure

By BRODIE FARQUHAR - Star-Tribune correspondent

LANDER -- Tucked away in a corner of the U.S. Forest Service Web site are plans and documents which could lead to the closure of hundreds of campground water systems and ultimately, hundreds of campgrounds themselves throughout the national forest system.

The time-hallowed practice of fetching water from a hand pump -- for preparing meals, washing dishes or washing dirty kids -- may become a thing of the past. Like a small-town post office, where people meet and talk, the campground hand pump is where campers meet and talk, forming friendships that can last a weekend or a lifetime.

That could all disappear in a few years, said primitive recreation advocate Scott Silver, executive director of Wild Wilderness in Bend, Ore. What would replace those basic water systems and campgrounds? According to Silver, they’d be replaced by fewer, but bigger developed campgrounds, featuring more expensive and complicated water systems, operated by for-profit concessionaires. “It is all there on the Internet,” said Silver, referring to the "Recreation Site Facility Master Planning" Internet page that details the information.

Silver said he is convinced that federal land agencies including the Forest Service are being deliberately starved by the Bush administration’s tax cuts and big budget deficits. The Forest Service’s recreation facility planning, he said, is designed to have each forest define for itself a recreational “niche” that will then out-compete other recreation activities for dollars and staff support, with the losers withering away. Recreational niches will be dominated by for-profit concessionaires, he warns.

According to Silver, conservative congressmen, cash-strapped land managers and recreation industry leaders are working cooperatively to create an entirely new land management ethos. Their efforts are being directed toward maximum "commercialization, privatization and motorization" of federal lands. The name best used to describe their vision for the 21st century and beyond, he said, is “industrial-strength recreation.”

“In evaluating recreation facilities, Forest Service staff are instructed to look very closely at water and sanitation issues as an excuse or justification for closure,” Silver said. Nowhere in the master plan is there any mention of catching up on deferred maintenance with higher appropriations from Congress or fees from the public. “Forest Service leaders just want to shut those facilities down,” Silver said.

Vera Smith, conservation director for Colorado Mountain Club, said the Forest Service made a huge investment in recreation infrastructure over the past 50 years. “I think it is crazy to allow that investment to languish and decay,” Smith said. “My approach is to lobby Congress for funds to rescue those facilities."

Alternative view

While Silver leans toward a conspiracy theory, Andy Stahl of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics said he believes bureaucratic incompetence and changing demographics can best explain what’s happening in the nation’s forests. “I call it ‘revenge of the planners,’” said Stahl, referring to bureaucrats who push paper rather than do anything in the field. He said it shouldn’t be that challenging to place a picnic table and a toilet in the woods.

“The reality is that the Forest Service has been trying to close campgrounds since the camping heyday in the '50s and '60s,” Stahl said. Driving to a campground and pitching a tent has been replaced by 30-foot RVs that haul ATVs on a trailer and demand full utility hookups. Campers are more likely to entertain themselves with ATVs, motorbikes, video games and satellite television than by hiking, fishing or just messing around in the outdoors, he said.

The Forest Service’s own "National Visitor Use Monitoring" report, released last fall, backs Stahl’s theory.

“NVUM results have challenged some common perceptions about recreation visitation patterns," the report says. "On many (national forest) lands the bulk of the recreation budget is used to maintain overnight and developed facilities. Yet nationally, only 8 percent of visits include spending the night ... in developed campgrounds. Only about one-third of national forest site visits occur on developed day or overnight facilities, and nearly half of these are visits to ski areas. The majority of visitation is actually day use. Day users tend to come to the same forest many times each ear and stay for short periods of time. Sixty-two percent of all national forest site visits occur in undeveloped areas of the forest and grasslands (4 percent in designated wilderness and 58 percent in undeveloped non-wilderness areas).”

Forest Service documents also note that:

* Recreation site deferred maintenance estimates have reached $346 million.

* Recreation fees have raised customer expectations.

* The national forests' ability to charge fees is more restrictive than a previous fee demonstration program and will result in a decrease of dollars available for recreation sites.

* New Environmental Protection Agency operating standards will increase the number of recreation site water systems failing to meet standards without additional expenditures.

* Visitor preferences and demand have changed since the 1960s, when most existing recreation sites were designed and constructed.

EPA pressure?

Pam DeVore, the integrated business coordinator for the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region, said many campground water systems will be shut down and torn out because the EPA is requiring expensive chlorination, pumping and filtration systems and frequent testing. “No one has that much money,” she said. “It is going to make it more difficult to provide potable water to remote sites.” DeVore acknowledged that there have been no known disease outbreaks in campers drinking from Forest Service wells, but because surface waters interact with groundwater, the Forest Service feels it must take these additional, protective steps.

Yet EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said his agency has done nothing to push the Forest Service in this direction. “I’ve found nothing here (to account for it),” Kemery said. “It sounds as if it is driven by the Forest Service’s budget.”

DeVore said some Colorado campgrounds lost their water during the recent drought, as water tables dropped. “It wasn’t a big deal for the public,” she said. Campers simply brought their own water, and campground use did not go down when the wells were dry, she said.

Other options available under the Forest Service's recreation facility master planning, DeVore said, include:

* Cutting seasons shorter. Many campgrounds are starkly empty after Labor Day, but they’ve been kept open longer in the past.

* Converting day-use sites into campgrounds or vice-versa, depending on local conditions.

* Installing electrical service into campgrounds or shutting them down.

DeVore said the only forest in the Rocky Mountain Region that has finished the recreation facility planning process -- including approval from the regional forester -- is the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. Most other forests in the region are waiting for approval from the regional forester, while the Black Hills National Forest is about three-fourths of the way through the process.

Closing campgrounds

Stahl of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics said the agency has figured how to build budgets and staff on timber and firefighting programs, but has never really figured how to do so with recreation. The solution is either make a recreational activity pay for itself with fees, he said, or shut it down.

That’s seen clearly in a PowerPoint presentation on the Forest Service Web site, Silver said. He noted that the Forest Service is proposing four tiers of recreational facilities: non-discretionary, open, closed and decommissioned.

"Non-discretionary" means the Forest Service has a private enterprise partner, a concessionaire. “Open” means a facility that pays for itself, while “closed” means that a facility is closed if there is no money to run it. Decommissioned means that it didn’t fit within the “niche,” or it can be decommissioned if it remains closed for three years in a row.

Silver was also bothered by a "plan first, inform the public later" segment in the online PowerPoint presentation. “The Forest Service is going to develop these plans first, and then they’ll tell you about them,” he said. He said the taxpayer should have a voice in these plans.

Casper Star-Tribune

Colorado Wildlife officer shoots two wolf hybrids

Two wolf hybrids were shot and killed in the Valley last month by local Division of Wildlife officer Becky Manly. Manly received several calls over a 12-day period from locals reporting the animals were harassing livestock. The first call, on March 9, placed the hybrids eleven miles west of Westcliffe in a heavily timbered area. Manly was unable to locate the animals at that time. The second call came March 16. That sighting was three miles north of the original location.

A local rancher called the DOW on the morning of March 20 reporting two animals were chasing calves. The caller, whose name was not released, tried to chase the hybrids off, but said they didn’t seem to be afraid of her.

On her way out to look for the animals on the 20th, Manly was flagged down by a local. That individual had chased the hybrids away from another rancher’s calf. Manly was able to observe the two animals and determined, based on their behavior, they weren’t pure wolves.

Wild wolves, according to DOW Public Information Officer Michael Seraphin of Denver, are afraid of people. They run off when they’re chased. According to Manly’s report, these two animals did not do that. It was at that point Manly destroyed them. “They were shot about one mile north of town, just west of Highway 69,” Seraphin said.

Full wolves are protected in Colorado. Hybrids are not.

After they were shot, the DOW learned one of the hybrids was a neutered male. Manly’s report did not indicate what the other animal was. Although the DOW doesn’t know where these two animals came from, Seraphin said the Division often sees hybrids that have been dumped by their owners. “People get these as pets. They suddenly realize they’ve got way more than they can handle, so they take them out into the country and let them go,” Seraphin explained.

The DOW is not investigating the matter, as Colorado law stipulates that any wildlife or law enforcement officer can destroy dogs that harass livestock or wildlife.
– Meredith O’Neil

Wet Mountain Tribune

More Yellowstone denning news

The latest reports from Yellowstone on which wolf packs are denning and where are on Ralph Maughan's site:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

On track for a new wolf count in Wisconsin

Ryan Stutzman - THE-BEE

Phillips woman looks for sign to help DNR reach population estimate

Jane Wiedenhoeft drove slowly down a dirt road in the town of Hackett recently, looking for signs. She wasn't looking for common road signs; there aren't many of those to be seen on Cranberry Creek Road, and most of them are peppered with bullet holes. Rather, she was scouring for evidence of Wisconsin's largest carnivore – the gray wolf.

Wiedenhoeft, of Phillips, is one of five DNR staff members who do track surveys, along with a small army of more than 100 volunteers. DNR biologists collect their data at the end of every winter in order to make population estimates. The new estimate, expected at the end of this month, is expected to be higher than the 2005 estimate of approximately 450 animals. An open meeting on the 2006 estimate is scheduled for April 21 in Wausau.

"We try to be as transparent as possible," Wiedenhoeft said.

The new estimate will be particularly important this year, because the state and federal government are working on a plan to lower the protection status for wolves in the Great Lakes region. That would allow state authorities to kill problem wolves again, which hasn't happened since a federal judge issued an injunction last year. Wolf population estimates are a subject of intense interest in Wisconsin, especially among farmers and hunting groups. Many believe the DNR underestimates the wolf population, and as more and more hunting dogs and livestock fall prey to wolves, calls for lethal wolf controls intensify.

The DNR's annual estimate is based on winter counts, which does not account for spring pups. So people who argue that wolves outnumber DNR figures are probably correct, Wiedenhoeft said. At the same time, factors like the parvo virus are keeping pup survival rates relatively low, she added. Ultimately, the DNR is charged with coming up with the best possible estimate, and there's no other way to do that than scan the snow on forest roads and trails. Wiedenhoeft and the other trackers wrapped up tracking activities last month as winter drew to a close.

The ideal tracking conditions, according to Wiedenhoeft, are the morning after one-half to two inches of snowfall. And the wetter the snow the better, she said, because wet snow holds the form of a track better than dry, powdery snow. One morning in late March, when THE-BEE accompanied Wiedenhoeft on one of her last tracking surveys of the season, the snow was quickly deteriorating. Wolf tracks were difficult to come by, even though a quarter-inch of fresh snow dusted the ground.

Wolves' territories can be more than 100 square miles, so tracking is a hit-and-miss proposition even in ideal conditions. The epicenter of the Spring Creek pack, which was the subject of Wiedenhoeft's late-season tracking effort, is an enormous block of county forest and state land surrounded by highways 111, 13, and 8. The pack could be anywhere in that general area at any given time.

Fortunately, wolves leave more than tracks. We finally came upon a canine scat as big as a large dog's. The nearby tracks were inconclusive, but the scat was full of fur and bone fragments – which is a pretty sure wolf sign, Wiedenhoeft said. Later, we found a set of degraded tracks with wolf characteristics, which Wiedenhoeft said were "probable" wolf tracks. Tracking is an inexact science; a tracker's field notes are an exercise in probability based on available evidence.

Wiedenhoeft has tracked wolves for the DNR for six years. Her trade secrets aren't really secrets; she said in the absence of other signs, it's actually quite difficult to tell the difference between wolf tracks and the tracks of a large domestic dog.

Here are a few of Wiedenhoeft's tracking guidelines:

* Wolves typically travel in straight, focused lines, whereas a domestic dog is more likely to get distracted and zig-zag.

* Wolves are typically narrow-chested, resulting in a track sets that are narrower than most domestic dogs'.

* A large canine scat with fur or bone fragments in it is a very good sign, especially in the presence of a straight, narrow set of canine tracks.

* Nearby human tracks, four-wheeler tracks or snowmobile tracks decrease the probability that a set of canine tracks was left by a wolf, because it is also possible that someone was walking their dog.

Trackers are occasionally aided by radio tracking reports. DNR biologists perform routine aerial surveys to observe packs' locations and numbers. But the hard work of wolf tracking is where the rubber meets the road. For Wiedenhoeft, it's a labor of love. "It's a good thing to wake up in the morning and be happy you're going to work," she said.

THE-BEE- Phillips, Wisconsin

THE-BEE

Slough Creek den drama intensifies

Ralph Maughan's site has a detailed account of the story that is unfolding near the Slough Creek Campground. Kathie Lynch reports from the scene:

"April wolf watching in Yellowstone provided more drama than anyone could ever have imagined. Normally a quiet and peaceful time of denning, April 2006 instead turned into a scene of worry, stress and fear for the Slough Creek wolves and the wolf watchers alike."

Read her full report at Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

Unknown Pack continues to upset Yellowstone wolf status

Ralph Maughan's site has a report about the new "Unknown Pack" in Yellowstone National Park. They have pinned two Slough Pack females in their dens and time is running out for them. Full report and other vital wildlife news at Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

Elk, wolf researchers probe wildlife battlefield

By Evelyn Boswell, MSU News Service

BIG SKY -- Cawing ravens gave Dave Christianson his first clue that something was afoot in the animal kingdom between Big Sky and West Yellowstone. One day earlier, Christianson had spotted elk on a hill and wolves on a nearby ridge. Now he saw only ravens and wondered if their presence signaled another back country battle in the Taylor Fork Drainage.

"Most of the time, we find kills because of ravens or magpies," said Christianson, a Montana State University graduate student from Glasgow.

"We're going to see if we can go find it," said Scott Creel, an MSU ecologist and Christianson's advisor.

Christianson and Creel are researching elk in the northwest part of the Yellowstone Ecosystem to see how they're affected by wolves. From previous years, they know that wolves cause elk to change herd sizes, behavior patterns and use of the landscape. Now, the researchers are trying to understand how these changes affect the elks' nutrition, reproduction and survival.

From January into spring, Christianson lives during the week in a one-room bunkhouse off U.S. 191. He spends his days doing things like spotting elk and wolves, inspecting tracks and scrutinizing videotapes of the animals. Creel generally drives down from Bozeman every Wednesday to join Christianson on his rounds.

Every two weeks, the researchers follow elk paths through the Porcupine, Taylor and Tepee/Daly drainages, recording where the elk have traveled and fed and what plants they have eaten. Sometimes, they drop a lead ball or pound the snow with an imitation hoof to see how hard the elk had to work to get through the snow to a meal. It's all to see how wolves affect how well the elk are feeding and how hard the elk have to work for a meal.

This day was somewhat different, though. With an unsolved mystery pulling them toward Cameron Draw, Christianson slipped into cross-country skis while Creel donned snowshoes. Both wearing backpacks, they trudged and glided across a field and up a ravine. They stopped to take photos. They pushed branches aside. They finally came upon blood splatters in the snow, stiff brown hair in a hole, rumen near a log and tracks on a hill.

It was a battle scene without a body, a combat zone without troops. "This is odd that there isn't much here," Creel said.

Christianson added, "Usually the entire skeleton is here." Looking for more clues and additional remains, Christianson headed up the ridge where he had seen the wolves the day before. Creel clambered up the opposite side.

"One of them sat here and ate a big chunk of it," Creel yelled. "I'm going to climb higher."

Several minutes later, the researchers returned, Creel with an elk hide and Christianson with a pelvis, two femurs and part of a skull. It appeared, they said, that wolves had killed an eight-month old elk on the side of the hill. As the wolves fed on the calf, the carcass had slipped toward the ravine. The wolves retrieved it and hauled it up to the ridges, evidently still chewing on it the next day. When Creel reached the top of the hill, he found wolf tracks, drag marks and three freshly melted-out beds. "I think they were up there eating away when we arrived or shortly before," Creel said.

Bone marrow revealed that the elk calf had been suffering even before the wolves attacked it, Christianson said as he cut through one of its bones. An elk with plenty of food has bone marrow that looks like thick Crisco, he said. This marrow was watery and deep red, indicating that the elk was slowly starving and starting to digest the fat in its marrow.

This was Christianson's fourth winter near Big Sky and his final season in the field. With results published recently in the journals Animal Behavior and Ecology, the researchers have found that the number of elk calves in their study area has declined, but not because they were eaten by wolves. Wolves, in fact, rarely kill elk in the first six months of the elks' lives.

"This year, bears were far and away the main predators in the first six months," Creel said. "That was a surprise to us, but it confirms what P.J. White and Doug Smith have also seen with wolves and elk in other parts of Yellowstone. If the calves are missing, but wolves are rarely killing them in the first six months, what's going on?"

It appears that one effect of changed behavior is lower pregnancy rates, Creel said. Preliminary data from the Gallatin Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, the Madison Valley, Paradise Valley and Elkhorn show that elk pregnancy rates have declined where wolves are most active. The elk -- especially females -- spend less time eating and more time watching for predators when wolves are around.

"They just say, ‛Today the job is to avoid being killed,'" Creel said. "So they're probably not as efficient at foraging. That's what Dave (Christianson) is studying now."

Unsuccessful this time at staying alive, the elk remains they discovered represented the ninth wolf kill they'd seen in a month, the researchers said as they returned through U.S. Forest Service land to their vehicles. This area of the Taylor Fork contains approximately 250 elk.

Montana State University News

National Parks brace for 20 to 30% reductions

By BRODIE FARQUHAR - Star-Tribune correspondent

The Bush administration has directed the National Park Service, including Wyoming’s Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks to substantially decrease its reliance on tax-supported funding, according to internal documents released Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Park Service officials say they’re simply trying to cope with rising costs and tighter budgets, without harming the parks or decreasing the enjoyment of more than 270 million visitors each year.

According to Jeff Ruch, PEER’s executive director, the Park Service is using a new approach called "core operations analysis," in which each park is asked to develop budgets based on a 20 to 30 percent reduction in federal budget support. Park superintendents have the daunting task of deciding which visitor services or other functions can be jettisoned, Ruch said.

Whatever shortfalls in support for essential operations remain must be covered with fee hikes, donations from foundations, partnerships with concessionaires and businesses, cost shifting or increased reliance on volunteers, Ruch said.

“If our national parks are going to be reduced to performing only the bare minimum of ‘core operations,’ the public ought to be given some say as to what is considered essential,” Ruch said.

Another critic of the Bush administration goes even further. Scott Silver, of Wild Wilderness in Bend, Ore., maintains that all federal land and wildlife agencies are being financially starved, to the point that the only way to keep operating is with an ever-growing reliance on fee hikes, charity, volunteers, outsourcing, concessionaires and partnerships with recreation-based businesses.

"The way I see it, national parks have begun the process of downsizing, service shedding, contracting out, privatizing, commercializing and in some cases perhaps even closing their doors,” Silver said. He sees parallel programs at work in the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and even the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Amy McNamara, national parks analyst for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said despite rhetoric from Washington, D.C., national parks are not getting the financial resources they need to operate.

“Grand Teton couldn’t pay its utility bill” when costs increased 46 percent from 2003 to 2005, she said. Meanwhile, Yellowstone biologists have to beat the bushes to find donations to support basic, biological research, she added.

Yellowstone even promised in its environmental assessment for upgrading the Old Faithful Visitor Center that there would be “no additional staffing” for a bigger and more modern facility. While Yellowstone recently celebrated the news that it will receive $15 million from the Yellowstone Foundation and $11 million for the federal government for a 33,000-square-foot Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, there’s nothing in the budget for additional staffing.

Budget matters

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the president’s budget proposes $100 million in cuts from the current National Park Service budget, especially land acquisition, construction and maintenance. That leaves the parks system with $2.2 billion, which doesn’t come close to the maintenance backlog estimated to be between $4.1 billion and $6.8 billion.

Cameron Hardy, press secretary for Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., said the senator “has requested an increase of $150 million in the NPS budget each year over the past three years.” Hardy cautioned that “the proposed budget is just that- proposed. Senator Thomas takes the needs of our nation’s parks very seriously and will continue to advocate for improved funding for the NPS and improved efficiency in how that money is used- not one or the other, but both.”

Early start for Grand Teton

Two years ago, Grand Teton Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott anticipated that tough times were ahead, said Joan Anzelmo, park spokeswoman. Scott immediately put the brakes on hiring permanent, full-time employees and invited regional staff to evaluate the park’s budget, mission and staff levels.

“We’re about two-thirds of the way through the core operations program,” Anzelmo said. Barring any future crisis, the public should not see any signs of budget austerity this summer, she added.

The park has adjusted seasonal assignments and has downsized its fleet of cars, trucks and vans by about a third, creating a shared pool of vehicles that employees have to request in advance. Local utility costs are going up, she added, “and you already know what’s happening at the gas pump.”

Grand Teton has to find savings of $50,000 to $70,000 to compensate for higher energy costs. Longer range, the park has to find savings of $2 million to $3 million in a flat budget scenario. Right now, visitor centers at Moose and Coulter Bay remain open, but consolidation could lie ahead, she warned.

The budget picture “is not grim, but it isn’t rosy,” Anzelmo said.

The big budget question for Grand Teton is how long its old water and sewer systems can keep going, nursed along by a dedicated maintenance crew, she said. A major system failure could blow the budget.

Yellowstone just starting

“We’ve dipped our toe in the water,” said Al Nash, spokesman for Yellowstone National Park. The administration is just getting started with the core operations analysis, he said, identifying several hundred activities in the park and asking why the park does what it does.

“The visitor experience this summer should mirror what they experienced last summer,” with no cutbacks in staff, ranger interpretive talks or hours for visitor centers, he said. “I don’t know about next year,” Nash acknowledged. A federal budget has been proposed and is working its way through Congress.

“This summer, we’ll start making tentative plans based on what we know then,” he said, noting that budgets can take interesting turns in Congress. Yellowstone hasn’t done anything dramatic on cutting costs, he said.

Casper Star-Tribune

Wolf restoration is worth millions of dollars in ecotourism revenue

Dr. James Halfpenny's report to the Governor of Montana listing the economic benefits of wolf restoration is presented on Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports. In addition to Dr. John Duffield's study presented at the North American Wolf Conference, it leaves no doubt that the wolf has brought an economic boom to the states where it is observed by thousands of wildlife oriented vacationers.

Dr. Halfpenny's report on Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

Non-lethal control efforts featured at Defenders Wolf Conference

By Kim Holt, Wolf Recovery Foundation.

The 18th Annual North American Wolf Conference, April 3rd – 6th, once again held at the Chico Hot Springs and Resort in scenic Pray, Montana was a great success. Sponsored by Defenders of Wildlife, Wolf Recovery Foundation, Madison Valley Ranchlands, the Nez Perce Tribe and the National Park Service, this annual event calls on wildlife biologists, ranchers, wildlife managers, conservationists and wolf enthusiasts to come together to share information on the wolf recovery programs. Topics were presented on the Gray, the Mexican Gray and the Red Wolf, as well as other worldwide wolf issues.

This year, something new was added, a Nonlethal Techniques and Tools Workshop was sponsored by Defenders, the Wolf Recovery Foundation and the Sand Dollar Foundation. On April 3rd and 4th, a select group was present to learn from, as well as interact with, worldwide leaders in nonlethal tools and techniques for wolf management.

Full report with photo on Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

Wolf News from Yellowstone- 489M killed

The turning of the seasons in Yellowstone NP brings upheaval in the wolf population- Wolf 489M has been killed by unknown wolves, new packs spotted but not identified, Swan Lake Pack could be back? News from Yellowstone about wolves, bison, and other wildlife matters at Ralph Maughan's comprehensive site.

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

Wolf man's departure?

By: Matthew Norman - Michigan Tech Lode

Rolf Peterson put the wolves of Isle Royale on the map – and did quite a bit to put Michigan Tech on the map in the process. Now, after 32 years of helming what has become one of the world’s best known and most highly regarded ongoing research projects, Peterson is retiring from his professorship. This doesn’t mean he’ll be spending any less time on Isle Royale, watching and studying the wolves he has come to be so closely associated with; in fact, Peterson will be concentrating solely on his research from now on, giving up only the teaching aspect of his professorship.

Incomplete though it may be, Peterson’s retirement has sparked a storm of national coverage, with an Associated Press article providing a retrospective of his career appearing in more than 100 papers and on countless websites nationwide – including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN.com, MSNBC, and Forbes.com.

It is just the latest bout of national attention for Peterson, who, according to many observers, has come to be to wolves what the legendary Jane Goodall was to Chimpanzees – a source of greater understanding, leading to greater public tolerance, appreciation and even admiration for the animals. He has also garnered comparison to Dian Fossey, whose work with Gorillas was immortalized in the film “Gorillas in the Mist.”

While there are no plans as of yet to shoot “Wolves in the Mist,” much of what Peterson has seen in his decades observing Isle Royale’s wolf population would translate well to the big screen. As Peterson explains, life in a small, isolated ecosystem like Isle Royale is harsh, with predators engaged in life or death competition for scarce prey. With wolves, this can have especially dramatic results – violent battles for territory between packs and for position within packs.

However, not all of the knowledge Peterson and his research teams have gleaned from Isle Royale fits with the image of wolves as fearsome killers. In fact, much of it has demonstrated the existence of remarkably strong family bonds within wolf packs. Wolf packs are, for the most part, a single family, headed by the mother and father. The parents, known as the alpha wolves, run a highly disciplined and coordinated group, and the result is a finely tuned hunting team.

Though the ancient mystique surrounding wolves has done a great deal to push Peterson’s work into the national spotlight, they are in fact only one half of Peterson’s focus. What has led to the Isle Royale study’s seminal importance in the scientific community is the fact that it tracks both wolves and their prey – which, on Isle Royale, happen to be moose. The relationship between wolves and moose on Isle Royale has become the best documented, longest running and most analyzed predator-prey relationship in the world. Its complex dynamics have produced as many new questions as new answers, but what answers it has provided have represented huge leaps in understanding. These understandings have found application in the study of a broad range of predator-prey systems, from lions and zebras to krill and copepods.

One lesson from the study has been the vital role wolves play in increasing the overall health of prey populations. “Probably the single most important thing we’ve learned is the very high degree of selectivity in wolf predation,” says Peterson. Wolves end up killing the sick and/or old among their prey, eliminating both congenital and contagious diseases in the process and leaving more food for the younger and healthier elements of the prey population.

This is not to say, however, that wolves are highly selective in the individual moose they pursue as prey. “They’ll look at every moose seriously,” says Peterson, giving chase in many cases. In the majority of instances they will fail to bring the prey down. Still, as Peterson explains, giving chase is the most efficient way for them to distinguish between the healthy and not-so-healthy prey. “Chasing is their test. It’s efficient for them because anatomically they are built to run. Of course, the prey are built to run too.” Still, the healthiest moose tend not to run at all notes Peterson. Though they can, in most cases, outrun the wolves, it is more efficient for them simply to stand their ground, using their sharp hooves to kick at any wolves coming to close for comfort.

Despite their seeming advantages, the moose of Isle Royale have been having a tough time of it recently. Moose populations have fallen to an all-time low on the island. Part of this has been due to growth in the wolf population, but the decline may be largely due to another feared culprit – global warming. The current trend of decline in moose populations coincides with a string of the mildest winters and warmest summers on record for Isle Royale. This effects moose in a number of ways, but perhaps the most significant is the effect on the winter tick population. Winter ticks, which are barely visible before gorging themselves on moose blood, are born en masse each Fall. The later the snowfall, the more time Winter Ticks have to hatch and find a moose to grab hold of. Winter ticks evolved alongside white-tail deer, which have evolved grooming methods to rid themselves of the pests. Moose, relative newcomers to the American continent, have no such methods, and can be seriously affected by ticks. One dead moose was found with an estimated 100,000 ticks.

The study has come to take on a life outside of science thanks to the political controversy surrounding wolves in many places. Peterson and others have provided important evidence for those arguing that wolves play a beneficiul role in the ecosystem. Chronic wasting disease among deer, for instance, has always ended right where wolf populations begin.
Peterson’s study has become a major enterprise, with several other MTU researchers focusing on it, and new avenues of exploration continually turning up. Currently, Peterson and others are starting to look into the DNA of the wolves.

Whatever directions the research takes, Peterson is sure to be an important part of it for years to come. This summer, he will stay in a small cabin on Isle Royale as he has for the last 35 summers. His company? His wife, and the wolves. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Michigan Tech Lode

Reward offered for info about wolf kill

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the party responsible for killing a federally-protected gray wolf in Pine County Minnesota. A dead, radio-collared wolf was recovered during the November 2005 deer season near County Road 31 between Kingsdale and Cloverton, Minn. Gray wolves are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and killing a wolf is prohibited by the federal law.

After its recovery, the wolf carcass was sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, for examination. The forensic examinations yielded both ballistic and fingerprint evidence. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resident Agent in Charge Pat Lund, the wolf died as a result of two high velocity gun shots.

“The evidence recovered by the lab is valuable, but we believe someone hunting or living in the area where the wolf was killed has additional information that will help finalize this investigation.”

Anyone with information about this or any other wolf killings in the State of Minnesota are urged to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s law enforcement Tip Line at 1-800-532-2887 or the St. Paul law enforcement office at (651) 778-8360.

ECM Post Review

Hunkins: Deal with feds on wolves

By TOM MORTON - Star-Tribune staff writer

Wyoming needs to negotiate, not litigate, to cope with the growing wolf population, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ray Hunkins said Monday. "I think what we have to focus on with the wolf issue is reducing the number of wolves in Wyoming, and the methodology can be different," Hunkins said. "I think the governor ought to sit down and get this resolved with the federal officials instead of dealing with it in court," the Wheatland lawyer and rancher said.

The Republican administration in Washington would get along better with a Republican governor in Wyoming, he said. "That's one of the things that I think I bring to the table, to sit down with fellow Republicans and persuade them of the seriousness of the problem," Hunkins said. "Together I think we could find a way to resolve the issue so that it's good for Wyoming and good for conservation, too."

Hunkins formally announced his candidacy two weeks ago. On Monday, the 15th day of a 16-day tour of the state's 23 counties, he spoke to supporters at the Best Western-Ramkota Hotel in Casper. Hunkins is the only Republican candidate so far seeking his party's nomination in the Aug. 22 primary. He unsuccessfully sought the nomination in 2002.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who announced his re-election bid last week, is facing Democrat Al Hamburg of Torrington in the Democratic primary. Freudenthal has spearheaded Wyoming's legal action against the federal government on the wolf issue. In April 2004, Wyoming sued the U.S. Interior Department, after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service objected in a letter to the state's classification of wolves outside the Yellowstone area as predators that could be shot on sight.

U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson dismissed the lawsuit a year ago, ruling that the letter was merely a preliminary step in the process and did not constitute a “final action.” The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal last week.

The defeat means even though wolf numbers in the three-state recovery zone -- Wyoming, Idaho and Montana -- far exceed the benchmark set when Canadian gray wolves were introduced in 1995, the federal government will not lift the animals' protected status. Montana's and Idaho's wolf management plans have been approved. But acceptable plans from all three states are required before wolves can be delisted.

Hunkins agreed with the approaches taken by Idaho and Montana, where ranchers can now kill wolves harassing their livestock. "I think we can be reducing the number of wolves right now if we played it smarter," he said. "This litigation, I don't think, has gotten us anywhere," Hunkins said. "Meanwhile, the packs are growing; the safety concerns are also growing."

Freudenthal, reached by phone Monday evening, defended the state's litigation and dismissed Hunkins' suggestion as a surrender. "It's not a new option," he said. "It's one available, to capitulate to the feds."

Hunkins also repeated two of his campaign themes, criticizing Freudenthal's handling of the methamphetamine crisis and economic development. After an introduction by U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, Hunkins said he would bring a conservative approach to government in Cheyenne. "I run to reinstate common sense to state government," he said. Freudenthal's administration has spent $35 million to combat methamphetamine with no plan of action, Hunkins said. "He had his chance," Hunkins said. "He did not lead."

Freudenthal and his administration knew four years ago that the state was on the verge of a major energy boom, but did nothing to deal with housing and labor shortages, he said. Likewise, Freudenthal has not aggressively recruited businesses from the rest of the nation and the world, Hunkins said. "This governor is not serious on economic diversification."

Freudenthal said he would not respond to Hunkins criticisms on the meth and economic development issues.

Jackson Hole Star-Tribune

Yellowstone wolves are denning

Ralph Maughan has the latest news from Yellowstone National Park, detailing new wolf packs and their denning activity on his outstanding web site:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife Reports

It’s wolf-eat-wolf as moose herds dwindle

Species studied in isolated park

By John Flesher - Associated Press

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Gnawing leisurely on the remains of a moose carcass, the wolf pack’s alpha male seemed unaware that mortal danger was coming ever closer. Suddenly the eight-member rival pack burst into view. The alpha scrambled to his feet, but too late. Howling and barking, the enemy chased him down and mercilessly attacked, killing the hapless victim within a couple of minutes.

It’s not unusual for the gray wolves on Isle Royale National Park to target each other, said John Vucetich, a Michigan Technological University wildlife biologist who witnessed the carnage from an airplane in January. But the rival pack’s brazen invasion of another’s territory was a sign – the wolves are hungry. The reason is a steady decline of moose, now at their lowest ebb in the 48 years that scientists have studied the two species in Isle Royale’s closed environment.

“One of the ways the wolves struggle through a food shortage is to try and usurp territory from their neighbors,” Vucetich said.

He and fellow researcher Rolf Peterson estimated the moose population at 450 this winter, down from 540 last year. Only four years ago, they totaled an abundant 1,100 in the national park, located in northwestern Lake Superior and accessible only by boat or airplane. Meanwhile, the wolf census held at 30 for the second consecutive year. But their numbers are sure to drop because there won’t be enough moose to feed them all, the scientists said. There are about 15 moose for every wolf. The normal ratio is 40 to 50 moose per wolf.

“The bulk of the moose population at any point is invulnerable to wolves, because they’re young and vigorous enough to fight off the wolves,” Peterson said.

Wolves feast mostly on calves and elderly moose, both of which are in short supply, he said. The population decline results in part from the aging of a baby boom generation dating from the early 1990s, when wolf numbers plummeted because of a parvovirus outbreak, he said. Also, a tick infestation in recent years weakened the animals, making them easy prey for wolves. The tick problem eased during the past year but remains a threat. Another is a gradual decline of the moose’s primary food supply as the island’s forests evolve from primarily birch and aspen to less nutritious spruce and balsam fir, Vucetich said.

The changing forest cover has caused a sharp drop in beaver, an alternative food source for wolves, Peterson said. The moose’s historic low does not mean it is in any danger of disappearing, he said. Its decline will enable vegetation to recover from overbrowsing when the herd was thriving, and fewer will be killed as wolf numbers inevitably fall.

“One-third of the kills this winter were calves,” Peterson said. “The wolves need to go down to give more calves a chance of reaching adulthood.”

Most of the park’s 30 wolves belong to one of three packs. But one of them, dubbed the Chippewa Harbor pack, is in danger of disintegrating after losing its alpha male and valuable turf to the rival East Pack, Vucetich said. The Chippewa Harbor pack is “done for” if it fails to find a strong replacement for the alpha male and loses its alpha female, he said.

“The others would disperse. Some would join other packs, some would starve,” Vucetich said. “It’s a live by the sword, die by the sword kind of thing.”

Journal Gazette

Close encounters- Wildlife education in Wyoming

By KATHLEEN ST. JOHN - Star-Tribune staff writer

Wyoming's wildlife attracts thousands of visitors to the state each year. And sometimes, the visitors attract wildlife. Hungry bears, stealthy mountain lions and a growing wolf population make encounters between humans and potentially dangerous animals more likely. That's why the Wyoming Game and Fish Department presented its "Staying Safe in Bear, Lion and Wolf Country" workshops across the state this spring.

About 20 people gathered for the March 25 workshop in Casper to learn the best ways to deal with Wyoming's largest predators. All three species cross paths with humans, especially in the spring and summer, when people take to the hills for warm-weather recreation.

Della Works has lived in Wyoming since 1963, but she took the workshop for the first time this year. "I hike and backpack a lot in bear country," Works said. "The more I can learn and be educated about bears, the better I feel."

A major component of the agency's safety program is the old command, "Don't feed the animals." Wild animals shouldn't be fed on purpose, or even unintentionally -- that's why a lengthy portion of last month's workshop discussed techniques for keeping campers' food out of the mouths of wildlife. Bears, especially, will eat just about anything, so United States Forest Service ranger Mark Hinschberger offered advice on storing food in camp, whether with bear boxes, in cars or by hoisting containers over tree limbs. Keeping food away from bears is a great way to avoid encounters, but no method is completely bear-proof, said Hinschberger.

Game and Fish Bear Management Officer Mark Bruscino provided insight into the bear brain, talking about the warning signs bears display before they charge (like huffing and slapping the ground) and what to do if a bear takes a run at you. Bear pepper spray is one of the best defenses, he said. It's effective, nonlethal and, unlike a gun in an emergency situation, easy to shoot accurately.

Works said she's spied bears on her hikes, but they're usually at a distance and preoccupied. "(I've) seen bears up in the Grand Tetons," she said. "They've never bothered us. They've usually been eating. That makes me feel comfortable." She also hikes in large groups, but she said that even the safety-in-numbers approach can get spooky. "Sometimes you get behind the group or way ahead," said Works. "We usually have a whistle, but if it's windy or you're over a hill ... it can be a little scary at times even if you're with a group."

That's why Works said she keeps pepper spray at the ready -- until the workshop, though, she was using human-strength pepper spray. "I didn't know they made a bear spray ... I had just regular pepper spray," she said. "I'm changing my pepper spray ... but I think I'll have my friend and I go out and practice with it." It's a good idea: Bear pepper spray cans are bulky and spray their contents with a surprising amount of force. They also have a safety that must be disengaged before firing.

Robin Kepple, the department's information and education specialist for the Casper region, also discussed the more-elusive mountain lions and wolves, outlining their habits and predation styles. Wolves, she said, present "little danger" to humans. This is the first year that Game and Fish included wolves in the workshop, said Kepple. "With the wolves up in Yellowstone, they're starting to see signs of wolves being fed," she said. "They're approaching tour buses, snow cat machines ... that's the last thing we want to see."

With the growing popularity of outdoor recreation, education is a vital tool. Works, who backpacks with her grandchildren, said she hopes to share the knowledge she gained at the "Bear Country" workshop with the younger members of her family. "It's for protection of the grandchildren, too," she said. "I want them to love the outdoors and know what to do." "I don't think you can ever learn enough if you like the backcountry."

More advice on wildlife encounters at:

Casper Star-Tribune

Costs climb as Wyoming wolf suits continue

By JARED MILLER - Casper Star-Tribune

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Wyoming's wolf-management lawsuit turns two years old this month, and costs are mounting. The price tag so far totals between $20,000 and $30,000, state Attorney General Pat Crank said. It cost about the same amount for state lawyers to craft a separate petition that asks the federal government to lift federal protection for wolves, Crank said.

Despite a significant stumble last week in federal appeals court, supporters of the lawsuit, which aims to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to adopt Wyoming's embattled wolf plan, say they're still confident. Some -- including Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo. -- also are optimistic that Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne could inject a new shot of wisdom and experience that might help broker an out-of-court resolution if he becomes Interior secretary. After a meeting with Kempthorne last week, Thomas told a Washington, D.C., reporter that Kempthorne thinks the standoff over wolves is "solvable."

The cost of doing business

In an interview last week, Crank said the state could spend $20,000 to $30,000 more on wolf litigation if the Fish and Wildlife Service denies the petition to ease federal protection. The deadline for a decision is July 15. "I would expect that if they don't accept our petition, we will probably have to file another lawsuit," Crank said. Crank referred to the expenses as "a cost of doing state business" and said a more precise accounting is not available because his office does not calculate costs on a lawsuit-by-lawsuit basis.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal last week said he believes Wyoming residents want state government to pursue the wolf issue, and he's comfortable with the cost of litigation. Freudenthal, an attorney himself, added that the state incurred the bulk of its expenses at the district-court level and that future litigation should be less costly. "I think the state needs to pursue all the avenues it can to resolve this," Freudenthal said.

Raising funds

Another group involved with the lawsuit on the state's side declined to disclose how much it has spent on the case. The coalition of Wyoming agricultural, sportsmen, predator control and county government groups known collectively as the Wolf Coalition raised money for a similar lawsuit that the courts eventually combined with the state's lawsuit. A spokeswoman for the group, lawyer Harriet Hageman of Cheyenne, said she did not know how much money the group had raised and it would be a breach of attorney-client privilege to provide the figure if she did. Jim Magagna, an executive of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, a member of the Wolf Coalition, said he felt uncomfortable divulging the group's financial information.

Abigail Dillen, a lawyer with Bozeman-based Earthjustice, said it would be impossible to calculate how much money her organization has raised for the wolf case. Dillen represents the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council, which intervened on the side of the federal government in the lawsuit. The group's budget is composed of donations that are not earmarked for any single cause, and Earthjustice has not collected fees from either of the clients, Dillen said.

A new perspective

Sen. Thomas' belief that Kempthorne, as Interior secretary, could speed the wolf standoff down a new path got a cool reception from some players in the debate. "I think Wyoming is the problem, not the leadership," Earthjustice's Dillen said.

Magagna of the Stock Growers Association said it's at least worth engaging Kempthorne in a dialogue about the issue. "It will be interesting to at least hear about Kempthorne's perspective on how Wyoming's plan would work," Magagna said.

Hageman, of the Wolf Coalition, said she's "optimistic about anyone who will come in and talk about these things."

No 'final action'

Wyoming sued the federal government in April 2004 after the Fish and Wildlife Service released a letter saying it didn't like the state's wolf management plan. The agency objected to Wyoming's classification of wolves outside the Yellowstone area as predators that could be shot on sight. U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson dismissed the lawsuit a year ago, concluding it was not valid because the letter from the Fish and Wildlife Service was merely a preliminary step in the process and did not constitute a "final action." The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal Tuesday.

The defeat means that even though wolf numbers in the three-state recovery zone far exceed the benchmark set when Canadian gray wolves were introduced in 1995, the federal government will not lift the animals' protected status.

Montana's and Idaho's wolf management plans have been approved. But acceptable plans from all three states are required before wolves can be delisted. In the meantime, the wolf population continues to grow. The population in the three-state area could reach 1,000 this summer, including more than 250 in Wyoming, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The target population number when wolf introduction began 10 years ago was around 300.

'The perfect test case'

While Wyoming waits for an answer to its delisting petition, those on both sides of the debate are casting their gazes to Montana and Idaho. Those states already have assumed management of wolves within their borders, but no one knows how far state control extends. The first major test is already under way. Idaho -- with Kempthorne as governor -- last week formally asked the federal government for authority to kill wolves believed to be decimating elk along the Montana border.

The unprecedented request to kill animals listed as endangered is under review by the federal agency. Wyoming officials say wolves are having a similarly harsh impact on elk herds in the state's northwestern corner. "We're in the situation where we have the perfect test case in front of us," Hageman said.

Billings Gazette

Court upholds dismissal of charges against wolf biologist

By BOB MOEN - Associated Press

CHEYENNE -- A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of trespassing and littering charges against a federal wolf biologist and a private contractor who were found with tranquilized wolves on private property near Cody.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded in a ruling released Thursday that the prosecution of Mike Jimenez, Wyoming's wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wes Livingston, a private contractor from Cody, was more an "attempt to hinder a locally unpopular federal program," than a "bona fide effort to punish a violation of Wyoming trespass law."

Rancher Randy Kruger pursued the charges after he found Jimenez and Livingston on his private land near Meeteetse Feb. 14, 2004. The men had four tranquilized wolves they were collaring because of depredation problems in the area. The incident raised speculation by some that they were trying to secretly transplant wolves into the area.

The FWS said Jimenez and Livingston inadvertently wound up on the private land while working to place radio tracking collars on the wolves. FWS regional director Ralph Morganweck apologized for the incident.

U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson later dismissed the charges, saying that federal employees acting in their official capacity cannot be prosecuted under the trespass law. He also concluded the charge was "ridiculous." Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric appealed the case to the 10th Circuit in Denver.

In a telephone interview from his ranch, Kruger said he wasn't surprised by the federal court's ruling. "They don't seem to have much sympathy for people's rights nowadays," he said. Kruger said he was uncertain whether he would pursue the case further.

Trespassing and littering are misdemeanors that carry penalties of up to $750 in fines and six months in jail.

Billings Gazette

Colorado Park's wolf idea causes worries

Rocky Mountain National Park looking to trim elk numbers

By Brandon Johansson

With an elk population nearly double what biologists say it should be, Rocky Mountain National Park officials are looking for ways to manage the overgrown population. Officials at the park, which straddles the Continental Divide in Larimer and Grand counties, are considering a variety of options to cut back on elk. Re-introducing gray wolves is one of the options being considered.

But the prospect of re-introducing the carnivores, which were eradicated from Colorado more than 60 years ago, has raised concerns from Colorado ranchers, including those in Moffat County. Les Hampton, a former Moffat County commissioner working with the Colorado Division of Wildlife on wolf issues, said this week that he is worried about the U.S. Park Service's plans. Hampton told the Moffat County commissioners Tuesday that re-introducing wolves in Rocky Mountain National Park could lead to wolves being re-introduced at other national parks, including Dinosaur National Monument. "I don't like what's going on," Hampton said.

Too many elk

Kyle Patterson, a spokeswoman for Rocky Mountain National Park, said the Park Service has spent the past decade researching the effects of elk on the park's vegetation. The elk population in the park and the surrounding Estes Valley is between 2,200 and 3,000 animals, Patterson said. The Park Service's target population is between 1,200 and 2,100 animals. The size of the elk herds combined with the fact that, without any predators, elk aren't as migratory as they would naturally be hurts vegetation and damages habitat for other animals, Patterson said. "Our elk don't have to look over their shoulders," she said. The elk are particularly hard on aspen and willow trees, Patterson said.

The Park Service is considering a variety of options for controlling the population, including using professional hunters and park staff to kill some of the animals, using fertility treatments to control birth rate and re-introducing wolves. "We understand there are some very strong feelings on all of these alternatives," Patterson said.

The Park Service has not decided how many wolves will be released, Patterson said. But the number will be very small and the animals will be tracked and confined to the park, she said. Although a small number of wolves will kill some of the elk, Patterson said the wolves could also help by making the elk population less stationary. Patterson stressed that the Park Service's plans are centered on elk and vegetation management, not on re-introducing wolves, and that nothing is set in stone. "We have certainly not made any decision yet," Patterson said. The Park Service is expected to come out with an environmental impact statement on their elk management plan in the coming weeks.

'Lot of similarities'

If wolves are used to control the elk population in Rocky Mountain National Park, Hampton said, it could be a precursor to wolves in Moffat County. "There are an awful lot of similarities," Hampton said about Dinosaur National Monument and Rocky Mountain National Park, both of which are managed by the U.S. Park Service.

Mary Risser, the superintendent at the monument, said officials at Dinosaur have not given any serious consideration to re-introducing wolves. The park is in the process of determining what its elk population is, Risser said. "We need bottom-line information that we just don't have right now," Risser said. Without concrete population estimates, Risser said she couldn't make a guess as to whether the monument had more elk than it should.

According to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Northwest Colorado in general has elk populations well above what biologists say they should be. If Dinosaur officials wanted to re-introduce wolves, they would have to go through the same years-long public process that Rocky Mountain National Park is going through, Patterson said.

No hunting

Hampton said he agrees that there are too many elk in Rocky Mountain National Park. "Something has to be done, clearly," Hampton said. But there are better options than re-introducing wolves, Hampton said, including allowing public hunting in the park. Federal law prohibits public hunting in the park, but Hampton said if hunting were allowed there, it could control the population and bring in revenue.

Patterson said public hunting isn't an option for controlling the elk population. It would take an act of Congress to allow hunters in the park, Patterson said. To maintain the experience for other visitors, hunting could only be allowed in a very small area, Patterson said. Plus, because the elk at the park are comfortable around people, there couldn't be a fair hunt, she said. Taking the elk and moving them to other areas also is out of the question because of fears of chronic wasting disease spreading from the park to other areas, she said.

Hampton argued that re-introducing wolves would have a similar effect as transporting the elk. "These elk are not going to respect the park boundaries," Hampton said. "They are going to move away from the predators."

Craig Daily Press

Alaska to kill 160 more wolves to save caribou

Focusing on the Fortymile

By TIM MOWRY - Staff Writer

The Interior's largest caribou herd has stopped growing and state wildlife officials say wolves are to blame. After almost doubling in size over the course of eight years as a result of a multipronged recovery plan, the Fortymile Caribou Herd's size has plateaued around 43,000. "The growth of that herd has stopped and the reason is more animals are dying," said information officer Cathie Harms with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks. "We're relatively confident that the increase in mortality is due to predation."

In response, the state is proposing to expand its aerial wolf-control program to cover the Fortymile herd's entire range, said Harms. The department submitted a proposal outlining such a program to the Alaska Board of Game earlier this month during a meeting in Fairbanks, but the Game Board tabled it and all other predator control proposals until a special meeting in May.

The department is proposing to expand the existing aerial wolf control program in Units 12 and 20E and annex parts of Units 20B, 20D and 25C into the plan. The state's Department of Fish and Game's goal is to build the herd up to between 50,000 and 100,000 with a harvest of 1,000 to 15,000 caribou a year. The harvest is currently capped at 850 animals.

The Fortymile herd, which is one of only a few caribou herds in the state accessible by road for hunters, has been the focus of a recovery plan for the past 10 years. The Fortymile herd is believed to have numbered as many as 500,000 animals during the 1920s and at least 50,000 during the 1950s and early 1960s before plummeting to a low of about 5,000 caribou by the early 1970s. The herd grew to about 23,000 over the next 20 years and remained at that level until the recovery plan was put in place.

The plan included the sterilization of 15 pairs of breeding wolves and relocating more than 100 other wolves, as well as intensified trapping efforts and hunting restrictions. The plan worked. The herd grew to 43,000 by 2003 and has fluctuated between 41,000 and 43,000 since. "The population in the last couple years seems to have plateaued," said state wildlife biologist Jeff Gross with the Department of Fish and Game in Tok.

The sterilized wolves did their jobs, defending their territories from intruders without reproducing, which resulted in fewer wolves over a period of several years. While the herd reaped the temporary benefits of fewer predators on its range, it was just a matter of time before other wolves replaced the wolves that were sterilized or moved, Gross said. "They're moving in and re-populating," he said. "We're seeing pack sizes of six to eight wolves or better. We're probably approaching pre-control levels but I don't know if we're there yet."

The wolf population in the new proposed control area is estimated at 210 to 225 and Fish and Game is proposing to reduce the population to no less than 50 wolves. "All the information available indicates that wolves are the primary predator in this herd and the primary factor limiting herd growth," Gross said. That information comes mainly from mortality studies. The department studies the deaths of individual animals fitted with radio collars to figure out why caribou are dying. "We try to examine each kill site," said Gross.

The 30 sterilized wolves are gone, likely either killed by other wolves or trapped. "We don't have any confirmation that there are any sterilized wolves left alive," said Gross. "Our (radio) collars have all gone off the air." The sterilized wolves would have been at least 10 years old at this point, which is considered old in wolf years, Gross said. "They've been around quite a while," Gross said. "They were dominant adults when they were sterilized."

Retired state wildlife biologist Bud Burris, who has kept a close eye on the Fortymile herd's progress as a member of the Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee, said it was inevitable that predator populations would increase but it happened sooner than expected because of dry summer conditions the past two years that have resulted in lower pregnancy rates and limited herd growth. "Environmental conditions are a major influence on caribou," Burris said. "You can't order up a better environmental climate. You have to do whatever you can."

"It became clear if we wanted to see any growth back in that herd that we have to establish some kind of predator control," he said, noting that hunters account for only about 5 percent of the herd's mortality while wolves are responsible for more than 50 percent.

The current predator control program in Units 12 and 20E is designed to benefit moose, not the Fortymile herd, though the herd has benefited from some spillover effect on the western edge of Unit 20E as a result of increased wolf harvest, Gross said. Aerial gunners killed several wolves on the herd's calving grounds last winter, which should have boosted calf survival.

The Fortymile herd is important because it's one of the only caribou herds in the state that hunters can access by road (i.e. the Steese and Taylor highways), along with the neighboring Nelchina Caribou Herd (Denali and Richardson highways) and Central Arctic Caribou Herd (Dalton Highway), said Burris. Unlike the Nelchina herd, which is limited to a Tier II hunt, and the Central Arctic herd, which caters to bowhunters, the Fortymile herd is open to hunting by registration permit and anybody can get a permit.

Based on weights of calves taken in the fall, the herd appears to be healthy, he said. The department conducts a pregnancy survey each spring by monitoring radio-collared caribou. That gives biologists a herd pregnancy rate, which is used to estimate herd growth and population.

Biologists also count the herd by taking aerial photographs and counting individual caribou, but that hasn't been possible the past two years because of heavy smoke from wildfires. "We haven't been able to conduct a photo census since 2003 because of smoke," Gross said. The photo census serves as a check and balance against the models biologists use to estimate the herd's overall population. "We're hoping to get a good photo census this year to back up our model," he said.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Study: Park's wolves worth millions to Montana, Wyoming, Idaho

PRAY, Mont. A University of Montana economist says people who visit Yellowstone National Park, to catch a glimpse of its wolves, bring 35 (m) million dollars a year to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Economist John Duffield says those dollars are "direct impact" money spent on motels, dining and other travel expenses. Duffield led a study showing those visitor dollars turn over in local communities, pushing the regional economic impact to around 70 (m) million dollars a year. He says wolves are a "public good" and a national asset.

Duffield presented his findings during the 18th annual North American Wolf Conference at Montana's Chico Hot Springs Resort. The three-day conference wrapped up yesterday.

KBZK-TV

Is killing off big, bad wolves the best way to halt attacks?

Culls don't work, study finds, as debate howls around issue of predator control

DAWN WALTON- Globe and Mail

Calgary — For generations, ranchers have believed that the only good wolf is a dead wolf. But a new study finds that bringing out the traps and shotguns soon after cattle and sheep have become dinner for hungry wolves isn't the most effective way to protect livestock.

"People and government agencies kill wolves as a reaction," said study lead author Marco Musiani, a professor at the University of Calgary's faculty of environmental design. "This reaction is a corrective, punitive reaction, which doesn't contribute to decreasing the number of wolf attacks in a region."

Jim Pissot, executive director of Defenders of Wildlife Canada, said his group has noticed that wolf culls don't work and is trying to raise money to help ranchers cover the costs of protecting livestock. "Using lethal methods to reduce depredation may be a little like imprisoning shoplifters as the only method to address shoplifting -- if you add the additional condition that prospective shoplifters [even those not yet born] don't hear about the penalty," he said.

The research, published in a recent issue of the Wildlife Society Bulletin and presented this week at the North American Wolf Conference, examined livestock deaths due to wolves in Alberta 1982-96 as well as in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming from 1987 to 2003. In Alberta, there were 1,021 wolf attacks on domestic animals that left them injured or dead during the study period. At the same time, at least 795 wolves were killed. (Canada does not require reporting of wolf deaths, so the number could be higher.) The three U.S. states had 253 wolf attacks and 861 domestic animals killed. During the study period, 120 wolves were killed.

The monetary loss to the agriculture industry -- in things such as meat, wool, milk, labour and surveillance -- is more difficult to quantify. But the data showed that wolf attacks came seasonally, such as during calving time, as cattle are grazing and when wolf pups are born. At the same time, short-term wolf culls -- generally aimed at "problem individuals" -- did little to disrupt the patterns.

"Even if entire wolf packs are extirpated through control actions, neighbouring or dispersing individuals may readily fill home range vacancies," the report concludes. Culls are no longer a primary management tool, but the practice hasn't disappeared -- nor has the controversy.

Right now, the Alberta government is killing wolves, which are not endangered species, in a bid to protect some threatened woodland caribou, dubbed the Little Smoky herd, near Hinton, not far from Jasper National Park. The province says the caribou in that area are at "immediate risk" of vanishing. There were between 250 and 300 caribou in the area 15 years ago. Now the herd is down to 100. About 150 wolves from several packs overlap the caribou range.

"The wolves are the primary cause of mortality in the caribou," said Dave Ealey, a spokesman with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, who also cites weather and human development as contributing factors. A cull is currently under way aimed at reducing the number of wolves in that area by 50 to 70 per cent. (Scientists have found that to cut depredation effectively, 30 to 50 per cent of a region's wolf herd must be killed periodically over a span of several years.)

The Alberta Wilderness Association describes the wolf cull as a "misguided and short-sighted" attempt to protect the caribou. David Samson, a conservation specialist with the association, said the province is failing to protect the caribou habitat from industrial encroachment. Oil and gas leases are still being handed out. Roads and seismic line cuts remove protection.

"The long-term problem with the predators comes because it's easier for the predators to be there," Mr. Samson said.

There is no plan to continue the cull next year, and long-term plans haven't been developed. The province also conducts monitoring on horseback to keep caribou off roads, orders land reclamation and has erected an electric fence to keep some of the caribou and their calves safe from predators, Mr. Ealey said.

Prof. Musiani, who has studied the issue of livestock deaths caused by wolves around the world, suggests that compensation for ranchers for lost stock would be more effective financially -- surveillance and cull efforts are expensive -- and be more palatable for those concerned about nature conservation.

Guard dogs, fences, repellents and relocation of wolves could be used during seasonal peaks in attacks. Ranchers could hang cloth or plastic from twine, known as "fladry" to create a psychological barrier for wolves to keep them away from livestock. "Ranchers should be allowed to kill wolves when harassing or preying on cattle," Mr. Pissot said, "but the more effective strategy would be to employ other methods first."

Globe and Mail

Killing wolves works -- briefly

By MIKE STARK Of The Gazette Staff

Killing wolves that attack cattle or sheep may take care of the immediate problem but doesn't stop conflicts later, according to a new University of Calgary study. Researchers looked at wolf attacks in Alberta and in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming for more than 15 years to determine the effectiveness of removing wolves that prey on livestock.

Marco Musiani, the study's lead author and an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, said that once a "problem" wolf is killed, others simply to move in and take its place, Musiani said. "This study shows that wolves are being killed as a corrective, punitive measure -- not a preventative one," Musiani said in a statement. "People hope that killing individual wolves will rid the population of offenders, but this isn't happening."

The study is published in the current issue of the Wildlife Society Bulletin. Musiani is scheduled to discuss his findings today at the North American Wolf Conference at Chico Hot Springs, an annual gathering of scientists, policymakers and wolf enthusiasts.

Conflicts between livestock and wolves have been a long-running, contentious issue since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in 1995 and 1996. In recent years, as prime habitat in Yellowstone has filled up, wolves have been spreading into areas outside the park, causing ranchers to fear for their livestock. Even though coyotes every year kill far more livestock than wolves, the presence of wolves -- especially in new areas -- always generates hot debate.

Musiani and other researchers looked over data in Alberta from 1982 to 1996 and in the northern Rocky Mountains from 1987 to 2003. During that time, there were 219 confirmed reports of cows killed in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming and 602 sheep kills. Most of the attacks occurred between March and October and began with the onset of calving season. During that time, 120 wolves were killed. More recently in the Northern Rockies, investigators confirmed that wolves killed 97 cows, 244 sheep, 11 dogs and two horses in 2005. In response, 103 wolves were killed by wildlife managers.

Killing wolves that prey on livestock isn't intended to reduce the overall population but to get rid of offending animals. But Musiani said the results can be short-lived. "In our study area, even if entire wolf packs are extirpated through control actions, neighboring or dispersing individuals may readily fill home-range vacancies," the study said. Instead, it might be more useful to pay attention to when attacks occur over a predictable schedule and take preventive action including lethal and nonlethal methods such as guard dogs, fencing, wolf repellents and relocating wolves to "wilder areas," the study said.

"We see the greatest promise for reducing wolf depredation by improving animal husbandry, especially in high-risk seasons," it said. But another issue then must be addressed: covering the cost of extra efforts to prevent attacks and compensating those who lose livestock to wolves.

Billings Gazette

Wolf Wellness- Professor, student explore stress factors in wolves

A professor and student at SUNY Oswego are performing a study that could impact how wolves and other animals are raised at zoos and in captivity around North America.

Diane Chepko-Sade, assistant professor of zoology, and honors student Michael Mastromauro are trying to determine differences between captive wolves raised socialized to human contact versus those raised primarily by their parents. Their work is funded on a campus level by a $2,500 Student/Faculty Collaborative Challenge Grant. A three-year $60,000 grant from Merck and the American Association for the Advancement of Science also supports their work.

"The larger issue is when we keep an animal in captivity, we want to create conditions where they are not stressed," Chepko-Sade. "This is a challenge for carnivores who travel large distances and, by their nature, avoid humans."

A promising technique at Wolf Park in Indiana involves rearing young wolves with human contact from the time the cubs are 5 days old to 14 weeks. The Oswego project seeks to verify whether that will lower stress to the wolves.

"The behavioral indicators suggest that those animals appear much less stressed than animals that are parent-reared," Chepko-Sade said. For instance, animals that will lie down, play and interact with each other in the presence of humans appear less stressed than those that stand around, watch humans or hide from people.

Stress can lessen the length and quality of an animal's lifespan by suppressing the immune system, making it more susceptible to infection and disease, and suppressing reproduction, Chepko-Sade said.

Mastromauro will test stress levels chemically by measuring the amount of cortisol, a hormone produced by stress, in fecal samples collected from wolves socialized to humans and from parent-reared wolves.

Observation and fecal sample collection will take place at the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park in Watertown and the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse by a team that includes keepers at both zoos, Mastromauro, SUNY Oswego seniors Gwen Cruz and Melanie Groff and students in Jefferson Community College's animal management program.

The question, Chepko-Sade explained, is where the cortisol levels of parent-reared wolves will fall. If they are high, like those of wolves in the wild, that would lend credence to the socialization method being a healthier way to rear wolves.

Since zoos are developing best practices for raising animals in captivity, the research may prove applicable to other carnivores and impact the wider zoological field, she added.

"It's better for animals and visitors as well," Mastromauro said. "It would allow zoo visitors to enjoy the animals more if they aren't stressed and are used to humans."

For Mastromauro, a junior zoology major and chemistry minor, the project "was a good way to combine my interests in biology and chemistry," he noted. "It has applications in the lab and beyond."

His cortisol analysis will take place in SUNY Oswego's Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Center, an interdisciplinary research and teaching lab in Snygg Hall. The data will be double-checked at a lab in Toronto.

The collaboration provides more intensive readings and experience than would be available through most undergraduate classes. "I wouldn't have learned as much about the lab work from the class, and certainly not as hands-on," said Mastromauro, who is interested in continuing his studies in veterinary medicine. "We want to develop a protocol before we do all the testing."

Mastromauro will present his findings next year at Quest, the college's research symposium, and perhaps at larger scientific conferences, as well as submit it for journal consideration.

Oswego's Challenge Grants are supported in part by a donation from Timothy Murphy, a 1974 Oswego graduate and the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the SUNY Research Foundation.

This is Chepko-Sade's first Challenge Grant, though she often works with undergraduates on research projects. She measured fecal cortisol levels for captive wolves during earlier projects with students Beulah Sherwood and Julie Preston-Fulton, supported last year by student grants for scholarly and creative activity.

SUNY Oswego