A University of Wyoming study shows that elk don’t respond frequently enough to threats from wolves to impact body fat and pregnancy rates. Wolves’ effects on elk populations is limited to direct predation, not harassment or stress that leads to lower pregnancy rates or poor body composition, according to the study.
Federal wildlife officials on Friday moved to permanently shift responsibility for managing gray wolves to the states, proposing removal of the animals from the list of threatened and endangered species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the proposal comes after a comprehensive review has confirmed the successful recovery of gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains.
After nearly two decades since their reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, population trends show that gray wolves are unlikely to thrive in sections of Wyoming outside the northwestern corner of the state.
Many wolf supporters remain dissatisfied with Wyoming’s so-called “dual status” management approach, which classifies wolves as trophy game in the area around Yellowstone and as predators elsewhere. But a state wildlife official said Thursday that policy changes won’t have much effect on wolf numbers across most of the state.
Wyoming wildlife officials are seeking information about a wolf poaching case earlier this month east of Yellowstone National Park.
A Penn State University graduate student working on the Yellowstone Wolf Project has launched an Internet campaign to raise funds for a website that will let visitors upload wolf photos along with location information and other data. The goal is to track the spread and progress of sarcoptic mange among individual wolves and packs. But the effort could also prove helpful to other areas of wolf research.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials are seeking information about the illegal killing of two gray wolves in the Gros Ventre area near Jackson, Wyo., east of Grand Teton National Park.
Two wolves shot in separate incidents in December were both poached—killed in a way that doesn’t comply with the state’s wildlife and hunting laws—officials said in a statement released Tuesday.
Wolf trapping and hunting in Montana has been suspended in a buffer area close to Yellowstone National Park. Montana’s wolf trapping season is set to begin Dec. 15, and widespread public debate of the shooting of collared wolves prompted the changes in how the state manages that process during a vote Monday by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission.
Citing the unusual circumstances of several collared wolves that frequent Yellowstone being shot in areas near the park this fall, the commissioners voted 4-1 to prohibit further hunting or trapping for the rest of the season in areas closest to the park.
A coalition of environmental groups filed suit in federal court in Denver on Tuesday seeking to return management of gray wolves in Wyoming to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming wolves should remain classified as an endangered species.
Even though they saw us, the Canyon Pack wolves continued their approach to the Firehole River, intent on getting a drink. At that point, it was just us and them. “Unbelievable,” I thought, and turned my telephoto lens from the great blue heron to the Canyons to start shooting.
Once we made it to Huckleberry Ridge, we found evidence of recent bear presence, with numerous piles of bear scat filled with berries on and along the trail. The Internet description of the hike had indicated that when the huckleberries ripen, the ridge is a favorite feeding spot for grizzly bears, and to this we found evidence of truth!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Loading ...
