photo of the Lookout Pack Wolf pups courtesy of Conservation Northwest

Alaska

Department of Fish and Game shot and killed 84 wolves over six days in mid-March by helicopter in the eastern Interior near Tok.  This is in addition to wolves that are being taken by permitted private pilot-gunner teams in fixed-wing aircraft and wolves taken by trappers and hunters.  The state's target was for a total of 200 wolves to be killed in the region leaving about 100 wolves from an estimated population of 290 - 328.  This marks the second time in the past year the state has used helicopters as part of its controversial aerial wolf control program.  The first time was last June when fourteen wolf pups between 4-5 weeks old were orphaned after the adults including the pups' mothers were shot and killed.  Each pup was shot in the head.  The region is one of five in the state in which the department is conducting predator control programs, but it is the only one in which a helicopter or state personnel are being used.  Preserve Superintendent Greg Dudgeon raised concern over the "surprising news" that a good number of the wolves have home ranges that are centered in the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.  The state agreed to do what it can to prevent shooting wolves that are being studied by park service biologists, but acknowledged that wolves traveling outside the preserve will be "susceptible" to being shot.  Wade Willis, the Alaska representative for the national animal rights group Defenders of Wildlife, filed the request for an injunction to stop the shooting.  The organization contends new regulations approved by the state Board of Game earlier this month allowing the use of helicopters and department personnel to kill wolves do not go into effect until July 1 because they were not passed during an emergency meeting and is, therefore, illegal.  Coincidentally, the agency halted the program the very next day due to lack of funds and snow.

Defenders, involved in conserving wolf populations in Alaska for more than 30 years, is committed to ending the intensive management of Alaska's predators particularly the aerial hunting of wolves.  A brand new initiative inspired by young activists passionate about saving the lives of imperiled animals has led Defenders to launch Kids Care.  If you have or know a child who wants to help, please encourage him or her (and their parents or legal guardians) to visit the new Kids Care page.  Children can color a wolf and write a message of their own or create their own art.  Kids Care messages will be posted online and hand-delivered to the Governor of Alaska around Earth Day, April 22.  America's children deserve a chance to be heard and enjoy wolves during their lifetime.

Colorado

The young 18-month-old female wolf with "wanderlust" keeps adding to her 1,000 mile search for a mate.  During the week of 3/13/09 she traveled to south-central Wyoming but her location data indicated she has returned again to north-central Colorado as of 3/20/09.  Locations are reported every two weeks and can be found in wolf reports found on the USFWS website.  MFW&P photo of 341F (earlier misidentified by the Colorado Division of Wildlife as 314F) lies under anesthesia after being fitted with a GPS collar on July 1, 2008.  The collar has tracked the wolf on an epic journey.  The female wolf dispersed from SW Montana last year, traveled through Wyoming, SE Idaho, NE Utah, N Colorado, then back to south-central Wyoming, and most recently located again in north-central Colorado.

Idaho

Wood River residents have been seeing new visitors to their backyards and that has some people worried.  The Phantom Hill pack has migrated south and set up camp in an area just north of Hailey.  Fish and Game officials say the wolves are doing what predators do, follow the food supply.  People have been advised to keep an eye on their pets and livestock.  Lynne Stone, a wolf advocate says they're still afraid of humans.  "If you don't want wolves around your face clap your hands and yell at them, they're going to run..."  Sentiments continue to be divided over the presence of wolves with strong opinions on both sides.
A lone black wolf presumed to be the 2-year-old male member from the Phantom Hill pack was filmed jumping a fence into the backyard of a home to interact with three Malamutes.  The guardian had been previously warned of the Phantoms presence but, despite the warning, the Malamutes were a distance from the owner's home in a field next to the road.  The wolf came off the steep mountainside onto the road, looked at the dogs and incredibly jumped over the wooden fence.  Within a couple of seconds the wolf took off.  Fish and Game decided to haze the 10-member pack away from residential areas in the resort town out of concern that they were becoming much too comfortable around humans in recent weeks.  After successful hazing from the air one day, they resorted to adding "cracker shells" the next day when spotted again.  ["Cracker shells" are non-lethal, fired from a shotgun and create a flash of light and make a loud bang.]  The department has no further plans for using helicopters and will likely rely on hazing them from the ground, which should cause the wolves to better associate humans with the scare tactics.  The wolves have not attacked domestic animals, sticking instead to their usual prey of elk.  Homeowners of the subdivision have been feeding hay to 150 head of elk all winter.  It was just a matter of time before the Phantom Hill wolves, or another pack, discovered the tame elk.

Video of the Phantom Hill Pack

Video Phantom Hill pack's 2-year-male jumps fence

Video Phantom Hill Wolf Pack Howls

Recognition of Lava Lake's practices went nationwide when company President Mike Stevens accepted the U.S. Forest Service's prestigious National Rangeland Management Award.  Actions to restore rangeland habitat and reduce conflicts with gray wolves taken on by Lava Lake Land and Livestock during the past 10 years have brought the local sheep outfit widespread praise.  This award merits the Ranch's hard work to live peacefully with predators including the Phantom Hill Pack.  Last summer, the project succeeded in keeping sheep depredations by the Phantom Hill wolves down to just a single lamb.  Predator friendly grazing systems, proactive livestock management with the use of non-lethal wolf deterrents allowed the continued existence of the Phantom Hill pack which officials had eyed for elimination in February 2008 prior to the ranch's devotion.  In 2007, the Phantom Hill Pack marked the first time wolves were discovered denning in the valley since reintroduction of gray wolves into the wild during the winters of 1995 and 1996. 

Minnesota

Three wolves roaming the woods just north of Duluth are sending e-mails using their radio collars twice a week to wildlife research biologist, Angela Aarhus-Ward with the 1854 Treaty Authority.  They reveal where the wolves have been for the previous three days who then plots their GPS coordinates on a map.  The three-year study focuses on wolves that live near urban areas to seek potentially different management strategies than what would be used in a wilderness area.  The urban/rural interface is thought to become a new trend in wildlife biology.

Photo Gallery of 5 - Wolf Research Study:  An adult male wolf weighing 80 pounds gets back on its feet after being immobilized as part of Angela Aarhus-Ward's research study.  The wolf was collared in the Fox Farm area south of Pequaywan Lake in 2007.

Washington

State and federal wildlife agents are investigating an apparent poaching of endangered wolves from the first pack to re-establish in north-central Washington.  The investigation began two days before Christmas.  An employee of a FedEx facility in Omak became suspicious after a woman dropped off a package that was leaking blood.  When police were called to a FedEx counter to look at the package, an untanned pelt of a young gray wolf was found inside.  Authorities traced the shipment back to two rural homes outside Twisp, Washington.  There they seized incriminating pictures and emails.  Evidence and photos contained in the warrant shows the men trapped and shot at least one and maybe two wolves from the pack, including one of the pups whose pelt was found in the package, and a larger adult wolf that may have been killed last year.  Information in the warrant also shows the men may have been illegally hunting bobcats and cougar with hounds.  DNA testing later confirmed that the wolf was a member of Washington's newly discovered Lookout Pack, likely one of the pups.  A search conducted of the residence also uncovered evidence that they had apparently trapped and killed a wolf using a leg-hold trap over a year ago before the pack was confirmed.  The news comes only 6 months after the pack was first discovered in Twisp, Washington last summer when volunteers of the wildlife conservation organization "Conservation Northwest" captured photographs of the adults along with six small pups.  The WDF&G later confirmed that the animals are pure, wild wolves.  The Twisp wolves are Cascade wolves, genetically related to animals from British Columbia or Alberta and are still federally protected.  The case is not complete and still very much under investigation.  No arrests or charges have been made as of this time but the state agents have secured abundant evidence.  A federal conviction for poaching a wolf in Washington, where it's protected under the Endangered Species Act, could result in a $100,000.00 fine and a year in prison.  The violation under state law carries a maximum $5,000.00 fine and one year in jail.  For more information, please visit www.conservationnw.org  Images of the Lookout Pack and sound files are provided courtesy of Conservation Northwest.

Northern Rocky Mountains & Western Great Lakes

On March 6, 2009 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar affirmed the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in the western Great Lakes and the Northern Rocky Mountains.  Wolves will remain a protected species in Wyoming because Wyoming's current state law and wolf management plan are not sufficient to conserve its portion of northern Rocky Mountain wolf population.  Wolves will remain protected as a nonessential, experimental population under the ESA throughout the state, including within the boundaries of the Wind River Reservation and national park and refuge units.  Salazar's surprise March 6 decision provoked a protest letter from 10 senior House Democrats asking Salazar to postpone finalizing the delisting rule for at least 60 days.  The new plan is expected to go public April 2, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery leader Ed Bangs.  As soon as it does, Earthjustice attorney Jenny Harbine says environmentalists will file a notice that they'll challenge the delisting.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone Wolf Project Leader, Doug Smith, updates us on the Yellowstone National Park wolves.  The good news is the 2008 distemper outbreak is probably over but it had a devastating effect especially the northern packs.  Across the park, the population has declined 27%.  In the northern range, where the most concentrated wolf community lives, the population dropped 40% from 94 wolves in 2007 to 56 wolves in 2008.  In the interior, the decline was 11% from 77 in 2007 to 68 in 2008.  8 puppies were born in the northern range and 14 in the interior last year.  It has been the worst year yet for mange.  Mange also killed 2 or 3 wolves in 2008 and currently, 20 wolves are suffering from mange across the park.  The number of breeding pairs dropped from 10 to 6 in 2008.  That's the lowest since 2000.

Israel

Ahinoam the female wolf was released to the wild in the presence of the soldiers who saved her life from a serious injury when her leg was caught in a hunter's trap.  She had been brought from the Ramat Gan safari park to the wide-open spaces of the Gilboa Mountains chalking up a success for a project devoted to returning wolves to the wild.  She has been fitted with a transponder around her neck to allow her movements to be traced.  Hopes are that she joins one of the two wolf packs known to make their home in the Gilboa Mountains.  Dr. Yigal Horowitz of the animal hospital said the wolf's leg had healed completely but contact with humans could affect Ahinoam's behavior in the wild.

United Kingdom

Three of the world's leading experts on wolf conservation will show how mankind and wolves are successfully co-existing in Europe at a special seminar on May 10th at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust in Beenham, near Reading.  The wolf experience event is open to the public and includes the opportunity for delegates to meet and spend time with the Trust's "Ambassador" wolf population.  The eight socialized wolves are used to human contact.  For further information or to book tickets for the seminar contact the UKWCT on 0118 971 3330 or visit the website at www.ukwolf.org