wolf recovery in the midwest: what’s next? our neighbors ... · the endangered species act,...

A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTERWINTER 2003

A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTERSPR ING 2004

Wol f Recover y in the Midwes t : What ’s Nex t? page 4Our Neighbors in Gray Coats , page 8

The Las t I r i sh Wol f , page 10

2 As a Matter of Fact

3 From the ExecutiveDirector

14 International WolfCenter Notes FromHome

16 Tracking the Pack

18 Wolves of the World

21 News and Notes

22 Personal Encounter

25 Book Review

26 Wild Kids

28 A Look Beyond

Features

THE QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER VOLUME 14, NO. 1 SPRING 2004

On The Cover

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The Return of the Wolf to Idaho: A Cultural Triumph

A wildlife biologist and member of the Nez Perce Tribe describes her firstencounter with wolves and what they mean to the tribe.

M a r c i e C a r t e r

Should the Wolf Be Delisted?The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to ”delist” the wolf, or

remove it from the endangered species list, except in the Southwest.Delisting would end federal protection for wolves in the delisted areasand return wolf management to individual states. Two articles byveterans of the debate on how best to enhance recovery of wolf popu-lations present important opposing viewpoints on this important issue.

Why I Support Federal Wolf Delisting, L . D a v i d M e c h

Wolves Are Still in Need of Federal Protection,R i c k D u n c a n a n d A n n e M a h l e

From Fourteen: A BeginningBy 1980, the red wolf was declared extinct in the

wild. Today the red wolf is reproducing and surviving, madepossible by the efforts of dedicated professionals and the last14 red wolves known to exist.

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In the Wake of Hurricane Isabel: TheRed Wolves of Eastern North Carolina

Zeus, the most filmed and photographed wolf in the Red Wolf RecoveryProgram, died when a tree uprooted during Hurricane Isabel destroyed hisden box. But public outreach and education will continue as biologists andothers work to ensure the long-term survival of red wolves.

N e i l H u t t

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To Delist or Not to Delist . . .

Like the swing of a pendulum, our relationship with wolves is never at one point

in the arc. Under national policy, we have gone from “shoot em all” to the strict

protections under the federal Endangered Species Act. The point of the arc will

change once again with the federal proposal to delist most gray wolves. We are espe-

cially pleased to share with you in this issue of International Wolf two distinctive and

important viewpoints from seasoned veterans of the debate on how best to protect wolf

populations. Pioneer wolf scientist Dave Mech speaks from his decades-

long research perspective as a government biologist, and Rick Duncan

and Anne Mahle, prominent environmental attorneys, speak on behalf

of groups who seek to halt the government’s current delisting proposal.

These two articles will take you behind the headlines you have undoubt-

edly seen and bring you close to the issues that will likely be argued in

the courtroom. They may also challenge your own thinking about what

is the right approach to a national policy on wolf recovery for today and

future generations. Regardless of the ultimate decision on how and when

wolves will be delisted, the court’s judgment will set off a new round of debate as the

inevitable transition to state management of wolf populations continues.

In the last issue I wrote briefly about our having just reached an agreement for

an exciting new home for our outreach and administrative offices in the Twin Cities.

What makes this new home special is that it will provide staff with a working location

that is connected to the environment through the surrounding woods, fields and waters

of French Regional Park—one of the jewels of the Three Rivers Park District’s network

of parks in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. Equally important, the new home

offers us a classroom, an exhibit area, space for a resource center for educators inter-

ested in using the wolf in their curricula, and a diverse habitat that can supplement

the learning experience for on-site programs we plan to offer once we get settled. You

can get a taste of our new home by going to www.threeriversparkdistrict.org/parks and

clicking on French Regional Park. We are pleased to have our flagship education center

in the heart of wolf country in northern Minnesota, and we are especially pleased to

put the International Wolf Center welcome mat out to the heart of the human popula-

tion in Minnesota through this new facility. �

From the Executive DirectorINTERNATIONAL

WOLF CENTER

BOARD OF DIRECTORSNancy jo Tubbs

Chair

Dr. L. David MechVice Chair

Dr. Rolf O. PetersonSecretary

Paul B. AndersonTreasurer

Dr. Larry D. Anderson

Julie Potts Close

Thomas T. Dwight

Nancy Gibson

Hélène Grimaud

Cree Holtz

Cornelia Hutt

Dean Johnson

Dr. Robert Laud

Mike Phillips

Dr. Robert Ream

Jeff Rennicke

Deborah Reynolds

Jerry Sanders

Paul Schurke

Teri Williams

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Walter M. Medwid

MISSION

The International WolfCenter advances the survival

of wolf populations byteaching about wolves, their

relationship to wild lands andthe human role in their future.

Educational services and informational resources

are available at:

1396 Highway 169Ely, MN 55731-8129, USA

1-800-ELY-WOLF1-218-365-4695

e-mail address:[email protected]

Web site: http://www.wolf.org

Publications DirectorMary OrtizMagazine CoordinatorCarissa L.W. KnaackConsulting EditorMary KeirsteadTechnical Editor L. David MechGraphic DesignerTricia Hull

International Wolf (1089-683X) ispublished quarterly and copyrighted,2004, by the International Wolf Center,12615 Co. Road 9, #200, Minneapolis, MN55441, USA. e-mail: [email protected] rights reserved.

Publications agreement no. 1536338

Membership in the International WolfCenter includes a subscription toInternational Wolf magazine, free admissionto the Center, and discounts on programsand merchandise. • Lone Wolf member-ships are U.S. $30 • Wolf Pack $50 • Wolf Associate $100 • Wolf Sponsor $500 • Alpha Wolf $1000. Canada and othercountries, add U.S. $15 per year for airmail postage, $7 for surface postage.Contact the International Wolf Center,1396 Highway 169, Ely, MN 55731-8129,USA; e-mail: [email protected]; phone: 1-800-ELY-WOLF

International Wolf is a forum for airingfacts, ideas and attitudes about wolf-related issues. Articles and materialsprinted in International Wolf do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of theInternational Wolf Center or its board of directors.

International Wolf welcomes submissionsof personal adventures with wolves andwolf photographs (especially black andwhite). Prior to submission of other types of manuscripts, address queries to Mary Ortiz, publications director.

International Wolf is printed entirely with soy ink on recycled and recyclablepaper (text pages contain 20% post-consumer waste, cover paper contains 10% post-consumer waste). We encourageyou to recycle this magazine.

PHOTOS: Unless otherwise noted, orobvious from the caption or article text,photos are of captive wolves.

2 S p r i n g 2 0 0 4 w w w . w o l f . o r g I n t e r n a t i o n a l W o l f S p r i n g 2 0 0 4 3

Walter MedwidA wolf’s digestive system is 95 percent efficient, producing only1 pound of scat for every 15 pounds of meat consumed. �

How efficient is a wolf ’s digestive system?

Who published the firstscientific article aboutwolves in North America?

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management to individual states. Toensure that state management wouldnot reduce wolf populations belowthe prescribed recovery levels, theUSFWS examined the wolf manage-ment plans for each relevant stateand asked several wolf biologists toreview them. For the first five yearsafter delisting, the wolf populationswill be closely monitored to makesure they remain secure. Anytime apopulation dropped below recoverylevel during those five years or after,the USFWS could quickly relist it andreimpose federal protection.

Nevertheless, several wolf advo-cacy organizations oppose federaldelisting of the wolf. Although specificreasons vary, generally these organiza-

any doubt as to whether wolveswould recover in the 48 states, thenumbers and distribution of thesewolves should dispel that. In both theWest and Midwest, wolf numbers farexceed those prescribed for recoveryby federal wolf recovery teams.

Thus the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService (USFWS) wants to ”delist”the wolf, or remove it from theendangered species list, except in theSouthwest, where recovery efforts arestill underway. Delisting would endfederal protection for wolves in thedelisted areas and return wolf

Why I Support Federal WolfDelisting b y L . D A V I D M E C H

economic benefits, and there is anethical imperative to protect andrecover gray wolves.

U.S. law mandates that the USFWSprotect, conserve and recover speciesthat are listed as either endangered or threatened under the ESA. In its30-year existence, the protectionsafforded by the act have slowed and in some instances radically reversedspecies’ path toward extinction. Butthe act not only prohibits certainactions but also requires the federalgovernment to ensure that listedspecies and the habitat on which theydepend are protected and to activelyrecover species.

Wolves Are Still in Need of Federal Protection b y R I C K D U N C A N

a n d A N N E M A H L E

On April 1, 2003, the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service (USFWS) publisheda final rule on the status of the graywolf in the contiguous 48 states. This new rule, promulgated underthe Endangered Species Act, down-listed the wolf from endangered to threatened in most of the UnitedStates. That same day, the USFWSalso published an advanced notice of rule making indicating that it wasmoving toward complete removal of all federal protection of the gray wolf except in the Southwest. Thefollowing articles present importantviewpoints from two veterans of the debate on how best to enhancerecovery of wolf populations.

Editor’s Note: As is true with all International Wolf articles, the opin-ions expressed in the following two articles are those of the authorsand do not imply any endorsement by the International Wolf Center.We present them in the interest of stimulating informed thought.

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The U.S. Fish and WildlifeService’s April 1 rule on thestatus of the gray wolf sent

a clear message: the Bush admin-istration is done with wolves. Therecovery of the gray wolf, for thisadministration, is complete. Seven-teen conservation groups, however,view the gray wolf’s status and thelegal mandates of the EndangeredSpecies Act (ESA) differently. Led by Defenders of Wildlife, they havesued the USFWS over the rule,seeking to have the agency return tothe drawing board. Their message isequally clear: recovery is incomplete,and the obligation and need toprotect wolves persists.

The wolf has done well under theprotection of the ESA. Since passageof the act in 1973, the number ofwolves in the lower 48 states hasincreased threefold from under athousand in Minnesota alone, toapproximately 3,600 wolves in sixstates. The current wolf populationremains well below the estimatedpresettlement population of up to400,000 animals continentwide.Recovery is incomplete, and withoutfederal oversight, it won’t happen.

Why continue with the activeprotection and recovery of graywolves? Three reasons: the ESArequires recovery efforts to continue,wolves provide ecological and

Alarge black wolf poked out ofthe conifers in YellowstoneNational Park’s Lamar Valley,

followed single file by 16 pack-mates. They trod down an open hill-side and crossed the road, in full view of dozens of elated park visitors. This Druid Peak pack is part of apopulation of some 750 wolves thatnow inhabit the West, primarily inWyoming, Montana and Idaho.

To the south, a reintroduced andgrowing population of 35 to 50wolves occupies Arizona and NewMexico. Farther east, over 3,000wolves inhabit Minnesota, Wisconsinand Michigan. All these wolves repre-sent a vibrant and dramatic tribute tothe success of the EndangeredSpecies Act (ESA). If there were ever

I n t e r n a t i o n a l W o l f S p r i n g 2 0 0 4 76 S p r i n g 2 0 0 4 w w w . w o l f . o r g

It is through this recoverymandate that the USFWS undertookthe successful reintroduction ofwolves to the Yellowstone ecoregionand central Idaho. Formal recoveryprograms also aided the naturalrecolonization of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan bywolves. These successes do notequate to recovery of the gray wolf ona national level.

In addition to a legal obligation torecover the gray wolf, scientificresearch demonstrates that therestoration of wolves helps restorebalance within entire ecosystems.Nowhere has this been more evidentthan in the Yellowstone ecoregion.There, the reintroduction of wolveshas changed the behavior of the

park’s elk population, moving themaway from creek and river basins,which in turn allows streambedhabitat to thrive, resulting inhealthier trout streams, and morehabitat for beavers and songbirds.Other animals such as badgers, bearsand eagles benefit from the “left-overs” of wolf kills, which provide amore reliable year-round food base.

Throughout the country, thereremain many geographic regions,including Colorado, Oregon, northernMaine, Vermont, New Hampshire,northern New York, northernCalifornia, Washington and Utah,where the recovery of wolves isecologically appropriate. In addition,the presence of wolves bringseconomic benefits to the surrounding

communities. For example, Ely,Minnesota, located at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe AreaWilderness and in the heart of wolfcountry in northern Minnesota,receives between $18 million and $27 million tourism dollars a year.

Finally, there is an ethical impera-tive to continue protection andrecovery of the gray wolf. The

primary cause of the gray wolf’s nearextinction was the direct acts offederal and state governments.Acting through the USFWS and itspredecessor, the Bureau of BiologicalSurvey, we engaged in a total assaulton wolves. Pervasive societal fear ofwolves, stoked by government agen-cies, created an ecological nightmarefor the gray wolf. Through systematicpoisoning, bounty hunting andpersistent persecution by humans,wolves were removed from theAmerican West and nearly all ofMexico. Wolves, regardless of theirresiliency, stood no chance againststrychnine. This history of inten-tional destruction of wolves bygovernment agencies places anethical imperative on wolf recovery.

In the 21st century, there is still aneed for wolf protection because,regrettably, we have not made thesocietal commitment to the treatmentof the wolf as a nongame animal thatis required before “downlisting” or“delisting” of the wolf can be justi-fied. Bounty statutes still exist, readyto spring back to life in many states ifESA protections are removed, andpunitive state management plans arewaiting in the wings for federalprotection to be removed. As VerlynKlinkenborg observed recently in aNew York Times editorial on wolves,“The only possibility for wildness—

for a landscape with wolves—is inhow we withhold ourselves in orderto make room for it.” We aren’t yet at the point where we dare trustourselves to live with wolves withoutthe federal protection that hasbrought the species back from thebrink of extinction. �

Rick Duncan and Anne Mahle are attorneysat Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis,Minnesota. They are representing Defendersof Wildlife and the 16 other conservationgroups in Defenders of Wildlife, et al. v.Norton, the case challenging the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service’s April 1, 2003, ruleregarding the status of the gray wolf.

tions prefer the stricter protection ofthe ESA, they want to see the wolfrestored to an even larger area of the48 states than at present, and they donot think that will happen if the wolfis delisted. Regarding the areas towhich the wolf should be restored, Isympathize. It would be great to knowthat wolves inhabit all of the UnitedStates’ wilderness areas and whereverelse they do not conflict too muchwith human interests.

However, the ESA is for savingspecies from extinction. With thewolf’s current numbers and distribu-tion, as well as the states’ manage-ment plans, the wolf clearly is no

longer in danger. Thus the govern-ment has an ethical, if not a legal,obligation to delist the species.

There is also a strong politicalneed to delist the wolf or any specieswhen it has recovered. The ESA ishighly controversial in Congress, andits detractors regularly claim that it istoo socially and financially expensiveand fails to work. One contingent liesin wait to gut the ESA, saying thatbecause too many species are placedon the endangered species list butnone ever taken off, the act is useless.

The wolf is one of the most controversial of all animals, so society may never allow the species to live

everywhereor in everywilderness.E v e n i nMinnesota,

teams of wolf experts and conserva-tion administrators and chargingthem with devising wolf recoveryplans for the West, Midwest andSouthwest (as well as for the red wolfin the Southeast). Wolf advocacygroups and the rest of the public wereallowed to review these plans andoffer suggestions for improving them.

No one disputed the proposednumbers or distribution of the wolvesin the recovery goals. No peer-reviewed scientific articles criticizedthe plans. No group claimed thatrestoring the wolf to Wyoming, Idaho,Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin andMichigan was insufficient to recoverthe wolf from endangerment. In effect,this general accord with the USFWS’swolf recovery plans amounted to atacit agreement between wolf advo-cates and the USFWS that if wolvesreached recovery goals, the animal

should be delisted. Anti-wolf folks,however, long ago claimed that wolfadvocates would never let the govern-ment delist the wolf.

To oppose wolf delisting now thatwolves have recovered would playstraight into the hands of the ESAdetractors and those opposing wolfrecovery. It would fuel the animositytoward the ESA and toward thelisting of new controversial species.

When Congress next considersreauthorizing the ESA, this opposi-tion could help weaken or kill the

where wolves were never exterminatedand the public is used to dealing withthem, about half the citizens want thewolf restricted to the wilderness andnot allowed throughout the state.

When the USFWS planned thewolf’s recovery in the 48 states, it didso through appointing recovery

act. And it could foster a backlashagainst the restored wolf populations.

Thus it is time now to celebratethe success of the ESA in recoveringthe wolf, not for overreaching andjeopardizing not only the great gainsthat have been made through this actbut also the act itself.

Dave Mech is a senior research scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey and founderand vice chair of the International WolfCenter. He has studied wolves for 45 yearsand published several books and manyarticles about them.

Recovery is incomplete, andwithout federal

oversight, it won’t happen.

Scientific researchdemonstrates thatthe restoration of

wolves helps restorebalance within

entire ecosystems.

With the wolf’s current numbers

and distribution, aswell as the states’

management plans, the wolf

clearly is no longer in danger.

Through systematicpoisoning, bountyhunting and persistentpersecution by humans,wolves were removedfrom the AmericanWest and nearly all of Mexico.

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Our patience finally paid off. Just as the sun was goingdown, four small wolf puppies emerged from the tree line.They reminded me of a litter of domestic puppies. Theychased each other, tackled each other, played keep away,and chewed on sticks. They played for about 20 minutesin that meadow, and then as fast as they had appeared,they were gone. They returned to the tree line as if theywere being called in for supper by their mother. It was thatdeliberate. We waited for several minutes, hoping theywould return, and then climbed off the hillside andheaded back down the trail to set up camp.

On our way back, we stopped several times to look atour map and to ascertain our location. We had justcrossed a creek when we decided to stop again and lookat the map. It was then I heard something that made meshine my flashlight away from us, and there in the dark-ness were two pairs of green eyes shining back. Thenanother set of green eyes came into the light. They werestanding broadside to us, with heads cocked to one side asmy Siberian husky would do if she were listening to mycommands. They seemed curious, listening to us argueabout which way to go. They were young adults. Had theyever seen a human being before? What did they want? Iwondered this as we stood there, frozen in astonishmentat the beauty of these animals, and yet with fear floodinginto my mind. Then they were gone.

T he first time that I sat and watched wolves play was the first time I had seen wolves in the wild. Itwas also my first time in the field and my first

time in the Idaho backcountry. We were looking for theLandmark pack, a pair of wolves and their pups. Theadults had paired after being released in winter 1995.After a day of hiking, we climbed a hillside to get a betterview of a large meadow that we hoped was a likely placefor wolf pups to play. We watched that meadow for hours,hoping they would come.

As we put up our tents that night, the howling started.First one wolf, then another, and finally the whole packsang. It was an eerie feeling being that close to wolves andhearing their voices bounce off the hillsides of the moun-tains and the trees in the valley. It is a feeling that still, tothis day, gives me shivers.

I had never thought much about wolves before I startedwork on the wolf project. My cousin Howard was workingon the project as the technician when I first learned thatthe Nez Perce Tribe was involved with wolf recovery. Therewere only 35 wolves then. I was still a wildlife student andwas quite aware of the issues surrounding wolves and theirprey as well as their position in the ecosystem. I was notaware of the social issues that loomed over the tribe or over me as a tribal member working to recover wolves inthe Northern Rocky Mountains. The Nez Perce Tribe wasentering into the arena of endangered species recovery atthe state level, an area that no other tribe has ever entered.

The Nez Perce word for wolf is hímiin (himeen). Thisword is believed to be derived from the Nez Perce wordhím, which is the word for mouth. The wolf got its name because it can talk. The wolf communicates with itsfamily group as well as with other wolves. Traditional NezPerce understood that the animals of this world wereteachers, and we as Nez Perce people could learn muchfrom them. The wolf is a good teacher. It is a good hunter,

and it shares his food with its family. The wolves in a packeach help foster and raise the pups, and they have demon-strated order in their groups. The Nez Perce saw this, andthey learned from the wolf.

The return of the wolf represents a cultural triumph tothe Nez Perce people. The gray wolf suffered the same fatethat the Nez Perce did some 127 years ago. Both the wolfand Indian people across the country were consideredobstacles for European settlers. Both of us are strugglingto reclaim our place.

Today, over 350 wolves inhabit Idaho. They have recov-ered biologically. Will they ever recover socially? Will theybe able to live out their lives and raise their families as theirancestors did before civilization came to their world? Thisis a question that will remain unanswered until time fadesaway. There will always be people who are not in favor ofthe return of the wolf as there are those who do not favorthe presence and power of Indian people. It is somethingthat we both have to face and overcome. Our fates will bedifferent this time. The Nez Perce people will triumph. Thewolf will also, if we let it. �

Marcie Carter, an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe, is currentlythe tribe’s biologist for reservation issues, focusing on forest songbirds.She worked as a biologist for the tribe’s wolf project for five years.

Traditional Nez Perce

understood that the animals

of this world were teachers,

and we as Nez Perce people

could learn much from them.

The wolf is a good teacher.

THE RETURNOF THE

WOLF TOIDAHO:

THE RETURNOF THE

WOLF TOIDAHO:

A Cultural Triumphb y M A R C I E C A R T E R

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The wolf pups played in themeadow, and then as fast as theyhad appeared, they were gone.

The wolves in a pack each help foster and raise the pups, and they have demonstrated order in their groups. The NezPerce saw this, and they learned from the wolf.

Today, over 350 wolves inhabit Idaho.They have recovered biologically. Will they ever recover socially?


the standards developed to definethe red wolf. These standardsincluded minimal morphologicalmeasurements such as shoulderheight, total length, hind foot lengthand skull features that distinguishthe red wolf from coyotes, feral dogsand wolf-coyote hybrids. From themore than 400 canids trapped, just43 animals met the minimal stan-dards. Those animals were placed in a breeding program at the PointDefiance Zoo and Aquarium inTacoma, Washington. Their finalidentification as red wolves would be based on the resulting offspringfrom breeding studies. So began thecaptive breeding program.

By 1980, the red wolf was declaredextinct in the wild. The fate of thespecies now depended on thesuccessful reproduction of thoseindividuals that met the minimalstandards. Some, like Buddy, Margie,Judy and John, were known only by first name. Others were given fictitious surnames, like Ms. Wessie,Mrs. McBride and Mr. and Mrs. Sabine.A few had descriptive names, such as Happy Face and Gulf Oil Split Lip, and others were simply namedafter the place they were trapped, like Fortenberry Female and PinesInholding Male, Crain Female andSabine Ranch Male. By any name,these animals represented the last

throughout the United States, andmore than 100 wolves, living in 20packs or pairs, inhabit the country-side of northeastern North Carolina.This was all made possible by thetireless efforts of many dedicatedprofessionals and the last 14 redwolves known to exist.

The next time you see a red wolfin a zoo or hear a red wolf howl, or if you’re lucky enough to see a wolf in the wild, think about John and Ms.Wessie. Take a moment to considerMr. and Mrs. Sabine, and Happy Faceand Mrs. McBride, Louisiana RadioMale and Fortenberry Female. Take amoment to think about the contribu-tion 14 red wolves made to the futureof the species. And think about thecontribution you can make. �

David R. Rabon Jr. is an endangeredspecies biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Raleigh, NorthCarolina. He is a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University, wherehe is studying social and reproductivebehaviors of red wolves.

hope for the survival of the red wolf. Unfortunately, most animals in

the breeding program producedoffspring that left their status as pure red wolves improbable. At leastfour animals never reproduced, sotheir verification as red wolves couldnot be made. Margie, Judy, Buddyand nameless others were removedfrom the captive breeding program.The future of the red wolf now reliedon just 14 animals that reproducedand were verified as pure red wolves.

Over the years the breedingprogram has had its share of ups anddowns. Two wolves — Crain Femaleand Pines Inholding Male — are nolonger represented with living descen-dants in the current population. Thishas reduced the genetic diversity inthe existing population of red wolvesto only 12 founding animals. Butapplications in reproductive tech-nology, intensive management, persis-tence and a little luck have assisted inthe conservation of the red wolf. Andin 1987 the red wolf was reintroducedinto the Alligator River NationalWildlife Refuge, North Carolina. Onceagain the red wolf was free in the wild.

Today, due in part to an aggressiveAdaptive Management Program toprevent hybridization with coyotes,the red wolf is reproducing andsurviving. More than 150 wolves live in captive breeding facilities

F R OMF O U R

T E E N

Red wolf left the mountains, drifting west andsouth, watched itself vanish from a vanishingworld until there was almost nowhere to howland the last vivid forms of its pure spiritprepared themselves to leave this earth.

Just before red wolf leapt into nonexistence, it was trapped out of the wild, taken in cages fromthe thickets of coastal southeast Texas where ithad been driven by history, left to prowl at night,scavenging mesquite beans and cactus fruits.

For generations there was no far traveling. The unseen walls of lost habitat became thechain link of breeding pens. The great skillswent unused. Sharp sight, keen hearing, shape-changing stealth. Great endurance, silent speed over forest litter, tolerance of thedeepest cold... Generations without a hunt...Generations without a proper den. The youngknew nothing of the world. Had no wildness in their hearts, no weather in their fur. Afterthree generations, all the old ones were dead and there was not a wild red wolf in the world.Only shadows of wolves. Pale flames of red wolf spirit licked the cages.

Then the red wolf was returned to the old places, freed.

Christopher Camuto, Journeying Toward the Cherokee Mountains

A BEGINNING

b yD A V I D R .R A B O N J R .

Have you ever heard of Mr. andMrs. Sabine from JeffersonCounty, Texas? How about

Ms. Wessie, also from Texas? Or Johnfrom Calcasieu Parish in Louisiana?Maybe you would recognize them bytheir Studbook Numbers—6, 12, 13,and 26. Whether known by name ornumber, they are red wolves. But notjust any red wolves. These are thenames of a few individuals that madeup the founding population of redwolves—the parents, grandparents,and great-grandparents of all redwolves known to exist today.

After the bleak future of the redwolf was revealed, the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service decided to makeevery effort to save the species. Thisconsisted of capturing as many redwolves from the wild as possible andplacing them in a captive breedingprogram with the hope of one dayreleasing the species back into thewild. This daunting task began in theearly 1970s. More than 400 canids(Canis is the genus that includeswolves, coyotes and dogs) weretrapped and evaluated. Only a smallfraction of the animals caught met

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Just a few individualsmade up the foundingpopulation of red wolves—the parents, grandparents,and great-grandparents of all red wolves known to exist today.

Today, the red wolf is reproducing and surviving in the wild.

:

Zeus, the most filmed andphotographed wolf in the

Red Wolf Recovery Program,died when a tree uprooted

during Hurricane Isabeldestroyed his den box.

roamed throughout the southeasternforests and marshes.

Zeus’s opportunity to be anambassador for red wolf recoveryended in the fury of Hurricane Isabel.But public outreach and educationwill continue in partnership with thework of USFWS biologists as theyrefine the Red Wolf AdaptiveManagement Plan. The red wolveshave proven their resilience in theface of near extinction. It is now upto humans to honor the legacy ofwolf 520 by working to ensure thelong-term survival of these tenaciousanimals. �

For information about the Red WolfCenter, please visit the Red Wolf CoalitionWeb site at www.redwolves.org. Theauthor thanks Aubrey White Remige forher help in preparing this story.

Neil Hutt is an educator andInternational Wolf Center board memberwho lives in Purcellville, Virginia.


Sandy Ridge, where his regal beautyand adolescent antics endeared himto the interns who lived in the cabinat the facility. He regularly got extraportions of deer, habitually leavingthe remains of a leg on top of his denbox. Aubrey Remige, biologist andcurrently executive director of theRed Wolf Coalition, remembers agame Zeus often played with herwhen she lived at Sandy Ridge. Whileshe was working inside the enclo-sure, he would approach her on silentfeet as though daring himself to comeclose. When she would turn at last tolook at him, he would leap away,darting into the trees.

Although he was nearly 12 yearsold, Zeus had been chosen as one ofthe resident wolves for the proposedRed Wolf Center near Columbia,North Carolina. The center will bebuilt in an effort to bring attention toan animal that is, on the one hand,despised and feared by some localresidents and, on the other, oftenoverlooked by the general public.Many people who revere Canis lupusas the symbol of wilderness havenever heard of Canis rufus,the wolf that once


The spaces between the mountains, emptyfor a hundred years, are now occupied bythe howling of wolves.

Not the chesty baying of gray wolves orthe throaty singing of coyotes, but a high-pitched, two-note riff that has just enoughtimbre to echo well.

Christopher Camuto, Another Country: Journeying Toward the Cherokee Mountains

After Hurricane Isabel, the captive wolf breedingfacility at Sandy Ridge, located in the AlligatorRiver National Wildlife Refuge in eastern NorthCarolina, is a maze of mangled wire and splin-tered kennel boxes.

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Now the facility with its 18 enclo-sures is a maze of mangled wire andsplintered kennel boxes. Everywhereare uprooted trees, their branchesentwined in dense tangles. Threewolves remain in the enclosures thatescaped the storm’s lashing winds.But the favorite resident wolf, affec-tionately called Zeus, is dead. Theruined tree lying beside his den boxbears witness to what happened.

Officially designated wolf 520, Zeuswas the most filmed andphotographed wolf in the Red WolfRecovery Program. Born at SandyRidge in 1992, he was released into theGreat Smoky Mountains as part of areintroduction program that ultimatelyfailed. But 520 never got the hang ofbeing wild. Tolerant of humans, he wasseen crossing roads near houses andstealing shoes off porches.

The USFWS biologists finally gaveup and brought the big wolf back to

In an enclosure sheltered by tallpines and hardwoods lived thewolves of Sandy Ridge. This

captive breeding facility, located onthe Alligator River National WildlifeRefuge in eastern North Carolina,was equipped to house as many as 30endangered red wolves. Shy andsecretive by nature, these sleek,tawny animals flitted like shadowsthrough the underbrush, pausingoften in the midst of their ritual

pacing along the fences, headslowered, ears pricked forward tolisten, topaz eyes alert and wary.

The Sandy Ridge wolves were noton public view. But “howlings” spon-sored by the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService (USFWS) and the Red WolfCoalition were popular events.Crowds gathered at night to listen tothe chorus from Sandy Ridge and tolearn about the red wolf, clan animalof the Cherokee, who, in the oldtime, believed it was the wolf thattaught man to hunt.

Until Hurricane Isabel.


Join Our WolfInformation Alert Team

Every member of the pack has a role to play.So here is one for you. We need our

members to watch for misinformation aboutwolves that shows up in print and on TV.

One of the biggest problems that wolvesface is the myths and misinformation aboutthem that get passed off as fact in the popularmedia. Popular magazines do it. Radio programsdo it. Even well-meaning publications makemistakes that continue to cause confusionabout wolves and their relationships topeople, other animals and the wilderness. So if you come across stories about wolves thatdon’t sound just right, send them to our infor-mation experts at [email protected], or faxthem to 218-365-3318. If possible, send acopy of the article, the name of the publicationor program and/or the address of the Web sitethat contains the suspect information. We maythen be able to send out a helpful correction.

The more often we correct myths andmisinformation about wolves, the more wecan help eliminate this problem. The moreaccurate information people have aboutwolves, the more they will come to under-stand and appreciate them.

Please become part of our WolfInformation Alert Team. Send inaccurate wolfnews to us at [email protected]. �


The weather in Ely wasperfect for this year’s

Alpha members’ apprecia-tion weekend — sunny, nottoo warm and no rain. Wemet at the InternationalWolf Center for greetingsand dinner and to get toknow one another. Somefamiliar faces were there,and some new ones.

Friday night we visitedDr. Lynn Roger’s bearresearch facility, and wewere not disappointed. Ayoung, collared black bearmade a visit and wasphotographed by all.

Saturday dawned crispand clear — just perfect forthe day’s events. After anoverview of the activitiesoffered at the Center andfuture goals, we had thechoice of a hike to an aban-doned wolf den, a paddleinto Hegman Lake to view pictographs (ancientIndian rock paintings) or toListening Point to gobirding, or a tour of down-town Ely. I opted to go toHegman Lake. The scenerythere was breathtaking—dense woods, a steep, rockyshoreline and lichen-covered

rocks. The pictographs wereclear even after exposure tothe elements for 900 to1,200 years.

After dinner, we attended“What’s for Dinner” with theCenter’s ambassador wolvesMalik and Shadow. Themeal was road-killed deer,and both wolves dived rightin. Later our options were totry to observe moose or tovisit the Kawishiwi lab wolfresearch station and haves’mores around the campfireand tell stories. This Alphachose to go moose hunting,as I had never seen a mooseup close before. Anne, ourguide, was very good atspotting the large mammals,and we saw four. One was

INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER

Notes From Home

Alpha Weekend 2003: Moose,Wolves and the Boundary Waters

INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER

Contributors

Thank You!

Major DonorsJohn & SandraAnderson

David & Cathy Brenner

Tom Dwight

Mark Eisner Jr.

Kristine & Michael Elias

Mimi Gowen

F. B. Hubachek Jr.

Neil Hutt

John Maronde

Marshall Field’s

Patty Miller

William & SandraPintaric

Dennis Sutliff

John & Donna Virr

Matching GiftsJanet Andersen & Altria

Tom Dwight & US Bank

Dorene Eklund &General MillsFoundation

Sherry Green &Microsoft

Richard Kandiko &Kimberly ClarkFoundation

Kirsten Langohr &General MillsFoundation

Kevin Oliver & OrangeCounty United Way

Cynthia Wong &Gerson BakarFoundation

Royalties

MBNA America

Rykodisc Inc.

Voyageur Press, Inc.

Honorary

In honor of Todd &Kelly Bialon’s wedding:Jim Anderson

In honor of JackLencioni’s retirementRonald Shlifka

In honor of Walter Medwid:Larry AndersonPaul AndersonTom DwightNancy GibsonCree HoltzNeil HuttDean JohnsonDave MechRolf PetersonDebbie ReynoldsJerry SandersPaul SchurkeNancy jo Tubbs

In honor of Debbie Reynolds:Susan Maxwell

In honor of Marilyn &Kelly Weber’s Wedding:Roger & BeatriceDeppe

In honor of Melody Wilk:Debra Alger

Memorials

In Memory of Hazel Engel:Ann Bosch

In Memory of Jerry & Chief:Rosemary Herman

In Memory of Joyce Holz:Baylor College ofMedicineJimmy & ShirleyChandlerThomas & TereseConwayPeter & Sherry DanaHelen & Dick FurlongBarry HaackTroy Kimmel Jr.Abraham MarcusRenee MayerAlice R. McPhersonSandy Owings

In Memory of Dan Jurkovski:Automotive InformationSystemsSharon & GaryHabedankJerome HokansonDavid & Marian MartinKent & SharonMuenchowJeffrey & BarbaraSweet

In Memory of Jerry Moore:Coral Berge

B. J. Garlick

James & Mary Jane Moore

In Memory of Rambo:David Kinscherf

In Memory of Therese“Pidge” SlobodnikJohn Hodowanic

quite indignant that we wereshining the light on it. As itambled into the brush, itgave us a baleful look anddisappeared.

On Sunday morning weall assembled at the Centerfor “Breakfast with Wolves.”After an introduction by Lori Schmidt, wolf curator,we greeted Malik andShadow. Both were animatedand seemed glad to see us. MacKenzie, Lucas andLakota from the RetiredPack also approached thefence for greetings. Theylooked fit and in goodhealth. Hats off to the Centerstaff for their continuedexcellent care of the retirees.

Last we made a fasci-nating visit to Center boardmember Paul Schurke’s sleddog kennel. Paul has trekkedto the North Pole with hisdogs, all of which came fromInuit stock and are quitedifferent from the sled dogswe are familiar with.

Finally, some last good-byes and another Alphaweekend was over. I’malready looking forward tonext year’s time together!

P a m D o l a j e c k ,A l p h a m e m b e r

Paul Schurke, Center boardmember and Arctic explorer,hosted Alpha Weekend participantsat his sled dog kennel. (Left toright: Ellen Dietz, Henry Crosby,Lori Schmidt, Pamela Dolajeck,Jen Westlund, Neil Hutt, AnneKoenke, Bruce Weeks, PaulSchurke and Vickie Severn)G

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It seems like just yesterdaythat Center staff, members,

visitors and nannies wereanxiously awaiting thearrival of Shadow and Malik,arctic wolf pups who wereabout to add a little life to our aging wolf exhibit—and add a little life they did. Thousands of visitors to the exhibit and the Website watched the changingdynamics of our wolf exhibitas Shadow and Malikmatured, and MacKenzie,

Tracking the Pack

It’s Time for Pups Again . . .b y L o r i S c h m i d t , W o l f C u r a t o r ,I n t e r n a t i o n a l W o l f C e n t e r

bottle-feeding before headingback to Minnesota.

Socializing wolf pups tohumans involves spendingmuch time with them earlyin the socialization period,and then gradually less asthe pups grow older.Socialized wolf pups gener-ally display more relaxedbehavior and can behandled for veterinary careand facility maintenance.

Why Add Pups Now?Aren’t the ArcticsOnly Four Years Old?

After the 1993 litter wasretired from the exhibit infall 2002, only Shadow andMalik remained. The Center’smission is to teach the worldabout wolves with captiveambassadors representingwild wolves. Two males arenot very representative of a wild wolf pack structure.The addition of pups will

likely mean more playbehavior as the pups developtheir social skills and findtheir place in the pack. Pupsalso tend to bring out playbehavior in adults. As thepups mature, pack dynamicsmay change, offering thepublic an opportunity toappreciate the world of asocial pack animal. Thearctics will be strong, six-year-old wolves when thenew pups reach sexualmaturity and will likelymake a strong show of dominance to maintain arank order.

Why Did theCenter SelectThree Pups?

In 2000, whenShadow and Malikwere raised andadded to the ExhibitPack, the alphafemale, MacKenzie,was extremely friendlyto and protective ofthe young wolves. In2004, the new pupswill be meeting twomales. Our thinkingis that the males maybe care-giving but

with less intensity than thefemale was. So, the basis ofthis plan is that the threepups will help reinforceeach other in the presenceof the two adults. We planto encourage an extremelystrong bond among litter-mates and have them visitdaily with the arctic wolvesthrough the fence. The pupswill be introduced to Malikand Shadow by early Augustthrough a structured processof controlled and monitoredinteractions. Throughoutsummer, the pups can be viewed during daily

the 1993 litter and hope tohave a similar experience in2004. Three pups will bepurchased, preferably twofemales and one male,possibly with a black colorphase similar to MacKenzie,but this is dependent on the litter whelped. The pupsare expected to be bornsometime between April 24and May 6. They will beremoved from their wolfparents and introduced tothe wolf care staff around 10days of age to begin thesocialization process. Thestaff will spend 3 to 4 daysat Bear Country USA totransition the pups to

Lucas and Lakota aged andretired. Well, it’s been fouryears, and it’s time onceagain to add life to an agingexhibit. This article is dedicated to the Wolf PupPlan for summer 2004.

The Basic Pup PlanThe key players in devel-oping and approving theWolf Pup Plan were• Lori Schmidt, wolf curator

• Chip Hanson, veterinarian, Ely Vet Clinic

• Larry Anderson, Center board member and veterinarian

• Dave Mech, Center board member andwolf biologist

• Nancy Gibson, Center board member andnaturalist

• Gretchen Diessner, assistant director

• Walter Medwid, executive director

The pups will beacquired from Bear CountyUSA in Rapid City, SouthDakota, the same place thatprovided MacKenzie, Lucas,Lakota and Kiana in 1993.We were happy with thebehavior, pelage, physicalcondition and longevity of

programs at the Center orvia a Web cam in the pupnursery and enclosure.After the introduction, theexhibit Web cams shoulddisplay some of the actionof the Exhibit Pack.

The Center will offer ananny program as a fund-raiser to help cover the cost of adding the pups tothe exhibit. Nannies willassist in caring for thewolves, recording behavioralobservations, and conductingeducational programs. Beha-vioral observation teammembers will also beneeded to provide 24-hourmonitoring during the weekof the introduction. Checkour Web site www.wolf.orgfor details and an applica-tion for both programs.

This is an exciting timefor the International WolfCenter, and many peopleare needed to make thisintroduction of new pupssuccessful. Please check theWeb site to get involved as ananny, behavioral observa-tion team member, visitor tothe Center or observer onthe Web site. �

Socializing wolf pups to humans involves spendingmuch time with them early in the socialization period,

then gradually less as the pups grow older.

Arctic wolves Malik and Shadow were intro-duced as pups to the Exhibit Pack in 2000.

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rabies seems to strike when the pop-ulation density rises above one animalper square kilometer, it might be betternot to allow wolf density to reach its maximum. “As a manager, I wouldrather have a lower stable state,”Sillero said.

Meanwhi l e , the EWCP i ssearching for options to contain theoutbreak. With the cooperation ofother groups and agencies, authoritiesare working to trace the transmissionroute and the spread of the currentepidemic. They are searching rigor-ously for sick or dead animals, doingpostmortems, inoculating all unvacci-nated dogs in the region and solicitingthe help of local communities forinformation about the health ofdomestic animals. Williams insiststhe solution is vaccinating wolves notyet infected by the disease. However,the Ethiopian government has beenhesitant to undertake such a program.Authorities are wary of a geneticallymodified vaccine. Additionally, theyare reluctant because of adversepublicity surrounding a vaccinationprogram in the Serengeti where wilddogs receiving rabies inoculationslater died of distemper.

Ethiopian wolves are small,weighing about 50 pounds. They livein packs, but they forage and huntalone. They once inhabited most ofthe mountainous regions of northernEthiopia, but the encroachment ofhumans and the introduction of rabieshave reduced their numbers dramati-cally in recent decades. Scientists stilldisagree on whether Ethiopian wolvesare true wolves or jackals.

The author acknowledges the followingsources of information:

John Whitfield, “Rabies Threatens World’sRarest Dog,” Nature, October 28, 2003;http://www.nature.com/nsu/031027/031027-2.html.

Claudio Sillero, e-mail to “Canids-L,”received by L. David Mech, October 23, 2003.


W O LV E S O F E T H I O P I A

Another Setback forthe ImperiledEthiopian Wolfb y N e i l H u t t

W O LV E S I N S C O T L A N D

A Howl in the Highlands:A British Yellowstone?b y N e i l H u t t

aficionados to his vast 81,000-acreLetterwe estate. Secondly, his recordin conservation is solid. He has beeninfluential in pioneering greaterpublic access to private estates, andhe helped bring sea eagles back to Scotland 80 years after they disappeared.

Van Vlissingen publicly lamentsthe fact that “Scotland has becomethe centre for sheeplife, not wildlife,”and his vision includes the notion oflynxes and perhaps even brown bearsand bison inhabiting the wilds ofScotland. That may seem far-fetcheduntil one considers the fact that inthe past five years, van Vlissingen hastaken over the management of sixlarge game reserves in southernAfrica. Detractors insist that businessinterests and profits must surelyweigh into van Vlissingen’s motives.But the controversial landowner hasrejected offers to exploit mining and

Attention all fans of bagpipes and castles and monsters

lurking in the depths of Loch Ness! If wealthy Dutch busi-nessman Paul van Vlissingen has his way, Nessie may have to settle for second billing as Scotland’snumber one wildlife attraction. VanVlissingen wants to reintroducewolves, extinct for 250 years, to theHighland heaths where foxes and a burgeoning population of deerroam the timeless landscape.

Those inclined to dismiss vanVlissingen as an eccentric entrepre-neur with a romantic reverence forbig predators should take anotherlook. First of all, he is one of Britain’swealthiest men, a laird who welcomeshill walkers and other outdoor

Rabies – An acute fatal viralinflammation of the brain.

Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia

Ethiopian wolves once inhabited most of themountainous regions of northern Ethiopia, butthe encroachment of humans and the introduc-tion of rabies have reduced their numbersdramatically in recent decades.

Park in the hope of reducing the riskof rabies, distemper and other caninediseases. No feral dogs live in thearea, but farmers routinely enter wolfterritory in late summer to graze theirlivestock. Even though 80 percent ofthe dogs in surrounding communi-ties have been vaccinated, an infectedanimal has started an outbreak thatcould result in a drastic reduction ofthe fragile wolf population.

“We should be moving to vaccinatethe wolves,” said Stuart Williams,British conservationist and coordi-nator of the EWCP in Addis Ababa.Otherwise, a disaster similar to theone in 1991 could occur. During thatrabies epidemic, the wolf populationdropped from 450 to 120. Referring to the recovery of the wolf population,Dr. Claudio Sillero of the University of Oxford said, “Six months ago, wewere complimenting ourselves.” Since

In August 2003, a thin, weakfemale wolf, thought to be adisperser, was sighted in the Web

Valley of the Bale Mountains, hometo 300 of the critically endangeredEthiopian wolves. Suspicion that thewolf may have been sick arose whenfour wolf deaths were reported onOctober 9, 2003.

The Ethiopian Wolf ConservationProgramme (EWCP) began scouringthe Bale Mountains, searching forsick and dead animals. Their tenta-tive diagnosis of rabies has beenrecently confirmed by the Center forDisease Control (CDC) in Atlanta.Twenty wolves died of rabies as ofOctober 28, 2003, and more willsurely succumb.

Since 1996, the EWCP has beenvaccinating domestic dogs within 10miles of the Bale Mountains National

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Supporters of reintroducing wolvesto Scotland are convinced thatbiologically and ecologically, thereis no reason why wolves cannotadapt to the environment wherethey once lived.

Scotland has to create more excitement than a monster in

Loch Ness. . . . There is enormouseco-tourism building in the world,

and Scotland is losing out.

Paul van Vlissingen, owner of an 81,000-acre estate in the Western Highlands

Wolves aren’t on our agenda at all!

Scottish Natural Heritage


cally and ecologically, there is noreason why wolves cannot adapt tothe environment where they oncelived. A proposed wolf center in the Highlands, funded by private enterprise, would serve the mostimportant preliminary requirement

for the successful reintro-duction of major preda-tors: education.

Public support mustinclude livestock inter-ests, and that will be hardto achieve. Compensationfunds must be consid-ered, and steps need to be undertaken to revise a government subsidysystem heavily reliedupon by sheep farmers.Suggestions includemaking subsidies avail-able to farmers only ifthey practice goodhusbandry, a requirementthat would mean a changein the present style ofsheep management.


hydroelectric development on hisestate. “I never bought Letterwe withany idea that I would make onepenny out of it,” he said.

Van Vlissingen’s ideas have thesupport of several conservationgroups in Scotland who insist thatthe absence of natural predatorsalong with other factors such asprogressively milder winters havecaused an unprecedented rise in thenumber of the three main species ofdeer in Scotland: red, sika and roe. The deer have caused wide-spread damage to habitat and are a major hazard on the roads.

But sheepherders and the ScottishNatural Heritage (SNH), Scotland’sgovernment conservation agency,aren’t buying the Dutchman’s dreamof major predators as boosters ofScotland’s flagging tourist industry.Van Vlissingen and his supporters are convinced, however, that biologi-

Proponents of wolf recovery in Scotland also cite the ethicsperspective. Britain has signed theBern Convention agreeing to considerreintroduction. This means, the argu-ment goes, an admission that wolveshave the right to exist and includes a commitment to support researchinto the feasibility of a reintroductionprogram. With van Vlissingen leadingthe way, the splendor of theHighlands could someday beenhanced by the howl of the wolf. �

The author acknowledges the followingsources of information:

“Call for Wolves to Be Reintroduced,”BBC News, June 25, 2002; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2065794.stm.

“The New Nessie,” Sunday Herald;http://www.sundayherald.com/36409.

Nicholas Hellen, “Plan to ReintroduceWolves to the UK,” Herald Sun, April 14,2003; http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/news04_03/04_14_uk_reintro.asp.

Paul Gallagher, “Rich Laird with a Passion That’s Priceless,” Scotsman.com;www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=483042003.

Neil Hutt is an educator andInternational Wolf Center board memberwho lives in Purcellville, Virginia.

WOLVES EAT HUNTING

DOGS. Wolves consumed sixprize bear-hunting dogs belonging to one family in Michigan duringsummer 2003, according to a Mining Journal article. Several of thedogs were being run in training. Nocompensation is available inMichigan for the $5,000 dogs.

WOLF SIGHTINGS have beenmade for 1,000 consecutive

days in Yellowstone National Park asof November 5. During many of thosedays, park biologists and naturalistsalong with multitudes of tourists haveseen the wolves. On other days, onlytourists have reported wolf sightings.In all, some 130,000 people reportedspotting wolves during that period.

WOLF DEPREDATION FUNDS

GONE. As Wisconsin’s wolfpopulation continues to increase, sodo wolf depredations on livestockand dogs. The $36,000 per year tradi-tionally allocated to compensate citi-zens for these losses have not kept upwith the losses, however, whichrecently have almost doubled.

WOLF RELEASED UNHARMED.

A father and son team of Idahocoyote trappers were praised by theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service inOctober for releasing a wolf they hadaccidentally captured. They managedto restrain the wolf without drugs,kennel it, allow Wildlife Service biolo-gists to radio-tag it, and release it.

WOLF CENTER MEMBER-

SHIPS are being promoted,along with other conservation-oriented gifts, on a new Web site,giftsforconservation.org. The siteasks that people give conservation-

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oriented presents or suggest that theyconsider such gifts when asked byothers what they want.

EIGHTEEN MEXICAN WOLF

PUPS were confirmed survivingin the wild as of late September. Thisis no doubt a minimum numberbecause it is rarely possible to obtaincomplete counts in the wild. If thesepups continue to survive, they wouldreplace the several adult wolves thathave been shot in 2003.

WOLF GENETICS research willbe greatly enhanced by a draft

map of the dog genome recently pro-duced. The DNA decoding of the dog’s(and wolf’s) 2.4-billion-unit genomewas performed by the same researchgroup that decoded the humangenome. Three quarters of the doggenes are similar to those of humans.

WOLF HABITAT was enhancedjust a bit when two bipartisan

bills were introduced into Congressin October to buy out grazingpermits on federal land. According tothe Salt Lake Tribune, the voluntary

program would allow ranchers toretire their allotments forever.Environmentalists have beenpromoting this idea, and someranchers have joined them. However,it could take years for Congress to acton the bills.

WILD LAND CONSERVATION

got a big boost in Canada re-cently according to the Star Tribune. Acoalition of energy, logging and papercompanies, tribes and environmentalgroups agreed to conserve at least halfof Canada’s subarctic boreal forests.This agreement covers one of theworld’s largest natural woodlands.

STATE WOLF PLANS forWyoming, Idaho and Montana

received positive reviews by aconsensus of 11 wolf biologists whoindependently judged whether theplans would help ensure recovery ofwolves in the West. The U.S. Fish andWildlife Service asked the biologiststo assess the proposed managementplans in preparation for a proposal toremove the wolf from the endangeredspecies list. �

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Out of a dense stand of aspen,next to a shallow pond, thereappeared a blur of activity. Branchessnapped and water exploded. Awhite-tailed doe charged into view,chased by two wolves. The wolvesimmediately dropped her at thewater’s edge. Chevre and I were posi-tioned downwind, so the wolves hadno way to smell us, and we wereinvisible behind a screen of dogwoodand hazel.

One wolf began tearing at the deerwhile the other appeared to standguard. Chevre, I was certain, couldsee none of this, but it was obviousshe needed no visual aids to makeevery silky setter hair on her bodystand right on edge. Because I wasmesmerized by this rare sight, Imight have stood motionless towatch, but I felt curiously out ofplace, an intruder in an intimate andviolent act of nature. After lingering afew seconds, Chevre and I stepped offthe knoll and walked down the trail,both of us feeling deeply uneasy.

This was my fifth wolf sighting.Our first encounter occurred in the mining country of northernMinnesota. Searching for new grousecoverts, Nancy and I and a friendwere driving a narrow logging roadwhen a grouse ran across the road. Istopped and stepped out to surveythe area. The area was dotted withpiles of mining tailings, one pileabout five feet high, covered withsparse aspens and a low brushyunderstory. I froze in my tracks. Noteight feet away, at eye level, stood ahuge wolf, staring me down (if youcan count three seconds as a stare-down). It spun around and bolted off.We all heard a sound that soundeddistinctly unnatural. As we investi-

felt no urgency this day. Chevre hadpointed three birds already, of whichI bagged two. Tired and damp, weheaded out for a last hunt, gratefulfor the season’s offerings.

This country is basically flat with a few ridges and small pondsscattered throughout the area. Iapproached a slight rise on the trail,Chevre at my side, when we werestartled by sounds coming from the west. I heard what I thought was a buck chasing a doe. There wasa frantic splashing of water, and thefamiliar squeals and snorts I haveoften heard from my deer stand. Thecommotion was magnified. Then thesqueals became screams that rippedapart the woods. A few more chillingscreams filled the space around us,and with that I knew with certaintythat death was imminent.

The encounter occurred duringa lull in the grouse huntingseason. I was hunting near

Walker, Minnesota. The rich colorsof autumn had disappeared. Thenonresident hunters had ceasedshowing up in the grouse woods. Itwas late October, when woodcock areno longer in season and the white-tailed deer rut dominates the woods.A hunter senses the silence of thewoods more acutely then.

The grouse covert I was huntingwas large, taking two to three hoursto hunt. My wife, Nancy, and I try torotate our four English setters,hunting each one from one to two

hours at a time. But this trip was solofor me. Nancy had business at home.Chevre was my only partner. She’s adog who can pace herself well andrun so close to me that I don’t need abeeper or bell to help me keep trackof her in the dense cover.

There was a crisp edge to the air.Temperatures were in the low thir-ties, and the mist that developed felthard, setting a glaze over everything.This would be my last grouse huntthis season, as we don’t venture intothe woods during deer season, and Iprefer to leave the birds alone towinter up after the heavy snowsbegin. It had been a great year, so I

Echoes from Thunder Hollowb y G a r y J o h n s o n

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Gary Johnson has hunted many species of small and big game with gunsand archery equipment for forty-some years.


It was probably an illegal shot forme but definitely a humane one. I have hunted many species of smalland big game with guns and archeryequipment for forty-some years. I struggle often with why I harvestwild animals, and I have developedmy own ethical position on this. The mercy killing of that buck shouldnot have affected me, but that day I found myself digging deep into my conscience. I realized that theviolent encounter of the wolves anddeer I had seen earlier had triggeredmy emotions.

I made a rare December grousehunt in that same area later that year.Curiosity drew me toward the killsite. It was 37 paces from whereChevre and I stood to where the doefell. The pond was frozen hard. Allthat was left of the deer one monthlater were tufts of hair locked into the ice. They say the wolf wastesprecious little. �

Gary and Nancy Johnson live in Willmar,Minnesota, with their five English setters.They enjoy their work but mostly live forthe moments they can spend outdoors,especially hunting upland birds.

numbers and maintain the upperhand. Of nine bear deaths studieddue to wolves, six bears were killedin their dens. A bear killed one wolfnear its den. Coyotes. Coyotes weigh roughlyone-third as much as wolves. Studiessuggest that the density of wolf andcoyote populations are inverselyrelated. The quite common coyotekillings by wolves often happen inwinter, when coyotes are scavengingon ungulate carcasses. From 1995 to 2001, wolves killed at least 27coyotes in Yellowstone NationalPark, and coyote numbers decreasedby 50 percent for a few years in someareas there. No cases of coyoteskilling wolves are known. Foxes. Wolf kills are an importantsource of food for red foxes. Wolveskill foxes but less often than they do coyotes. In some areas, red fox populationsare believed to actually


Getting Along with the Neighbors:How Wolves Interact with Non-preyJ a y H u t c h i n s o n

increase in the presence of wolvesbecause of fewer coyotes there.Ravens. Interestingly, ravens, asscavengers, may interact more withwolves than any other animals. Andravens are, well, ravenous. In theYukon, ravens and other scavengersate up to 10 percent of the biomass ofungulate kills made by large packs,and 66 percent of the biomass of killsmade by unfortunate single wolves.

Of all the species clustering at thefeasts provided by wolf kills, ravens areperhaps the most playful. On IsleRoyale, Dave Mech once saw four orfive ravens diving at a wolf’s head ortail while it ducked, then leaped atthem. One raven .. . waddled to aresting wolf, pecked its tail, andjumped aside as the wolf snapped at it.

Quoth that raven, “Never more!” �

Source: W. B. Ballard, L. N. Carbyn, andD. W. Smith, “Wolf Interactions with Non-prey,” in Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, andConservation, edited by L. David Mechand Luigi Boitani. Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 2003.

Jay Hutchinson is a writer and editor,retired from the U.S. Forest Service’sNorth Central Forest Experiment Station,in St. Paul, Minnesota. Between travels,he enjoys writing about various naturalhistory subjects, including wolves.

gated the area, I found a leg-hold trapstill clutching one wolf toe. Wehoped “Three Toes” survived afterlosing that digit.

The second sighting was brief.While we were driving near theCanadian border, a wolf—darker thanusual—dashed across the road. Ourthird sighting was equally fleeting.Nancy had stayed at the car to dosome letter writing while I hunted.She glimpsed a wolf that stepped outof the cover and walked down a trail,passing out of sight over a ridge.

On another occasion, our huntingplans were confused by bad compassreadings and the complications ofencountering unexpected beaverdams. After a long hunt we saw a big, burly and beautiful creature step onto the trail just 50 yards away. We assumed it was a Germanshepherd and then realized it was a wolf. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

These encounters left me unpre-pared for this fifth wolf sighting onthat shattering day when I saw thepair of wolves take down that doe. As silly as it might seem, I nervouslychecked my back trail after leavingthem to return to my vehicle. Themist had turned to rain by the time I got back, giving a gloomy cast to the ending of the day.

On the highway heading towardhome I had to slow as I approachedtwo cars on the opposite shoulder.People gathered there waved as Ipassed, and I could see a dying deer in the headlights of their cars. It was abuck with no life in its body, althoughits head and neck moved. After Idrove a mile, a sense of responsibilityurged me to turn around.

Just a woman and her daughterwere with the deer when I returned.We spoke briefly. Then I deliveredthe coup de grace to the largesttrophy buck I hope ever to see undersuch sad circumstances. The womanthanked me, and I left.

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Ravens, as scavengers, may interact morewith wolves than any other animals.

Wherever wolves roam, theyare usually not far frommany other types of meat

eaters. The carnivores most oftenobserved competing with wolves are brown (grizzly) bears, black bearsand coyotes. To a lesser degree,wolves also contend with a host ofother potential competitors—polarbears, cougars, tigers, lynxes, bobcats,wolverines, red and arctic foxes andeven ravens.Brown Bears. Worldwide, mostwolf–brown bear interactions happennear wolf kills. In these clashes,brown bears —though usually out-numbered—almost always win,except near wolf dens, where wolvesfrequently prevail. Fatalities in thesesituations are few though; in morethan a hundred cases recorded byscientists, only two or three deaths ofeither species occurred.Black Bears. Wolves usually takeover kills from black bears by sheer

Here’s how:1. Color the sheet on page 27. If you don’t want

to tear the page out of the magazine, go towww.wolf.org/________ and download a PDF of this page.

2. Fill out the form on the side of the coloring page. Afteryou send it to us, we will detach the form beforedisplaying your picture.

3. If you prefer, you can also create your own picture ofwolf pups on the theme of “At Home in the Wild.” Youmay use crayons, pens, charcoal, pastels or paints tomake your picture. Your entry may not be larger thanan 8.5 ¥ 11 inch sheet of paper. Be sure to fill out theform on page __ and send it in with your artwork.

Mail your artistic creation to us at: Coloring ContestInternational Wolf Center1396 Highway 169Ely, MN 55731

Prizes: One winner in each category will have their picturepublished in the Winter 2004 issue of International Wolfmagazine. Additional winners will have their names listed in that issue. As many entries as possible will be displayed at the International Wolf Center in Ely during summer 2004.

Submission deadline: June 1, 2004


ave you heard? The International

Wolf Center is expecting puppies!

Three newborn pups will arrive in

Ely sometime in May. We hope you’ll help us

welcome the new little ones with a special

“Hello!” by entering our coloring contest.

Help Us Welcome Our Pups

Artist name:

Artist age: (check one)

�� age 6 and younger �� age 7–9

�� age 10–12 �� age 13–17

What city, state/province, and country do you live in?

Artist’s Parent Contact Information

Parent name:

Phone number:

Address:

Parent e-mail:

Coloring Contest Entry Information

I understand the by submitting this entry for the International Wolf Center’s 2004 “At Home in the wild” coloring contest I give my permission for this artwork and my child's name to be published in a future issue of International Wolf Magazine and

on our Web site, www.wolf.org. The decision about which entries, if any, will be published is solely that of the contest judges.

______________________________________________________________________________________________Parent signature Date

Travel the protected waters ofSE Alaska’s inside passage.This remote area of mountainous islands, old growth timber and tidal estuaries is home of theAlexander Archipelago Wolf.

6 day, 5 night trips, meals,lodging, daily shore excursionsinto the best wolf habitat.

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Wolf Watch Aboard the

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that often occur through lack ofknowledge. Both consumptive andnonconsumptive users of wolveshave a common fundamental interestthat benefits all: a healthy environ-ment. This common interest is anexcellent starting point for dialogue.

Meeting regularly to have openand honest dialogue enhances information sharing and under-standing among stakeholders, thusreducing polarization. The recentconference (World Wolf Congress2003; www.worldwolfcongress.ca)hosted by the Central Rockies WolfProject, in Banff, Canada, is oneexample of an effort to bridge the gapamong stakeholders and to facilitatediscussion of divergent viewpoints.This type of event brings together a

diverse group of individuals and orga-nizations and stimulates discussionand debate. Constructive discussionfacilitates understanding and fostersrespect and tolerance among people.

Dialogue is an important tool in thework to ensure that wolves continue tohowl in the wilderness, and thathumans gain more tolerance for oneanother and, ultimately, for wolves. �

Steve Wadlow is the Education Directorfor the Central Rockies Wolf Project,based in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. He can be reached at [email protected].

Global Voices for Wolf Conservationb y S t e v e W a d l o w

Spanning many countries across the globe, wolf conservation is a diverse issue and, perhaps

more fitting, one of great complexity.Wherever wolves are present, theyaffect people, often in profound ways.

Despite the overwhelming shift in public attitudes toward wolves inthe past few decades, and despite the wealth of scientific investigationsof wolves, controversy continuesover wolf management issues. In thepublic arena where wildlife manage-ment issues play out, protectionistattitudes toward wolves are pittedagainst utilitarian values. This polar-ization has served to fuel thephilosophical discussion ofwhether humans and wolvescan coexist.

It has been said that ourability to coexist with wolvesis the ultimate challenge for us humans in determiningwhether we can live withNature. Wolves are themeasuring stick, perhapsbecause they affect us in diverse ways.Consumptive users of wolves such as trappers and hunters have a specialeconomic interest in wolf manage-ment. Wolf pelts are sold commerciallyin many regions, and wolf trappingconstitutes an ongoing source ofincome for some communities. Somesectors of the hunting community killwolves to reduce their impact on preypopulations. Livestock producers inwolf range also have a special interestin wolf management because wolfdepredation can affect their livelihood.More recently, people in the tourism

industry have developed an economicinterest in wolves. Even peoplewithout such an economic interestraise a powerful voice. All of thesevoices must be involved in decisionmaking about wolves. These socio-economic, ethical and political com-ponents exemplify the multifaceted and challenging nature of conservingwolves in human-dominated systems.

Managing or conserving wolveson the landscape requires much morethan simply ensuring that adequateprey exists or that scientific investiga-tions of wolves are done. How doesone reconcile all of these competing

interests and beliefs about the waywolves should be managed, protectedand conserved across the globe? Thebroader community of people thathold various values toward wolves,and their ability to work together and solve the complex issues oftensurrounding wolves are important to ensuring that wolves and wolfhabitat are maintained in perpetuitythroughout the northern hemisphere.

Open dialogue is one tool to facil-itate a greater understanding amongparties with differing viewpoints,thereby reducing misconceptions

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The World Wolf Congress 2003, hosted by the Central Rockies Wolf Project, in Banff, Canada, is one exampleof an effort to facilitate discussion of divergent viewpoints.

wolf recovery in the midwest: what’s next? our neighbors ... · the endangered species act,...

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