Wisconsin wolf turns up in Indiana
08-04-2003, 02:52 PM
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Fork Horn
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Indiana
Posts: 103
Wisconsin wolf turns up in Indiana
First wild wolf in Indiana since 1908
Indiana Department of Natural Resources biologists occasionally get calls
from people reporting sightings of mountain lions, bears or wolves.
Most of these sightings are cases of mistaken identity. These large
predators, which once roamed Indiana, are now absent from the state.
Last month, however, a Randolph County resident wasn' t crying wolf when he
reported a large canine found dead in a soybean field.
Indiana DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials retrieved the
remains of a young male gray wolf that had traveled more than 400 miles from
its birthplace in northern Wisconsin.
" This is the most southern movement we' ve ever detected of a Wisconsin wolf
and is really a pretty remarkable example of a young male wolf dispersing
from its pack to try and establish its own territory," said Adrian Wydeven,
a mammalian ecologist and wolf specialist for the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources.
" This wolf was found more than 407 miles away in a straight line across the
map, which cuts across the bottom of Lake Michigan, so it is obvious he
actually traveled much farther, especially considering he had to get around
the greater metropolitan Chicago and Gary areas."
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are currently investigating the
wolf' s remains to determine a cause of death.
The wolf was initially captured east of Black River Falls in Jackson County,
Wis. in August 2002 as a 46-pound pup. He was a member of the Wildcat Mound
Pack in the Black River State Forest where he was probably born in April
2002. He was fitted with an ear tag transmitter that allowed biologists to
track his movements. The transmitter failed after Jan. 15, 2003, at which
time he was still in his home territory in Wisconsin. Wolf dispersal
normally occurs when wolves are 1 or 2 years old.
" They leave their home pack and travel some distance to join a new pack, or
find a mate and empty wild area where they establish their own territory,"
Wydeven said. " Wisconsin wolves normally disperse an average of 70 miles
from home, and the previous record was a 300 mile move of a northern
Wisconsin wolf into Canada."
Other records in North America include travels as far as 550 miles. Wolves
most commonly disperse in fall and winter, but it can happen any time of the
year. The pressure of a new litter about to be born into the Wildcat Pack in
April may have encouraged this wolf to leave, Wydeven said.
Indiana DNR biologist Scott Johnson doesn' t think that the presence of this
single wolf heralds a return of large predators to Indiana.
" With the information available now, it appears this is an isolated case of
extreme dispersal. It' s unlikely that wolves would settle in the
agricultural, industrial and suburban landscapes that dominate Indiana,"
said Johnson. " We don' t have the large tracts of forested or undeveloped
land that wolf packs need to thrive."
The Randolph County wolf was the third Great Lakes region wolf known to have
wandered well south of its home range in the past two years. In 2001, a
wolf that had been fitted with a radio collar in Michigan was shot in
northeastern Missouri. Another Great Lakes wolf was shot in Marshall County
Illinois last December.
Gray wolves, which are also known as timber wolves, have slowly increased in
numbers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan since they were listed as a
federally endangered species in 1974. And although they were downgraded to
threatened this spring, they still are protected under federal law in all
states but Alaska.
Johnson is not concerned about wolves endangering humans.
" There has never been a case of a wild wolf killing a person in North
America. The handful of cases involving injuries from wolf bites were cases
in which wolves were accustomed to being fed by people," said Johnson.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources biologists occasionally get calls
from people reporting sightings of mountain lions, bears or wolves.
Most of these sightings are cases of mistaken identity. These large
predators, which once roamed Indiana, are now absent from the state.
Last month, however, a Randolph County resident wasn' t crying wolf when he
reported a large canine found dead in a soybean field.
Indiana DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials retrieved the
remains of a young male gray wolf that had traveled more than 400 miles from
its birthplace in northern Wisconsin.
" This is the most southern movement we' ve ever detected of a Wisconsin wolf
and is really a pretty remarkable example of a young male wolf dispersing
from its pack to try and establish its own territory," said Adrian Wydeven,
a mammalian ecologist and wolf specialist for the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources.
" This wolf was found more than 407 miles away in a straight line across the
map, which cuts across the bottom of Lake Michigan, so it is obvious he
actually traveled much farther, especially considering he had to get around
the greater metropolitan Chicago and Gary areas."
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are currently investigating the
wolf' s remains to determine a cause of death.
The wolf was initially captured east of Black River Falls in Jackson County,
Wis. in August 2002 as a 46-pound pup. He was a member of the Wildcat Mound
Pack in the Black River State Forest where he was probably born in April
2002. He was fitted with an ear tag transmitter that allowed biologists to
track his movements. The transmitter failed after Jan. 15, 2003, at which
time he was still in his home territory in Wisconsin. Wolf dispersal
normally occurs when wolves are 1 or 2 years old.
" They leave their home pack and travel some distance to join a new pack, or
find a mate and empty wild area where they establish their own territory,"
Wydeven said. " Wisconsin wolves normally disperse an average of 70 miles
from home, and the previous record was a 300 mile move of a northern
Wisconsin wolf into Canada."
Other records in North America include travels as far as 550 miles. Wolves
most commonly disperse in fall and winter, but it can happen any time of the
year. The pressure of a new litter about to be born into the Wildcat Pack in
April may have encouraged this wolf to leave, Wydeven said.
Indiana DNR biologist Scott Johnson doesn' t think that the presence of this
single wolf heralds a return of large predators to Indiana.
" With the information available now, it appears this is an isolated case of
extreme dispersal. It' s unlikely that wolves would settle in the
agricultural, industrial and suburban landscapes that dominate Indiana,"
said Johnson. " We don' t have the large tracts of forested or undeveloped
land that wolf packs need to thrive."
The Randolph County wolf was the third Great Lakes region wolf known to have
wandered well south of its home range in the past two years. In 2001, a
wolf that had been fitted with a radio collar in Michigan was shot in
northeastern Missouri. Another Great Lakes wolf was shot in Marshall County
Illinois last December.
Gray wolves, which are also known as timber wolves, have slowly increased in
numbers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan since they were listed as a
federally endangered species in 1974. And although they were downgraded to
threatened this spring, they still are protected under federal law in all
states but Alaska.
Johnson is not concerned about wolves endangering humans.
" There has never been a case of a wild wolf killing a person in North
America. The handful of cases involving injuries from wolf bites were cases
in which wolves were accustomed to being fed by people," said Johnson.
