RE: releasing wolfs in wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
DNR Central Office - Madison
PO Box 7921
Madison WI 53707
Phone: (608) 266-6790 Fax: (608) 264-6293
For Release: July 2, 2003
Contact(s): Adrian Wydeven, Wisconsin DNR (715) 762-4684 ext. 107
Scott Johnson, Indiana Div. of Wildlife - (812) 334-1137
Lori Pruitt, USFWS - (812) 334-4261 ext. 211
Wisconsin wolf finds its way to Indiana
PARK FALLS, Wis. -- A gray wolf that was born to a Jackson County, Wis. wolf pack in 2002 was found dead last month in east central Indiana.
"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."
The wolf was found in a soybean field in Randolph County, southwest of Winchester and only about 12 miles from the Ohio boarder, Wydeven said. The cause of death was not know, but the wolf was less than 150 yards from a road, so Wydeven said it is possible a vehicle hit the wolf.
The wolf was retrieved by biologists from the Indiana Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after a local person observed turkey vultures circling the area on June 23. The biologists estimated the wolf had been dead for at least three weeks, since it apparently died after the soybean field was planted, which occurred in late May.
The wolf was initially captured east of Black River Falls in Jackson County, Wis. in August 2002 when it was a 46-pound pup. He was a member of the Wildcat Mound Pack in the Black River State Forest were he was probably born in April 2002. At the time he was captured, 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, Wydeven said.
"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 stress and pressure of a new litter about to be born into the Wildcat Pack in April, may have encouraged this wolf to leave in late winter or early spring, Wydeven said.
The wolf carcass has been sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Ore. for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. It will eventually be mounted and returned to Indiana for display in a museum.
Wydeven said that while three wolves have been confirmed in southern Wisconsin, none have previously been known to travel south of the state. Wisconsin wolves have been known to disperse into Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Ontario, Canada. A Michigan wolf that was shot in north central Missouri in the fall of 2001, had last been detected in Wisconsin in 2000 living in a pack along the Wisconsin-Michigan Border.
"This wolf illustrates that wolves can disperse through highly developed landscapes, but it would be unlikely that packs could settle in these agricultural, urban and industrial areas," Wydeven said. "But they sure do keep surprising us."
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