Wolf Weekly Wrap-up

Wolf pup headed to Busch Gardens – The Idaho wolf pup being held at Zoo Boise has been on a quite an adventure over the last couple weeks, and he’s about to go for yet another wild ride. We got word today that Idaho Fish and Game has arranged to send the pup on a 2,500-mile journey to his new home at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. The facility already has two other pups his age that have been socialized to humans, hopefully making it easier for their new brother to adjust to his surroundings. Raising the pups together is vital to forming healthy social bonds that increase a wolf’s chances of survival.

In other news, DNA results confirmed this week that the pup was indeed a wild Idaho wolf, not a hybrid. Read more in the Idaho Mountain Express.

Eight pups in two Oregon packs – Biologists with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed this month that both the Wenaha and Imnaha packs had at least four pups each this year. They also successfully collared a two-year-old female wolf in the Wenaha pack on Sunday to better tracks its movements. This is a good sign that wolves in Oregon continue to reproduce successfully, which will hopefully lead to an overall increase in the population. More from ODFW.

To the north, two wolves were also trapped and collared on the Colville reservation in northeastern Washington state by tribal biologists with help from former Idaho trapper Carter Niemeyer. The two yearling wolves are believed to have migrated from Idaho or Canada and are the first on the reservation in over 100 years. Read more in the Seattle Times.

Scared hiker pepper-sprays wolf in Yellowstone – Earlier this week, officials at Yellowstone National Park were looking into a recent incident during which a hiker pepper-sprayed a wolf. According to the story in the Billings Gazette, after passing signs that the trail was closed, the man came across the alpha female near her den and was startled by her bark warning him to stay away from her pups. He sprayed the wolf, then fled into the icy-cold Yellowstone River and was later treated for hypothermia by park rangers.

Yellowstone National Park works hard to educate visitors to keep their distance from wildlife but not everyone heeds these warnings. It’s important when you’re out in key wildlife habitat to always be prepared and know how to respond if you encounter wildlife – and to avoid areas that are closed to protect wild animals raising their young. This year, only two packs have produced any pups in Yellowstone, and disturbing their den sites can have detrimental impacts on their success.

RMEF too far afield – In a recent blog post, former Defender Bob Ferris (now executive director of Cascadia Wildlands) took Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation President David Allen to task for not living up to his organization’s conservation vision. The crux of Ferris’ argument is that for the really big, important issues, conservation groups of all stripes should be able to band together to defend our public lands and wildlife. But RMEF’s anti-wolf and anti-predator stance has taken them  far beyond the common goals of the conservation community. Good to have  Bob back on the front line fighting for wolves and other wildlife, and we share his hope that RMEF will someday rejoin our efforts to conserve habitat for ALL wildlife.

Farm Bill amendment promotes wolf coexistence — While the Farm Bill currently working its way through the halls of Congress has been saddled with more than a few awful amendments (like this one), at least one could be a boon for wildlife. A provision introduced by Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus this week would provide up to $4 million dollars for nonlethal methods of addressing conflict between livestock, wolves and grizzly bears. If passed, the amendment would provide much-needed funding to promote innovative tools and techniques that ultimately benefit both ranchers and wildlife. There’s still a lot of haggling to be done over the Farm Bill, but we hope this important amendment will survive the battle intact.