The state Department of Natural Resources has created a new wolf activity alert program.

People who see wolves in their area can alert their local DNR station. People who want to report a wolf attack should call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 800-433-0663 if the incident occurred below the Portage-Marathon counties line, or 800-226-1368 if above the line.

article by Karen Madden

The state Department of Natural Resources has a new e-mail alert system to let residents know about wolf activity in their area so they can take steps to keep pets safe.

There have been nine confirmed reports of wolves attacking dogs in Wisconsin this year, according to the DNR website. Four of the attacks resulted in dog deaths, including one in Adams County. People can sign up to get an e-mail or text message anytime wolves attack hunting dogs or other pets. The system, which has been in place about two weeks, is designed mostly for people who hunt with dogs, said Adrian Wydeven, DNR ecologist.

“The alert is not meant to alarm or scare anyone, but to let them know where wolves are causing problems,” Wydeven said.

There are about 700 wolves in the state, about 10 percent more than in 2009, according to a recently completed DNR count.

Last summer, wolves killed Rick Nelson’s 9-year-old coonhound, Maggie, while he was training the dog to track bear. Nelson, 46, of Loyal, said he has been hunting in the same area since he was about 12 years old and won’t change that because wolves are there.

Nelson said he wasn’t aware of wolf activity in the area when Maggie was killed. He said he would have used more caution and kept a closer eye on his dog if he had been warned. However, he said he doesn’t think the alerts will change anything.

If people know there is wolf activity in their area, they should make sure no food scraps are left outside, Wydeven said. Garbage can attract wolves, and so can animals that are left outside. The most dangerous time for pets is just before sunrise or after sunset.

“Turn lights on and make noise when letting them out at night or early morning,” Wydeven said.

People feeding deer might also unwittingly draw wolves to the area. Deer are wolves’ main food source, with each wolf killing about 20 deer per year, Wydeven said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took wolves off the endangered species list in 2007. Once they’re off the list, DNR officials can take steps to control the population. However, they were put back on the list in September 2008 because of a legal challenge, Wydeven said. A failure to hold a public hearing caused a second attempt at delisting to fail in 2009. A research project to evaluate the wolves’ status is further delaying efforts to take them off the endangered species list.

The DNR set a wolf management plan in Wisconsin that had a goal of 350 wolves, about half the current number, outside of American Indian reservations, Wydeven said. There are 20 to 30 wolves on reservations in the state.

AP News (07/10/10)

Idaho wildlife officials will allow wolf trapping and the use of electronic calls in this year’s wolf hunt.

Members of Idaho’s Fish and Game Commission said Wednesday night they hope the measures will help reduce the state’s wolf
population.

The decision comes the same week that Montana more than doubled its quota for this year’s wolf hunt, with the same goal of reducing its wolf population.

Idaho’s population is estimated at a minimum of 835 wolves, while Montana had at least 524 wolves at the end of last year.

Hunting seasons in both states could be halted by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy. The judge is expected to make a ruling in a lawsuit seeking to restore Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho.

The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com

EAST LAKE, N.C. (AP) – It’s been 20 years since the nearly extinct red wolf was reintroduced to North Carolina and still the animals number just about 120, making them some of the rarest mammals on the planet.

The Charlotte Observer reported Sunday that the biggest barrier to the species’ population growth is humans with shotguns and a disdain for the animals that can prey on domestic animals.

“When hunting season starts, I say a little prayer,” said Kim Wheeler, director of the education group Red Wolf Coalition.

Between 1999 and 2006, gunshots accounted for 32 percent of the deaths among breeding wolves and six to eight have been gunned down yearly since 2007. Illegally killing a red wolf can cost up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

“There are people who honestly mistake a wolf for a coyote,” said David Rabon, a recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “And there are people who conveniently forget what a wolf looks like.”

The wolves were first released in North Carolina’s 154,000-acre Alligator River refuge in 1987, but the first four pair were ill-equipped to live in the wild and quickly died. The population on the Albemarle peninsula has remained stable at 100 to 120 in recent years. All were born there except for a few captive-born pups reared by wild mothers, pumping fresh blood into the gene pool.

But the peninsula is home to some of North Carolina’s prime hunting land, boasting deer, bear and waterfowl. And two-thirds of the peninsula is owned by private landowners, many who think the red wolves are ravenous predators who reduce the number of game animals or go after domestic animals, such as chickens, cats and dogs.

“I’ve heard it said many times, when they see them they’re going to put a bullet in them because it’s ruining what they enjoy doing,” said Dennis Benston, who owns a sporting goods and firearms store in Engelhard on the peninsula’s southern end.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it has paid damages for wolves killing people’s animals only a half-dozen times since 1987.

But Benston thinks the agency doesn’t fess up to all the problems the wolves can cause.

“It’s bred into these animals to just constantly kill and not because they’re hungry,” said Benston, who also is a retired state forest ranger.

Wildlife officials say they hope a new management plan can help the wolves and people live more compatibly on the peninsula. For one, they say, the wolves and their howls bring in tourists.

The Red Wolf Coalition’s weekly howling safaris are so popular with refuge visitors that visitors can only get on them if they make a reservation. The coalition is raising money for a viewing center where tourists can see and hear the animals.

The wolves also help control rodents such as nutria that damage drainage ditches, crop-munching deer and foxes and coyotes that prey on gamefowl such as quail.

While the official recovery goal is 220 animals in the wild in three different locations, some scientists think the peninsula has reached wolf capacity.

“I think the limitations are space. They’re close to saturation at Alligator River,” said Randy Fulk, education curator at the North Carolina Zoo, which is among the more than 40 facilities that together have about 180 captive wolves.

The new management plan must first bring together the agencies that manage the various wildlife on the peninsula. The Fish and Wildlife Service is in charge of wolves while North Carolina’s Wildlife Resources Commission oversees coyotes and foxes.

Some say a revision of coyote hunting season to avoid spring wolf-breeding times or the wolves’ territory could reduce some of the shootings.

“The concern by the biologists is that people might use the open hunting season for coyotes as an excuse to go out and kill wolves. That’s unfortunate, unethical and immoral. And that’s where it starts to get politically challenging,” said Michael Stoskopf, a North Carolina State University wildlife medicine professor who chairs a red wolf advisory panel.

The state Wildlife Federation recently added $4,500 to rewards offered in two recent wolf deaths.

“We hope the investigation yields results and that the message is crystal clear: Killing red wolves in North Carolina will not be tolerated,” Federation executive director Tim Gestwicki said in a statement.

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New rules in place to control feral pigs, wolf-dog hybrids and mute swans

MADISON – Rules going into effect this summer are designed to prevent new introductions of three invasive species. Under the rules effective July 1, 2010,, people must have a license to possess wolf-dog hybrids, feral or wild swine, and mute swans in captivity.

Also as of July 1, it is illegal to release any of these species into the wild and such releases can result in penalties of up to $1,142, as well as restitution costs for any damage caused by these animals.

“All three species have proven their ability to exist in the wild in Wisconsin,” says Scott Loomans, wildlife regulations specialist for the Department of Natural Resources. “Wild and feral swine for instance, are opportunistic omnivores that eat an amazing amount and variety of plants and wild animals.”

Feral and wild swine disturb habitat for, and compete with, a wide range of native animals, wild plants and agricultural crops. They disturb native ground cover creating avenues for infestation by invasive plants. Through digging and rooting activities, large family groups have caused locally significant damage to crops. They even pose a health threat to domestic animals. Of primary concern are diseases such as pseudorabies, brucellosis and tuberculosis. While these diseases can be eliminated from domestic livestock herds, wild or feral swine that persist on the landscape could be disease reservoirs that continually reintroduce diseases to domestic herds.

In most cases, the possession of feral or wild swine is now prohibited. A limited exemption is available for some people who possessed animals on July 1, 2010 and who apply for a license with the Department of Natural Resources by September 28, 2010. The rules do not apply to owners of domestic hogs and no action is required by traditional pork producers.

Feral or wild swine include wild strains of swine commonly known by the name European, Eurasian, Russian, feral or domestic strains. Feral domestic strains also include animals which are confined but which exhibit characteristics of being in an untamed state, and hybrids of wild or feral with domestic swine. Included in this definition are any swine that is captured in the wild or from an unconfined environment after it has existed in the wild or unconfined environment outside of an enclosure for more than seven days, regardless of its physical characteristics.
Wolf hybrids and mute swans

People who possess wolf-dog hybrids or mute swans will need to apply to the department for a captive wild animal farm license. In most cases, captive wild animal farm licenses cost $50 initially and $25 for annual renewals. For owners who do more than $10,000 of business a year the license costs $200 initially and $100 for renewals.

People who own animals that they consider to be wolf-dog hybrids will only be able to possess animals that have been spayed or neutered. Pen standards are also established by the rules, but owners can be licensed before construction of pens. Owners have until 2014 to construct pens.

If people own dogs that have been reported as being wolf-dog hybrids, but the owners are not sure, wildlife officials recommend that the owner obtains a variety of photos from different angles, and present to the local wildlife biologist, or the DNR wolf specialist to obtain an opinion whether the animal is likely a wolf dog hybrid.

A condition of licensing for mute swans is that they be enclosed in pens that are kept clean and sufficient to contain the animals. There are exceptions from pen standards for animals kept on a persons’ own land if they have been pinioned and neutered.

More information and all of the new regulations is available on the captive wildlife page of the DNR website. Licensing standards are designed to assure humane care and to reduce the likelihood of animals escaping where they may pose a threat to human safety, the health of other wild or domestic animals, or of becoming established on the landscape as an invasive species.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Loomans – (608) 267-2452

Two Mexican gray wolves found dead
Defenders of Wildlife offers up to $10K for information on wolf killings

TUCSON, Ariz. (July 7, 2010) – Defenders of Wildlife is offering up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for killing two perilously endangered Mexican gray wolves in the past two weeks in Arizona and New Mexico. In combination with rewards from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the states of Arizona and New Mexico, other conservation organizations and individuals, Defenders’ offer brings the total reward offered to $52,000.

The following is a statement from Eva Sargent, Defenders of Wildlife’s Southwest program director:

“Now that the alpha males of two packs have been killed, the fatherless pups of one of the most endangered animals in the world are less likely to survive. With so few Mexican gray wolves remaining in the wild, every wolf – especially the alpha males – is crucial to the survival of the species.

“These latest killings, along with the sobering statistic that illegal wolf killings are the leading cause of death for Mexican gray wolves, highlight the urgent need for greater law enforcement capacity at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Meanwhile, the Fish and Wildlife Service should work quickly to develop and implement a scientific recovery plan that keeps Mexican gray wolves from spiraling toward extinction and helps to set them on the road to recovery.”

Summary

• Between 1998 and June 2009, 31 Mexican gray wolves were illegally killed by poachers
• The Mexican gray wolf is one of the most endangered wolves in the world; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service counted just 42 wolves in the wild last year
• There have been only two prosecutions for illegal wolf killings, the leading cause of death among Mexican gray wolves
• More law enforcement presence is needed to solve these crimes and to protect Mexican gray wolves from poaching

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Learn more about Mexican gray wolves.
Contact(s) Eva Sargent, (520) 623-9653 James Navarro, (202) 772-0247

Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit www.defenders.org.