Deaths of six wolves investigated
By RON SEELY
Wisconsin State Journal
The deaths of six endangered gray wolves, whose remains were found the day before and during the gun deer season, are being investigated by state and federal agencies.
The state Department of Natural Resources reported that several of the animals died of gunshot wounds. All of the wolves are being necropsied at the DNR’s wildlife health lab in Madison.
One of the wolves, the first found, was discovered the day before the beginning of the hunting season by a DNR pilot who homed in on a mortality signal being emitted from the wolf’s radio collar. Records show that animal, an adult male, was captured and collared in Michigan’s Gogebic County in 2005 and had dispersed to Ashland County in Wisconsin where it had established a new territory.
The other dead wolves included an adult female in Monroe County; an adult female in Vilas County; an adult male in Rusk County, also wearing a radio collar; an adult female in Juneau County; and an adult male in Adams County.
Anyone with information about the shooting of a wolf can call the DNR’s toll-free hot line at 800-847-9367. The line is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Shooting a wolf is in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act and violators are subject to penalties including fines, jail time, confiscation of hunting equipment, and loss of hunting privileges.