DNR gets green light to kill problem wolves
Price County wolf population said to be stable
Ryan Stutzman
THE-BEE
The federal government recently granted the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources the authority to resume lethal controls for problem wolves in the state.
That authority was suspended for nearly a year as the issue was reviewed by federal courts. With the new permit, issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), state wildlife officials may kill as many as 43 wolves in 2006.
New population estimates suggest that there are more than 500 wolves in the state, which is more than 10 percent above last year’s figure. According to the DNR, Price County’s wolf population has remained relatively stable, partly because three full-blooded wolves and nine feral animals presumed to be dog-wolf hybrids were trapped and killed in 2005 before the courts suspended lethal controls.
Wolves in Wisconsin are currently listed as an endangered species by the federal government. The state has progressively downgraded wolves’ protection status over the last seven years, from endangered to threatened to “protected wild animal.” But the federal listing trumps the state listing, and the state’s wolf management plan is subordinate to federal regulation.
The USFWS permit allows both killing and non-lethal trapping of wolves that prey on livestock and domestic animals. The wolves are typically trapped and shot. Under the terms of the new permit, nursing females must be spared until next month and pups must be spared until August.
The state continues to experiment with other wolf-control methods. One involves the placement of donkeys in livestock pastures, because donkeys are known to be effective deterrents for coyotes. But lethal controls are the most effective method for mitigating wolf depredation problems, DNR wolf biologist Adrian Wydeven told THE-BEE last week.
Wildlife authorities have not killed any wolves in Price County since the new permit went into effect April 27, but three were killed in Burnett County. There is a pack near Danbury that has been a chronic problem for farmers, Wydeven said.
There are currently two other active trapping sites statewide, including one in the Blue Hills area of Rusk County near Weyerhauser.
Price County has had its share of wolf depredations in recent years, but none in the last nine months, Wydeven said.
The so-called Skinner Creek pack, which was decimated by wildlife authorities last August after it killed a heifer and two barnyard dogs, is currently estimated to have five to seven animals. Wydeven said it is unclear whether the animals migrated to the area or if they are remnants of the old pack.
Dairy farmer Terry Wanish, who owned the heifer that was killed, said several wolves still frequent his property north of Kennan on County Road J. He said he sees them about twice a week, usually at first light.
“There’s about three back there,” Wanish said. “They were within 200 feet of the barn this morning.”
But they have not been aggressive toward the herd since last summer, Wanish added.
There are about a dozen wolf packs with ranges that either overlap or are wholly within Price County. Those packs comprise approximately 40-50 animals.
Meanwhile, the federal government is considering a plan to remove wolves in the Great Lakes states from the federal endangered and threatened species list because wolf populations in the region have recovered beyond expectations. Wisconsin DNR authorities favor the plan because it would result in more state control over wolf management.
Public comment on the plan is welcome by e-mail at WGLwolfdelist@fws.gov, or send a letter to Western Great Lakes Wolf De-listing, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Whipple Federal Building, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, MN, 55111-4056.
Anyone who has a wolf attack or depredation to report should call Wildlife Services at 1-800-228-1368. Wydeven also encourages people to call him at 762-1363 to report wolf observations.