Effort to reunite wolf pups with father in limbo
Associated Press
KESHENA, Wis. – An effort to reunite three wolf pups with their father is up in the air after conservationists found the dad’s tracking collar on the ground.
Wildlife conservationists on the Menominee Indian reservation say the tracking collar was torn or cut off. It was found Wednesday a few miles from the outdoor pen holding the pups.
Conservationists on the Menominee reservation wonder whether the father wolf was killed.
“It would be so disappointing,” Menominee biologist Don Reiter said. “We are going back to the site to examine everything again.”
Biologists had hoped the father wolf and his new mate would take over parenting the motherless pups, who were brought to their birthplace Monday.
“This, unfortunately, shows just how difficult wolf recovery is,” said Peggy Callahan, executive director of the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn. “Just because killing wolves is illegal doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. It does, all too often.”
The pups were raised at the Wildlife Science Center by a captive wolf after their mother was found dead near their den on the reservation in early May.
“We need any adult wolf out there to come get these puppies,” Reiter said. “Wolves can smell each other from two miles away, so hopefully this can still work.”
Reiter found wolf tracks within a mile of the pups’ pen after the father’s collar was discovered. The father and his female mate were the only known wolves in the area.
The pups were the first litter born on the reservation in 75 years, and the tribe held a ceremony when the pups returned to the reservation this week.
Reiter said he plans to try to release them next week. If it does not work, the pups probably would return to the Wildlife Science Center.
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Wildlife Science Center: http://www.wildlifesciencecenter.org