Where do We Go from Here?

By Dick Thiel, TWIN member, DNR biologist

The Wisconsin Wolf Advisory Committee is tasked with developing a wolf management plan that will guide wolf management in Wisconsin into the 21^st century.

Wolves are beginning to cause problems by killing livestock and pets in northwestern and central Wisconsin. This is a sign that wolf populations in these regions are approaching "saturation" - filling the available suitable habitat with resident packs which forces yearling dispersers to seek less desirable neighborhoods where the potential for conflict with humans is greater. The upside of this is that wolves are obviously demonstrating population vigor. The downside to this is that they are souring local citizens’ attitudes towards them.

Wolves first returned to the state in the 1970’s. The population slowly increased through the decade of the 1980’s. Prior to 1990, the DNR verified 5 depredation cases caused by timber wolves on farms or at rural residences. Between 1990 and 1997 - when Wisconsin’s wolf population really began to expand - the DNR verified 27 depredation cases, 13 incidences involving livestock, and 14 involving dogs. The DNR’s compensation program has paid out $38,340.90 in claims.

The Wisconsin DNR’s obligation is to maintain a balance between what is good for wolf population survival, while ensuring that wolves do not create hardships for citizens who live, work or play in the out-of-doors. That’s a very tall order, especially with the mixed public attitudes towards wolves presently being expressed by Wisconsin citizens. Some prefer the state remain "wolfless", while others demand that wolves attain the status of India’s famed sacred cows. In reality, neither is acceptable.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, some type of control activity will become necessary in Wisconsin. Control, in this case, means taking or killing individuals. Control is a tool that can: (1) focus on removing depredating individuals causing repeated or "chronic" problems in local areas, or (2) remove a certain number of individuals from the population on a regular basis to reduce "population pressures" that cause dispersers to seek out places where their presence will cause problems.

How, when, and under what circumstances should depredation control actions be initiated, and by whom? How, when and under what circumstances should population control be undertaken? These are valid questions. Any one who truly values the long-term presence of wolves in Wisconsin, needs to contemplate these questions.

In the absence of control, wolves will continue to increase in numbers to the point where a major, negative reaction will be heard from those experiencing the "downside" of wolves, and political wheels will be put in motion to curb the problem. Wisconsin experienced that type of reaction once in its history, and the politicians’ solution -the bounty- put an end to our wolves. Do we give professional wildlife managers a try, or ignore the signs of a population reaching saturation, and hope that politicians will find a solution more amenable to wolves?