by Ty Czarnopis
MARQUETTE — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has reported that seven wolves have been killed as part of Michigan’s wolf hunt as of Tuesday morning.
The DNR’s website shows that one wolf has been taken in unit A, five in unit B, and 1 in unit C. The first wolf killed during the first wolf hunting season in Michigan was shot in Baraga County on opening day.
Officials at the Michigan DNR say that the breakdown of hunters that have take wolves this season is “roughly half-and-half” between Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula. The youngest hunter to shoot a wolf is a 14-year-old Mackinac County resident.
Wildlife officials say that they expected the season to start slow with the warmer temperatures and lack of snowfall now that the wolves have their winter coats, but biologists expect the wolf activity and hunting opportunities to increase with the coming colder weather and snowfall.
DNR representative Debbie Munson Badini says that the hunting season is “right on target” as the 47-day hunting season reached its fifth day. She added that the DNR expects the 43 wolves to be killed by the end of the hunting season.
Wildlife officials are hoping to see a 35 percent decline in wolf population in the hunting areas listed in the 2013 wolf hunt. This includes 20 percent of fatalities coming from the wolf hunt, and an additional 15 percent coming from other human-related incidents.
The current wolf hunt status can be monitored on the Department of Natural Resources website here.