Associated Press (AP)
The federal government announced March 16 that Isle Royale’s decimated wolf population will get an infusion of 20 to 30 new wolves over the next three years.
The National Park Service published the plan in the Federal Register.
As of January, there were only two wolves remaining on the island as the wolf population has been slowly declining due to inbreeding and genetic deformities.
The 45-mile-long, 143,000-acre island is located about 15 miles off Minnesota’s North Shore.
Federal wildlife officials estimate there are approximately 2,000 or more moose now on the island. Without more wolves, scientists say, the moose will continue to increase and cause environmental damage across the island and will begin to starve to death.
The Duluth News Tribune reports the Humane Society of the U.S. was among the first to weigh-in Friday supporting the Park Service decision.
“With the loss of Isle Royale’s ice bridges due to climate change, wolves could not reach the island. This spelled disaster not only for the park’s environmental health, but doomed its overabundant moose population to slow, cruel starvation,” said Nicole Paquette, vice president of wildlife at The Humane Society of the United States.
The Detroit Free Press reports that overall, the plan attracted nearly 5,000 comments, with some arguing that it sets a dangerous precedent that may violate the federal Wilderness Act’s requirement that lands remain “untrammeled” by human intervention. One well-known group, Wilderness Watch, called on the Park Service to not intervene, saying that “is the only alternative that respects the wolves autonomy and lets them decide whether or not they inhabit Isle Royale.”
“Perhaps the wolves intuitively know of the genetic downsides to island isolation,” the group wrote.
In the draft environmental study, the Park Service says it will look to capture Great Lakes wolves that are known to feed on moose as one of their prey sources, are in good health with no apparent injuries and have the appropriate genetic diversity to sustain a viable population on the island.
Capture and relocation efforts would take place between late fall and late winter. Relocated wolves will be fitted with radio or GPS collars so they can be tracked.
Click here for a direct link to the Isle Royale plan from the National Park Service.