By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel
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The DNR has ended its attempt to trap and kill wolves at Colburn Wildlife Area in Adams County.
The traps were pulled Friday after a two-week effort, said Dave MacFarland, DNR large carnivore specialist. No wolf was caught.
The trapping was performed by agents with the Wildlife Services division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is allowed under a provision of the Endangered Species Act in cases where public safety is deemed at risk.
The DNR made the decision to try to remove some wolves at the public property after two incidents there involving humans and wolves. On Sept. 23, a man said he was approached by three wolves. He used a pistol to shoot one wolf before the animals moved off.
The incident did not rise to the level of an attack, according to an investigation by DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services law enforcement agents. No charge was issued for shooting the wolf, which apparently survived.
And on Oct. 10, a man and son participating in the Youth Deer Hunt had encounters with wolves, once while sitting at the base of a tree and once while walking on a two-track path. The wolf on the path ran at the man and boy, according to their report. The man fired a warning shot and the wolf ran off.
The agency did not report the Oct. 10 incident until Wednesday. Both incidents occurred at the same location on the 4,965-acre property, MacFarland said.
The second incident figured prominently in the DNR’s decision to try to use lethal measures to remove wolves, MacFarland said. But after two weeks with no wolf caught, the agency ended the effort.
Two parking lots that had been closed are now open at Colburn. MacFarland said the agency will continue to monitor the area for wolf activity and interactions with humans.
No wolf attack on a human has been verified in Wisconsin.
According to the DNR, there were at least three wolf packs in Adams County in late winter 2014-’15. Since a December 2014 federal court decision, the western Great Lakes population of gray wolves is listed under protections of the Endangered Species Act.
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