Wolf sightings increasing in east-central Wisconsin
For The Reporter
GREEN BAY, Wis. – According to DNR wildlife biologists, wolf sighting reports are increasing in east-central Wisconsin.
Reports of individual wolves in southern Wisconsin have been verified in recent years. “These individual wolves have dispersed out of northern packs, often from hundreds of miles away. They have moved through various areas of the state in search of new territories,” says Wildlife Biologist Dan Weidert of Plymouth, “so we know it’s possible that a wolf or two might show up in almost any part of the state from time-to-time.” However, the odds of these dispersing wolves finding suitable habitat to permanently establish a territory here are extremely low, and thus their survival rates are very low as well.
Wolves are currently listed as a federally endangered species in Wisconsin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has attempted to remove them from their Endangered Species List. Once delisted, wolves in Wisconsin would be managed according to the state’s Wolf Management Plan which includes a population goal. The plan also has provisions for lethal control of problem wolves under certain circumstances.
Court challenges to de-listing the wolf in the Great Lake states resulted in their return to the federal list on September 29, 2008. Wolves were delisted again in April 2009. This position was again reversed by a lawsuit against the USFWS that has forced them to re-list wolves as a federally endangered species in September, 2009. Additionally, USFWS entered into an agreement to stop lethal control on July 1, 2009. Problem wolves cannot be lethally controlled until they are de-listed again. In the meantime, DNR is updating its wolf management plan in preparation for having control and authority eventually returned to the state.
In the early 1800’s, there were as many as 3,000 to 5,000 wolves in Wisconsin. But Europeans who were settling Wisconsin often had very negative attitudes toward wolves and soon began programs to eliminate them. A state bounty was placed on wolves in Wisconsin in 1865. By 1900, wolves had disappeared from southern Wisconsin. By 1950, less than 50 wolves remained in extreme northern Wisconsin. The bounty lasted until 1957 when wolves were listed as a protected species. By then the wolf population was down to a mere handful and in 1960 wolves were considered to be completely removed from Wisconsin.
Federal and State laws enacted in 1967, 1974, and 1975 protected wolves and allowed dispersing animals from Minnesota to re-colonize Wisconsin in the northwest portions of the state, along the Minnesota border.
The DNR’s management plan, completed in 1999, set a long-term management goal of 350 wolves outside of Indian reservations. In winter 2009 there were 626+ wolves; 599 of them outside of Indian reservations; and included 162 packs.
“Wolves were never brought into Wisconsin from other states, and the DNR has not trans-located any problem wolves across the state since 2002,” notes Adrian Wydeven, DNR Conservation Biologist and Wolf Specialist. “There was a period from 1991 to 2002 when the State of Wisconsin trans-located problem wolves across northern Wisconsin. That was when we did not have authority to kill problem wolves. All those wolves were released into vacant wolf territory in National Forests or on Indian Reservations and none were released anywhere in southern Wisconsin,” adds Wydeven.
While there are occasional rumors of wolves being stocked by DNR or reports of wolf packs roaming the countryside, there is no truth to any of them. “Although we’ve received an increased number of unconfirmed reports of sightings of wolves and packs in east-central Wisconsin this year, particularly in the area of the Sheboygan Marsh and Kettle Moraine State Forest – Northern Unit in Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Counties, it is very doubtful that there is a wolf pack in this area,” says Weidert.
According to DNR Wildlife Biologist Mark Randall of Oshkosh, “The likelihood of getting a pack established in this part of Wisconsin is very low. We have very marginal wolf habitat in this part of the state; there are simply too many people, too many roads and an agricultural land base. Those are three big strikes against wolves successfully establishing territories in this area.”
In Manitowoc County, where two individual wolves were verified on separate occurrences in 2009, DNR Wildlife Biologist Aaron Buchholz encourages the public to report observations of wolves on the DNR Rare Mammal Observation Form at http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/forms/rare_mammal.asp. The report is quick and easy to fill out and seeks information about the description of the animal, the location of the sighting, and information about the person who made the observation. It will help biologists if the report includes any pictures of the animal, its tracks or scats. “Pictures that contain other items for reference such as a dollar bill or pocket knife help to determine size of tracks or scat. Sightings by the public provide important insight into the locations of wolves in Wisconsin and we appreciate the time taken to go onto the internet and make a sighting report,” Buchholz adds.
For more information about wolves in Wisconsin, take a look at the DNR wolf web page located at: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/mammals/wolf/.