By John Barnes
Michigan’s first wolf hunt killed a pup as young as half-a-year old to two older adults more than seven years old, new state information shows.
The details come as recent financial reports show both sides of the wolf-hunt battle have raised about $1.9 million combined – equal to about $2,300 for each wolf in the state, according to new population figures.
It also comes as state studies show livestock attacks, a reason for the hunt, were among the lowest in a decade last year.
Among details presented to the Michigan Wolf Management Advisory Council last week:
• The youngest of 22 wolves killed was 0.6 years old, a female pup born earlier in the year. The animals grow quickly and can appear nearly full-sized.
• The oldest two, a male and female taken at opposite ends of the Upper Peninsula, were 7.6 years. Those are aging wolves; life expectancy in the wild is about five years.
• The average age of wolves killed was 2.6 years. In all, they were equally divided between males and females, 11 each.
• The average distance from where a wolf was killed compared to documented conflicts was five miles.
The 45-day hunting season that began Nov. 15 had little impact on one of the state’s top predators, a top state Department of Natural Resources wolf expert says.
Studies this past winter place the 2014 population at 636, down 22 from last year. That decline matches the number killed in the hunt, but is a coincidence, said Adam Bump, the DNR’s furbearing animal specialist.
He also said the slight decline from last year is a statistical wash. It is the state’s second dip in two years. Robust growth since the early 1990s led to the canine’s removal from federal protection.
“It is important to realize this is the initial look at the first data of the first hunt and it is going to take a while to look at all those factors and what they mean,” Bump said.
The 22 wolves killed are slightly lower than the agency’s preliminary report of 23 killed.
The number was adjusted downward after a hunter reported a kill but did produce the animal, as required, at a check station.
The DNR had hoped as many as 43 wolves would be killed in three Upper Peninsula areas with livestock and dog depredations, as well as human conflicts.
Before the hunt, 13 wolf attacks were documented on livestock in 2013, almost all cattle, the DNR reports. That’s near the lowest since 2002, and well down from 64 the year before – an 80 percent dip.
Hunt critics say that is evidence other control efforts were working, but one farm in particular stood out as problematic.
An MLive.com investigation exploring reasons for the hunt found a single Ontonagon County farm experienced more attacks than almost all other farms combined since 1996. Most attacks came them during the period the state studied to set the hunt.
Owner John Koski received nearly $33,000 in taxpayer reimbursement for the lost cattle, and more than $200,000 was spent by state and federal employees to investigate his claims and help find way stop the attacks, records show.
John Koski walks near cattle bones on his Ontonagon County farm on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. The 69-year-old has the highest number of confirmed wolf attacks in Michigan. Critics say outdoor cattle carcasses attract wolves to his property.(Cory Morse | MLive.com)Koski has since been accused by wildlife authorities of leaving dead cattle in the field, drawing more wolves. Koski, 69, was charged in November, shortly after the MLive stories, with animal cruelty or neglect.
Authorities allege he allowed two taxpayer-provided guard mules to die; a third was so sickened it had to be removed.
Koski was to go to trial April 23, but a plea deal has been struck, court officials say. The scheduled April 24 plea is now reset to May 8.
Prosecutor James Jessup has not returned calls for comment. Court-appointed attorney Mathew Tingstad has said a goal is to keep Koski out of jail.
Koski’s 925 acres are now listed for sale for $489,000; about 150 cattle have also been sold or removed to a smaller farm where Koski lives in neighboring Gogebic County.
Whether that will keep wolf conflicts lower is unknown, DNR spokeswoman Debbie Munson Badini said.
“It’s far too early to tell what changes might result from the removal or reduction of cattle in an area with a documented history of depredation issues,” Badini said. “However, we will be closely monitoring the wolf packs and any future reported conflicts in order to gather the best possible data, which will guide future management of the species.”
The inaugural hunt’s low success rate frustrated most licensed hunters. Fewer than half – 45 percent – rated the experience as good or very good, responses to a post-hunt mail survey by the DNR showed.
No plans have been finalized for another hunt this year. The DNR hopes post-hunt studies will inform future hunts. Also, there are political issues that make it hard to plan.
“There is a lot of uncertainty between now and the fall,” Bump said.
As many as three questions could be on the ballot this November related to wolf hunting, two against and one in favor. Possible legislative action before then could render any voter decisions moot.
Campaign finance reports filed last week show the group Keep Michigan Wolves Protected has raised $1.4 million, mostly from the Humane Society of the United States.
The pro-hunt Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management have raised almost $465,000 from various hunting and conversation groups.
Michigan’s 2013 hunt was much smaller in two other Great Lakes States. Wisconsin and Minnesota hunters killed at least 10 times as many wolves in each state. There are more wolves there as well.
Minnesota’s wolf population was estimated last year at more than three times that of Michigan’s. Wisconsin, however, had only about 150 more wolves than Michigan.