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by Cat Urbigkit
Wyoming news reporter Cat Urbigkit lives in the
heart of wolf country, near Big Piney, Wyoming, a few hundred
miles south of Yellowstone National Park. As a news reporter,
rancher, researcher and Wyoming resident, she has followed
the wolf issue for many years and written many articles on
the topic, as well as an upcoming book on the history of
wolves in Wyoming.
The goal of this website is to present up-to-date, accurate
information about what is happening with wolves, focusing on wolves in the Rocky
Mountains, but referring to wolf happenings outside our region when there is
some local relevance. Rather than an agenda-driven advocacy site, this is the
place to be for the facts about wolves, with a strong focus on what’s happening
on the ground.
We invite those living in areas inhabited by wolves to contact
Cat with news tips, photographs, or other information. We also invite those who
want to support this endeavor to sign on as sponsors, and for our re aders to
support those sponsors.
2015
Wolf Watch Story Archive
12/30/15: Ranching
with wolves in California
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Northern California ranchers are
starting to learn what it's like to live with wolves. A pack
moved into Siskiyou County last summer and produced five
pubs, earning the group the name Shasta Pack. Now the state
has recorded its first "probable" wolf kill of
a beef calf. State wildlife officials have
drafted a conservation plan for wolves in California. The
plan includes various management options, and is open for
public comment to Feb. 15th.… (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
12/17/15: Wolf
protections remain
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) The Congressional rider on the federal
spending bill that would have removed wolves from federal
protection in Wyoming and in the Great Lakes states was dropped
from the bill prior to its approval. That means that wolves
will remain under federal protection..… (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
12/15/15: Yellowstone
wolves
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Yellowstone National Park officials
report that in December, 2014, the park harbored at least
104 wolves in 11 packs, including nine breeding pairs, according
to the park’s annual wolf report. Researchers monitoring
wolf-prey relationships indicate that wolves still prefer
elk, but predation in bison and mule deer appear to be increasing
within the park. Park officials also noted that there were
7 instances in 2014 when wolf behavior was considered habituated
or when wolves closely approached humans, involving four
different wolves..… (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
11/30/15: Scientists
call for wolf delisting
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) A leading group of wolf scientists
are calling for wolves in the Great Lakes states to be removed
from federal protection, and managed by the states. The letter
comes nine months after another group of scientists and wolf
advocates penned a letter with the opposite viewpoint.… (Click on the
link above for the complete story.) 11/30/15: Wolf
killed in northern Utah
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Utah media outlets are reporting
that an 89-pound female wolf was found dead in a snare set
for coyotes in November, in an area near Utah's border with
Wyoming.… (Click
on the link above for the complete story.) 11/30/15: Wolf
delisting proposed in Senate
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Sen.
John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) introduced legislation in November
that directs the Secretary of the Interior to reissue final
rules related to the listing of the gray wolf in Wisconsin,
Michigan, Minnesota and Wyoming under the Endangered Species
Act of 1973. The bill serves as the Senate companion to the
bipartisan House bill introduced by Reps. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.)
and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) earlier this year.… (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
10/27/15: Wolf
Control Assessment Released
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) USDA Wildlife Services has
released an environmental assessment for Gray Wolf Damage & Conflict
Management in Wyoming, and is accepting public comment on
the assessment through Nov. 24, 2015. The Wyoming Game & Fish
Department and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
have requested that WS continue its role as an agent of the
State for managing wolf conflicts. The EA examines three
possible alternatives. The primary need for action is the
need to reduce wolf predation on livestock and domestic animals.
Studies indicate that while nonlethal tools are temporarily
helpful in some situations, they were generally ineffective,
particularly in areas that simply would have too many livestock
conflicts for wolf packs to persist and in most circumstances,
lethal removal of wolves is usually the only practical approach
to resolving incidents of wolf predation on livestock… (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
10/18/15: Wolf
News Roundup
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Support delisting? You're a "right-wing
wolf hater" according to the Center for Biological Diversity's
most recent fundraising email claiming "Right Wing Gunning
for Wyoming's Wolves." The email, adorned with a large
red "Donate Now" button, reads: "Wyoming's
wildlife-hating fanatics are doubling down on their war on
wolves. They're trying to slide through a congressional "rider" --
an amendment attached to a must-pass budget bill -- that
would overrule the courts and reinstate a "kill-on-sight" approach.
In a throwback to decades past, they want wolves reclassified
as vermin, to be shot or trapped the minute they step across
the state line, or outside of Yellowstone." The CBD
letter fails to acknowledge that once wolves are removed
from federal protection, they fall under state management
authority, with provisions for regulated harvest. Other wolf
news updates are also in this post..… (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
9/7/15: Farmers
kidnap officials in French wolf dispute
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) The Telegraph (United Kingdom) reports
that a group of French farmers have kidnapped two national
park officials in the Alps, demanding the officials take
action to stop wolves from killing their livestock. According
to The Telegraph, "bossnapping" is not unheard
of in France, but this is reportedly the first instance an
official has been held over a dispute involving wolves. Wolves
have reportedly killed 8,500 sheep in France in the last
year, as well as six sheep guardian dogs..… (Click on the
link above for the complete story.)
8/23/15: Wolf
News Roundup
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Wolf news updates from Washington,
California, Black Hills, Isle Royale, and international.
Wolves attack livestock guardian dog in Washington – the
dog is protecting a herd of sheep that lost more than 200
sheep to wolves last year – state officials are struggling
whether to classify the incident as a “depredation.” California
has caught five wolf pups on a wildlife camera in northern
California. A wolf was photographed in the Black Hills of
South Dakota at an undisclosed location. Isle Royale (in
Michigan) has evidence of two new pups added to their wolf
population. Sweden and Switzerland struggle with wolf depredations
on livestock and scrutiny and criticism of their wolf management
programs.… (Click on the link
above for the complete story.)
8/11/15: Western
Wolf News Roundup
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Wolf populations in Oregon, Washington
and California appear to be increasing with data on confirmed
wolf pairs and packs in the western states. Washington state
ranchers, as well as some in Idaho, have taken different
approaches to managing their livestock in the presence of
wolves… (Click on
the link above for the complete story.)
7/21/15: Wolf
control in Wyoming
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Federal wildlife officials have
destroyed 16 wolves in Wyoming in 2015 in response to livestock
depredations. Two wolves were killed in the Upper Green River
region due to continued livestock depredations on cattle.
In May, six wolves were killed in the Gros Ventre due to
cattle depredations. In June, a wolf was killed in the Kaycee
area after predating on sheep. Half-dozen wolves were killed
in two separate control actions in Park County in 2015. So
far in 2015, FWS confirmed that 41 domestic sheep and 15
cattle were killed by wolves in the state, in addition to
five calves that were injured. FWS has one ongoing control
action for wolves that have repeatedly preyed on cattle in
the Dubois area.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
7/15/15: Delisting
wolves update
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Most recent American news items
for wolves have little to do with the animals themselves,
and instead focus on disputes over managing the predators... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
6/10/15: Delisting
wolves update
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) One June 9, the Interior and Environment
Appropriations Subcommittee released its draft bill for FY2016.
Included in the legislation is a rider which would require
the Secretary of the Interior to delist gray wolves in Wyoming,
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan from the list of endangered
species. This rider, Section 121 of the Interior and Environment
Appropriations bill, provides for the delisting of gray wolves
and would prohibit that rule from being subjected to future
judicial review. Last year, a federal judge ordered that
gray wolves in Wyoming and the Great Lakes region be returned
to the list of endangered species..... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
6/10/15: Arizona
sues over wolf recovery
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Arizona wildlife officials have
filed a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service over recovery of Mexican wolves. The lawsuit seeks
an updated wolf recovery plan with specific guidelines for
when wolves can be removed from federal protection.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
6/10/15: Alta wolf pack kills sheep
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) A small flock of domestic sheep
on a farm near Alta, Wyoming has been the subject of unwanted
attention from federally protected wolves recently, with
16 sheep killed by two wolves. Federal officials are now
trying to locate and kill the two wolves involved in repeated
livestock depredations.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
5/29/15: Wolf
killed in Colorado
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Federal officials have determined
that a coyote hunter shot and killed a gray wolf near Kremmling,
Colorado in late April. The animal was shot by a legal coyote
hunter, who immediately notified Colorado Parks and Wildlife,
which then notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The
gray wolf is protected by both the federal government and
the State of Colorado as an endangered species.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
5/17/15: Wolf
depredation on cattle in Europe
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) A new report to the European Commission "Exploring
Traditional Husbandry Methods to Reduce Wolf Predation on
Free-Ranging Cattle in Portugal and Spain" offers a
look at the problems faced by livestock producers in this
region of the Iberian Peninsula, but does little to suggest
viable relief from problems specifically identified by cattle
producers. The paper acknowledges that "the economic
impact of wolf damages on cattle is high and is becoming
more
relevant in recent times since cattle numbers are getting
proportionally higher among livestock species."... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
5/17/15: Carnivore
Damage News
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) The Winter 2015 issue of Carnivore
Damage Prevention News provides a fascinating look into conflicts
between livestock and predators across Europe. Between 7,000
and 10,000 sheep are compensated each year as wolverine kills
in Norway. Under Swiss law, young men with "conscience
objections" to military service may substitute that
military service with "alternative civilian service." For
the last five years, that has meant serving as agricultural
workers (sheepherders) in areas where wolves cause conflicts
with livestock. A study in northwestern Switzerland found
that 153 sheep were killed in flocks that did not use livestock
guardian dogs, while protected herds suffered a total of
15 losses. .... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
5/15/15: World
wolf news
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) News includes 6 hikers in the Israel-occupied
Golan heights attacked and bitten by a wolf; wolves released
in Arizona; The New Mexico Game and Fish Commission has denied
Ted Turner's request for renewal of a permit to hold Mexican
wolves as part of the federal recovery effort for the species.
The Turner Endangered Species Fund's Ladder Ranch Wolf Management
Facility has held such a permit for 17 years, and this is
the first time the application for a permit has been denied..... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
5/15/15: Wolf-Dog-Flock
Trinity
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Wolf researchers with the CanOvis
Project continue to study the relationships between wolves,
domestic sheep, and livestock guardian dogs in France. CanOvis
has prepared its annual report and findings from the 2014
field season. Every year since 2010, more than half of flocks
that are attacked experience it once per season, around a
third suffer two to five attacks, with around 10% suffering
six to 10 attacks and the rest suffering over 10 attacks.
Around 3% of flocks account for some 35% of victims compensated
in 2013. Field research is set to continue in 2015..... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
4/20/15: Men
accused of poaching wolves in Norway
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Six men went to court in what is
called a "landmark case that has gripped the country
of Norway. The men were accused of illegally killing wolves
in Europe's smallest wolf population. They have pled not
guilty to charges of illegal hunting, firearms offenses,
and organized crime. Five of the six men were found guilty,
with all sentenced to various terms in jail. The ringleader
was sentenced to one year and eight months in jail, while
the others were ordered to serve between six months and a
year. All the men denied the charges, and four of the men
have appealed the ruling..... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
4/18/15: Three
Wolves on Isle Royale
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Researchers have been able to locate
only three wolves on Isle Royale, the remote Minnesota island
15 miles from Lake Superior's northwest shoreline. The Isle
Royale wolf-moose research project is the world's longest
continuous study of predator-prey, now in its 57th year..... (Click on
the link above for the complete story.) 4/17/15: Dead
Wolf in Illinois
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) The Chicago Sun Times reports that
for the second time in a few months, a wolf has been found
dead in Illinois. The female wolf had been hit by a vehicle
on Interstate 55.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
4/15/15: Spain's
Wolf Hunts
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Business news site Bloomberg has
published a feature article on wolf hunting in Spain, noting
that the economic slump has resulted in a severe price drop
in the cost of a wolf hunt. The article notes that nine years
ago, hunters paid about $16,000 to kill wolves in Spain,
but the cost is now only a quarter of that.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.) 4/15/15: Wolves
attack sheep in French village
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) French press are reporting that
a wolf pack went on a livestock killing spree in a village
in the French Alps, killing nearly two dozen sheep just feet
from the mayor's house. The Local, an online French news
site, quoted the mayor as stressing just how close the wolves
had come to prowling the streets of the village, home to
about 1,600 people..... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.) 4/15/15: Biggest
Wolf Pack
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) The biggest pack of wolves in the
West currently is found in the Gros Ventre country about
30 miles northeast of Jackson, according to a new wolf monitoring
report. The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that the
Lava Mountain pack of 12 wolves had a double litter last
year, bring the pack's numbers to 24. That's a formidable
force on the landscape..... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
4/11/15: Wolf
Population Tops 1,800
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Federal wolf recovery goals for
wolves in the Northern Rockies call for an equitably distributed
wolf population containing at least 300 wolves and 30 breeding
pairs in three recovery areas within Wyoming, Montana, and
Idaho. There are now a minimum of 1,800 wolves in more than
300 packs, roaming across five states (Wyoming, Montana,
and Idaho, plus Oregon and Washington), according to a new
report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Federal funding
of more than $3.1 million was expended in 2014 on wolf monitoring,
management, control and research, according to the Northern
Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Program 2014 Interagency Annual
Report..... (Click on the link
above for the complete story.)
3/10/15: Idaho
wolf control actions
(By Idaho Department
of Fish & Game) Idaho Fish and Game has completed
a wolf control action in northern Idaho's Lolo elk zone near
the Idaho/Montana border to improve poor elk survival in
the area. In February, Idaho Fish and Game requested USDA
Wildlife Services conduct a control action consistent with
Idaho's predation management plan for the Lolo elk zone,
where predation by several species is the major reason elk
population numbers are considerably below management objectives.
Ongoing wolf and elk research has shown that wolves have
become the primary predator impacting calf and cow elk survival
in the Lolo, contributing to a continual decline in total
elk population. The overall objective is to maintain a smaller,
but self-sustaining, population of wolves in the Lolo zone
to allow the elk population to increase.... (Click on the link
above for the complete story.)
3/6/15: Wolf
News Roundup
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Update on wolf news around the country
including pending legislation, fundraising by groups to keep
"hateful bullies in Congress" from putting more wolves in
harms way, attempts to downlist wolves rather than delist,
wolf hunting and trapping counts in Montana and Idaho, and
snowmobilers being kicked off trails in Voyageurs National
Park in Minnesota because of a wolf chasing and following
snowmobiles on several occasions.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
2/15/15: Wolf
News Roundup
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) While the list of co-sponsors to
a Congressional bill that would remove federal protections
for wolves in the Great Lakes States and Wyoming grows to
an impressive bipartisan coalition, wolf advocates are suing
in an attempt to stop federal wildlife damage control activities
in Idaho. The lawsuit was filed by Western Watersheds Project,
Wildearth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends
of the Clearwater and Project Coyote, against USDA Wildlife
Services and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The lawsuit
seeks a temporary restraining order and/or a preliminary
injunction suspending animal damage control activities until
Wildlife Services prepares a full environmental impact statement
for its activities in Idaho. The case was filed in federal
district court in Idaho.... (Click on the link
above for the complete story.)
2/12/15: State
Wolf Management Bill Introduced
(By U.S. Representative
Cynthia Lummis) U.S. Representatives Cynthia Lummis
(WY) and Reid Ribble (WI-08) introduced H.R 884, to direct
the Secretary of the Interior to reissue final rules relating
to listing of the gray wolf in the Western Great Lakes and
Wyoming under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.H.R. 884
would simply reinstate two decisions of the Fish and Wildlife
Service to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species
List and allow states to continue their successful population
management plans. The Endangered Species Act and the ability
of the Fish and Wildlife Service to re-list the gray wolf
in the case of future population changes are left entirely
intact.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
2/11/15: Grand
Canyon wolf killed in Utah
(By U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service) After an extensive analysis by the University
of Idaho, it has been confirmed that the Gray Wolf killed
in Utah on December 28, 2014 is the same wolf seen in the
Grand Canyon area last year. Geneticists from the university’s
Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary, and Conservation
Genetics compared the DNA from the wolf killed in Utah with
samples taken from the wolf near the Grand Canyon. The results
were conclusive that it is the same wolf, identified by the
Service as 914F, which was collared near Cody, Wyoming on
January 8, 2014 and spotted in the Grand Canyon area in the
fall of last year.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
1/22/15: Groups
seek to downlist wolves
(By Center for
Biological Diversity) Animal protection and conservation
organizations petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
today to reclassify gray wolves under the Endangered Species
Act as threatened throughout the contiguous United States,
with the exception of the Mexican gray wolf, which remains
listed as endangered. If adopted the proposal would continue
federal oversight and funding of wolf recovery efforts and
encourage development of a national recovery plan for the
species, but would also give the Fish and Wildlife Service
regulatory flexibility to permit state and local wildlife
managers to address specific wolf conflicts...... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
1/22/15: Wolf
News Roundup
(By Cat Urbigkit,
Pinedale Online!) Congressional members from the Great
Lakes region have teamed up with U.S. Representative Cynthia
Lummis to draft a bill that would have Congress delist wolves
in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Since wolves
have been granted federal protection under the Endangered
Species Act, only to be delisted and then relisted again
due to litigation – repeatedly – a congressional
fix that would preclude any further legal wrangling is being
pushed by states dealing with thriving wolf populations..... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
1/22/15: Killing
Wolves to Save Caribou
(By Ministry of
Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (British Columbia) The
British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource
Operations is taking immediate action to save caribou herds
under threat from wolf predation in two separate and targeted
actions: one in the South Selkirk Mountains and the other
in the South Peace. The South Selkirk herd is at high risk
of local extinction. The population has declined from 46
caribou in 2009 to 27 in 2012, and to 18 as of March 2014.
Evidence points to wolves being the leading cause of mortality.
The South Selkirk is a trans-boundary herd, and caribou move
freely between B.C., Washington and Idaho. Officials from
B.C., Washington and Idaho States, First Nations, the U.S.
Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have
been working together on a research project and have collared
six of the remaining 18 caribou to help investigate the cause
of decline. Wolves have killed two of the remaining caribou
(11% of the herd) in the past 10 months. Ministry staff will
aim to remove up to 24 wolves by shooting them from a helicopter
before snow melt.... (Click
on the link above for the complete story.)
2014
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2012
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2009
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