Wolf News - November 2018

HOUSE VOTES TO REMOVE FEDERAL PROTECTIONS FOR GREY WOLVES

November 16th, Washington D.C.: On November 16, 2018, the House passed a bipartisan bill that would officially remove gray wolves from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, overriding Fish and Wildlife’s rulemaking with a federal law. "In addition to stripping protections for most gray wolves from the federal endangered species list, this bill would preclude judicial review of de-listing actions, thus furthering a damaging trend of Congress undermining the ability of Americans to seek out justice and defend our civil rights, public health, and environment.”

HOORAY - JUDGE SAVES SUPER ENDANGERED RED WOLVES' LIVES

November 10th, North Carolina: A federal judge has intervened to continue an injunction on the government’s allowance to kill and trap red wolves. Judge Terrence Boyle rightly chewed out the FWS for failing to live up to its own mission. “Wildlife are not the property of landowners but belong to the public and are managed by state and federal governments for the public good,” the judge wrote.

MOUNT HOOD WOLVES APPEAR TO BE STICKING AROUND, NEW PICS SHOW

November 9th, Oregon: Though there have been rumors of wolves wandering the Cascades since at least 2013. However, the first definitive evidence came in January when the U.S. Forest Service caught the a pair of wolves on camera. In August, two wolf pups were observed on the southern flanks of Mount Hood, marking the first time a breeding pair of Wolves had been seen in the northern Cascades since the endangered canids first returned to the state.

CAN WE LEARN TO LIVE WITH WOLVES AGAIN?

November 9th, Colorado: It has been decades since Colorado’s mountains have heard the full-throated howls of a wolf pack on a moonlit night, but that may be changing. Single wolves are returning to their former habitat and a breeding pair may meet in the next decade. Wolves are part of our Western wildlife heritage. Learning to live again with them in the Rocky Mountains may be one of our most important 21st-century lessons in ecology and humility.

WASHINGTON WILDLIFE AGENCY ISSUES KILL ORDER FOR TWO MORE WOLF PACKS

November 7th, Washington: Since 2012 the state has killed 21 state-endangered wolves, 17 of whom were killed for the same livestock operator, a longtime, vocal opponent of wolf recovery. The ongoing kill operation to kill the OPT pack’s father wolf and only remaining pup, as well as the kill order issued today for members of the Smackout pack, are on behalf of the same individual.

In September the Department killed the father wolf of the Togo pack, leaving his mate to fend for their two pups on her own. In October the Department killed the breeding female of the Old Profanity Territory pack and a five-month-old pup from the pack, leaving the breeding male on his own to provide for the sole remaining pup.

Please call Donny Martorello, Wolf Policy Lead, Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife at (360) 902-2521 to voice your opposition to this killing.

WDFW CONSIDERS KILLING TOGO PACK MEMBERS AFTER ATTACK ON CALF

November 5th, Washington: The Togo pack in the State of Washington has been blamed for six cattle depredations in the past six months. According to a news release, WDFW Director Kelly Susewind is considering the next steps, which could include lethal removal.

ALPINE WOLF POPULATION GROWING EXPONENTIALLY

November 3rd, Switzerland: Wolves were nearly extinct in Europe before the first ones began reappearing in the Alps and in Switzerland in the mid-1990's. The Swiss Wolf Group’s latest study indicates that 98 wolf packs were active in Alpine regions between 2017 and April of this year.

PUBLIC OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSES PLAN TO CURTAIL RED WOLF RECOVERY IN NORTH CAROLINA

November 1st, Washington: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed reducing the recovery area where red wolves can safely roam by more than 90 percent. The revised recovery area would only be expected to provide sufficient space for 10 to 15 red wolves.

Out of 108,124 comments submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service on the proposal, 107,988 comments — or 99.9 percent — spoke out in favor of the red wolves and their need for strong federal protections.

NINE MEXICAN WOLVES LEAVING BROOKFIELD ZOO FOR NEW HOMES

November 1st, Illinois: The zoo’s current alpha pair, Zana and Flint, will move to a facility in Eureka, Missouri, along with a young female named Springer. Six male wolves – Rio, Azul, Mateo, Jeff, David and Temp – will head to a zoo in Springfield, Missouri. Two-year-old Ela will remain at Brookfield Zoo and become the new alpha female, with a new alpha male scheduled to arrive before the end of the year. The move is part of a survival plan to help sustain the endangered species, the zoo announced this week.