Michigan – Last year, Michigan Technological University researchers John Vucetich and Rolf Peterson counted 16 wolves on Isle Royale, an island National Park in northwestern Lake Superior. When they returned in January 2012, they found nine.
“The wolves of Isle Royale are at great risk of extinction,” says Vucetich, a population biologist at Michigan Tech and lead researcher on the wolf-moose study, the longest-running predator-prey study in the world. “Their numbers have never been lower, and the warmer winters caused by climate change make it less and less likely that an ice bridge from the mainland will enable new wolves to reach the island.”
During the 54th winter study this year on Isle Royale, Vucetich and his colleague, Rolf Peterson—who headed the wolf-moose study for decades—estimate that only one wolf pup survived from 2011. Another dire discovery: there may only be one female wolf left, lowering the likelihood that new pups will increase the wolf population there.
The researchers report on the wolves’ problems in a just-released annual report on the wolf-moose study. In an article in a journal called the George Wright Forum, they explore what–if anything–can and should be done about the situation.
For the full story on the annual report, see http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2012/march/story64889.html
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