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| 11/10/2009 11:16:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| These flags placed around this impoundment of animals, also known as fladry, is one way to slow future wolf depredations.
Wendi Ell photo |
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Wolf population rises, so do questions about endangered status
Wolf depredations also up
"People always make the wolf more formidable than he is," or so the French proverb says.
Whether the wolf is portrayed as formidable, wise or wily, one thing is certain: the relationship between it and man is indisputably archaic and complex.
"There is such a dichotomy on how some people feel about wolves," Timber Wolf Alliance coordinator Anna Cellar said. "Some people feel they're a danger, or a threat ... to others they are a symbol of being wild. And some are just in the middle."
Certainly, these feelings mirror the grey wolve's legal status in the last five years, which is more capricious, and likely more interesting, than the relationships making headlines in the tabloids.
According to a 2008-09 progress report of wolf monitoring in Wisconsin compiled by the WDNR, wolves have been designated a state protected wild animal since 2004, removed from the federal endangered and threatened species list in 2007, re-listed in 2008, removed in 2009, and in a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, re-listed yet again.
Though the endangered status of wolves is doubtlessly erratic, their actual population has been steadily rising, with 2009 as the sixth consecutive year the population has exceeded the state management goal of 350 wolves.
Now with an estimated 626-664 wolves in Wisconsin, the population has nearly doubled that goal.
According to WDNR mammalian ecologist Adrian Wydeven, these numbers are likely low estimates because the herds were counted in the winter, and the wolf population increases in the spring.
He also said it's also difficult to track lone wolves, which comprise 5-10 percent of the population.
"The wolf population has shown to be very secure in the Great Lakes area," he said.
As apex predators, wolves play an integral part in a forest's biodiversity by reducing the impact of grazing, which in turn allows diverse plants to flourish.
Cellar points to examples of wolves out West changing the grazing patterns of elk, forcing them to leave stream banks.
This movement prevents landscape overgrazing, and has contributed to the regrowth of plants like the willow, which in turn has created a better habitat for animals such as beaver.
"Wolves have a direct and indirect effect on everything in an eco-system," she said.
But a burgeoning wolf population is not without repercussions.
One of those is the inevitable rise in wolf depredations, or wolves preying on domesticated animals.
According to the WDNR, in 2006 there were 25 reported livestock depredations, increasing to 30 in 2007-08. The official 2009 totals have not yet been posted for livestock depredations, but as of September, about 39 wolves in the state were killed during the year because of farm depredations.
The number of dog depredations has also increased from 21 dogs killed in 2008, to 31 so far in 2009.
Cellar said that while livestock depredations are relatively rare, if an incident does occur it can be economically devastating for the farmer.
Roger James, currently a cattle farmer, said he lost a quarter horse mare to wolf depredation in 2001.
"It just opened our eyes to the devastation the wolves are capable of," he said.
The depredation, which occurred on his parent's farm in Hiles, has made an indelible mark on James' livelihood.
"The biggest thing is the constant worry and dread on a day-to-day basis wondering when your turn is coming," he said. "... That you're going to lose more animals to them, and they're going to start sulking around the farm and make the cattle uneasy and not conceive when they're breeding."
James has taken preventative measures such as fencing the calving lot in electric fencing, a practice he said is unhealthy because the cows are then in closer proximity to one another, and therefore more susceptible to disease.
But he said he would rather take his chances on illness than on another wolf depredation.
"It's a constant threat for a ton of people," he said. "Part of our livelihood depends on these animals."
James said he thinks the DNR should implement a hunting season to keep the population stable.
"Deer and bear are thinned out, and wolves should be no different," he said.
Because of their endangered status, it is currently illegal to kill wolves without a permit from the DNR.
Instead, non-lethal measures such as livestock guarding dogs or fladry, which entails placing strips of red flags around the perimeter of a pasture, should be taken first.
Cellar said one of the issues with the wolves endangered status is the fact that states are given less flexibility with their management plan, which has broader implications.
"When people don't think the state DNR is doing enough to stop depredations from occurring, there's a lower social tolerance for wolves in general," she said.
Cellar said she does not think now is the time to consider a wolf hunting season.
"That would be putting the cart before the horse," she said.
Wydeven agreed, saying that though public harvest is something the DNR will consider in the future, a hunting season is not on the top of their current list of priorities.
"Right now, it is most critical to have them off the endangered species list and develop a flexible management system," he said. "They are certainly not endangered any more."
David Mech, a wildlife research biologist in Minnesota, agreed with Wydeven and Cellar.
"The sooner Wisconsin can have a management plan that minimizes contact with humans, the better for both the humans and the wolves," he said.
According to Mech, while a loss of 50 to 100 wolves annually would not hurt Wisconsin's wolf population, the DNR should first address legalities.
"They were put back on the list because of legal niceties," he said. "They didn't hold proper public hearings. This time they will have to make a new proposal for a longer public hearing."
Mech is referring to the most recent process of re-listing the wolves.
In it, the U.S. District Court overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to delist the animals due to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Humane Society and 16 other organizations.
The court sent the decision back to the service for re-consideration, who republished the final rule in April 2009 with the same verdict; the wolves were still off the list.
Ultimately, the judge ruled in favor of the society, and the service admitted that the public should have been given an opportunity to comment during the re-consideration.
Entwined in these legalities is the stark evidence of a rising wolf population that experts such as Cellar, Wydeven and Mech are pointing to.
But with the public acting as a jury, for once the struggle is not between man and wolf, but man and law.
The status of our modern relationship with the animal hangs, at least in part, on the verdict.
Leah Gernetzke can be reached via email at lgernetzke@lakelandtimes.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Article comment by:
Nicole B.
I believe that wolves do need to stay in Northern Wisconsin however, I also believe that they need to be better managed.
Posted: Monday, November 30, 2009
Article comment by:
Joseph Ogrodnik
The wolf is a part of the north woods eco system and needs to remain there as all other pieces of the puzzle need to be in place. It is only through the elimination of the deers natural preditors that such large deer harvest have ben posible in past years... So sorry for you and others that were not as skilled as natures preditors to get a deer this year but the wolf has it's place in nature. I only hope that we can find a way to bring back the cougar too.
Posted: Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Article comment by:
jrn
The wolf population in Wisconsin needs to be reduced. As an avid deer hunter I have noticed it's been increasingly harder to come across deer... especially in northern Wi. It's not just about the deer hunting though. This decrease in deer population creates a domino effect that affects the local jobs and income. This year there were barely any hunters in northern wi which means tourism decrease and that income boost that is received each year was slashed. I also noticed a large increase in for sale signs for peoples property. There just isn't as much revenue coming into these areas like they used to and the wolves are playing a huge part in it.
Bottom line... thin the wolves...boost the economy in rural areas where deer and other wildlife harvesting drive success!
Posted: Monday, November 23, 2009
Article comment by:
John Foster
Here in Manitowoc County there have been recent confirmed sightings of a pack of wolves. The spread of the population into the dairy region of the state could be devastating and would be controversial. One always has to question the ultimate motivation of the DNR.
Posted: Thursday, November 19, 2009
Article comment by:
L.Parks
There are so many ways that people can protect their livestock that does not entail killing wolves. Dogs such as Mastiffs, Danes, and Wolfhounds have been used for CENTURIES to protect livestock and when they are properly trained to do so they are highly effective. Humans invaded their ancestral ranges and now livestock are more readily gotten then the deer and other animals they should be hunting. Also wolves have been proven to go miles out of their way to AVOID HUMANS so the nonsence of a wolf "dragging a child off and killing it" is just that nonsence! Having helped to raise wolf hybrids as well as wolves I can see were many would find a full grown wolf to be awe inspiring or even frightening, but they are a truely intelligent creature that deserves our respect rather than bullets from our guns. Why endevor to kill something that we do not fully understand? Would you kill your pet Husky or Malamute just because they are so-called 'wolf breeds'? I think not!
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