A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER WINTERSPRING 20042003 Wolf Recovery in the Midwest: What’s Next? page 4 Our Neighbors in Gray Coats, page 8 The Last Irish Wolf, page 10 THE QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER VOLUME 14, NO. 1 SPRING 2004 Features Departments Should the Wolf Be Delisted? 2 As a Matter of Fact 4 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to ”delist” the wolf, or remove it from the endangered species list, except in the Southwest. 3 From the Executive Delisting would end federal protection for wolves in the delisted areas Director and return wolf management to individual states. Two articles by International Wolf veterans of the debate on how best to enhance recovery of wolf popu- 14 Center Notes From lations present important opposing viewpoints on this important issue. Home Why I Support Federal Wolf Delisting, L.David Mech ?????????????????????????? Wolves Are Still in Need of Federal Protection, 16 Tracking the Pack Rick Duncan and Anne Mahle The Return of the Wolf to Idaho: 18 Wolves of the World A Cultural Triumph 8 21 News and Notes A wildlife biologist and member of the Nez Perce Tribe describes her first encounter with wolves and what they mean to the tribe. 22 Personal Encounter Marcie Carter 25 Book Review From Fourteen: A Beginning 26 Wild Kids 10 By 1980, the red wolf was declared extinct in the wild. Today the red wolf is reproducing and surviving, made possible by the efforts of dedicated professionals and the last 28 A Look Beyond 14 red wolves known to exist. David R. Rabon Jr. On The Cover ???????????????????? In the Wake of Hurricane Isabel: The 12 Red Wolves of Eastern North Carolina Zeus, the most filmed and photographed wolf in the Red Wolf Recovery Program, died when a tree uprooted during Hurricane Isabel destroyed his den box. But public outreach and education will continue as biologists and others work to ensure the long-term survival of red wolves. Neil Hutt Issac Babcock INTERNATIONAL From the Executive Director WOLF CENTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS Nancy jo Tubbs Chair Publications Director How efficient is a wolf ’s digestive system? Dr. L. David Mech Mary Ortiz To Delist or Not to Delist . Vice Chair Magazine Coordinator Dr. Rolf O. Peterson Carissa L.W. Knaack ike the swing of a pendulum, our relationship with wolves is never at one point Secretary Consulting Editor in the arc. Under national policy, we have gone from “shoot em all” to the strict Paul B. Anderson Mary Keirstead Treasurer protections under the federal Endangered Species Act. The point of the arc will Technical Editor L Dr. Larry D. Anderson L. David Mech change once again with the federal proposal to delist most gray wolves. We are espe- Julie Potts Close Graphic Designer cially pleased to share with you in this issue of International Wolf two distinctive and Tricia Hull Thomas T. Dwight important viewpoints from seasoned veterans of the debate on how best to protect wolf Nancy Gibson International Wolf (1089-683X) is populations. Pioneer wolf scientist Dave Mech speaks from his decades- Hélène Grimaud published quarterly and copyrighted, 2004, by the International Wolf Center, long research perspective as a government biologist, and Rick Duncan Cree Holtz 12615 Co. Road 9, #200, Minneapolis, MN and Anne Mahle, prominent environmental attorneys, speak on behalf Cornelia Hutt 55441, USA. e-mail: [email protected]. Dean Johnson All rights reserved. of groups who seek to halt the government’s current delisting proposal. Dr. Robert Laud Publications agreement no. 1536338 These two articles will take you behind the headlines you have undoubt- Mike Phillips Membership in the International Wolf edly seen and bring you close to the issues that will likely be argued in Dr. Robert Ream Center includes a subscription to International Wolf magazine, free admission the courtroom. They may also challenge your own thinking about what Jeff Rennicke to the Center, and discounts on programs Deborah Reynolds and merchandise. • Lone Wolf member- is the right approach to a national policy on wolf recovery for today and Lynn and Donna Rogers/www.bearstudy.org Lynn Jerry Sanders ships are U.S. $30 • Wolf Pack $50 • Walter Medwid future generations. Regardless of the ultimate decision on how and when Wolf Associate $100 • Wolf Sponsor $500 A wolf’s digestive system is 95 percent efficient, producing only Paul Schurke wolves will be delisted, the court’s judgment will set off a new round of debate as the • Alpha Wolf $1000. Canada and other 1 pound of scat for every 15 pounds of meat consumed. I Teri Williams countries, add U.S. $15 per year for inevitable transition to state management of wolf populations continues. airmail postage, $7 for surface postage. Contact the International Wolf Center, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 1396 Highway 169, Ely, MN 55731-8129, Walter M. Medwid In the last issue I wrote briefly about our having just reached an agreement for USA; e-mail: [email protected]; Who published the first phone: 1-800-ELY-WOLF an exciting new home for our outreach and administrative offices in the Twin Cities. New Question scientific article about MISSION International Wolf is a forum for airing What makes this new home special is that it will provide staff with a working location facts, ideas and attitudes about wolf- wolves in North America? The International Wolf related issues. Articles and materials that is connected to the environment through the surrounding woods, fields and waters Center advances the survival printed in International Wolf do not of wolf populations by necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the of French Regional Park—one of the jewels of the Three Rivers Park District’s network teaching about wolves, their International Wolf Center or its board of parks in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. Equally important, the new home of directors. relationship to wild lands and offers us a classroom, an exhibit area, space for a resource center for educators inter- the human role in their future. International Wolf welcomes submissions of personal adventures with wolves and ested in using the wolf in their curricula, and a diverse habitat that can supplement wolf photographs (especially black and Educational services and white). Prior to submission of other the learning experience for on-site programs we plan to offer once we get settled. You informational resources types of manuscripts, address queries can get a taste of our new home by going to www.threeriversparkdistrict.org/parks and are available at: to Mary Ortiz, publications director. clicking on French Regional Park. We are pleased to have our flagship education center International Wolf is printed entirely 1396 Highway 169 with soy ink on recycled and recyclable West Gate in the heart of wolf country in northern Minnesota, and we are especially pleased to Ely, MN 55731-8129, USA paper (text pages contain 20% post- 1-800-ELY-WOLF consumer waste, cover paper contains put the International Wolf Center welcome mat out to the heart of the human popula- 1-218-365-4695 10% post-consumer waste). We encourage tion in Minnesota through this new facility. I e-mail address: you to recycle this magazine. [email protected] PHOTOS: Unless otherwise noted, or Web site: http://www.wolf.org obvious from the caption or article text, photos are of captive wolves. 2 Spring 2004 www.wolf.org International Wolf Spring 2004 3 management to individual states. To Why I Support Federal Wolf ensure that state management would Delisting by L. DAVID MECH not reduce wolf populations below Should the the prescribed recovery levels, the large black wolf poked out of any doubt as to whether wolves USFWS examined the wolf manage- the conifers in Yellowstone would recover in the 48 states, the ment plans for each relevant state ANational Park’s Lamar Valley, numbers and distribution of these and asked several wolf biologists to followed single file by 16 pack- wolves should dispel that. In both the review them. For the first five years mates. They trod down an open hill- West and Midwest, wolf numbers far after delisting, the wolf populations side and crossed the road, in full exceed those prescribed for recovery will be closely monitored to make view of dozens of elated park visitors. by federal wolf recovery teams. sure they remain secure. Anytime a Wolf This Druid Peak pack is part of a Thus the U.S. Fish and Wildlife population dropped below recovery population of some 750 wolves that Service (USFWS) wants to ”delist” level during those five years or after, now inhabit the West, primarily in the wolf, or remove it from the the USFWS could quickly relist it and Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. endangered species list, except in the reimpose federal protection. Be Southwest, where recovery efforts are Nevertheless, several wolf advo- To the south, a reintroduced and growing population of 35 to 50 still underway. Delisting would end cacy organizations oppose federal wolves occupies Arizona and New federal protection for wolves in the delisting of the wolf. Although specific Mexico. Farther east, over 3,000 delisted areas and return wolf reasons vary, generally these organiza- wolves inhabit Minnesota, Wisconsin In both the West Delisted? and Michigan. All these wolves repre- and Midwest, wolf On April 1, 2003, the U.S. Fish and sent a vibrant and dramatic tribute to numbers far exceed the success of the Endangered those prescribed for Wildlife Service (USFWS) published recovery by federal Species Act (ESA). If there were ever wolf recovery a final rule on the status of the gray teams. wolf in the contiguous 48 states. This new rule, promulgated under Wolves Are Still in Othe Endangered Species Act, down- Need of Federal Protection listed the wolf from endangered to by RICK DUNCAN William E.