Environmentalists plan to file lawsuit over Idaho's new wolf law

 

 

Environmental groups have notified Idaho Gov. Brad Little and other state officials of their intent to file a lawsuit over an expanded wolf-killing law the groups say will result in the illegal killing of federally protected grizzly bear and lynx

 Environmental groups have notified Idaho Gov. Brad Little and other state officials of their intent to file a lawsuit over an expanded wolf-killing law they believe will result in the illegal killing of federally protected grizzly bear and lynx.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project and others on Monday gave a required 60-day notice of their intent to sue if Idaho officials don’t prohibit all hunting, trapping and snaring in grizzly bear and lynx habitat.

For lynx, the conditions could cover most of Idaho except for the southwestern portion of the state. For grizzly bears, the areas would include portions of northern, central and eastern Idaho. Wolves are found in roughly the northern two-thirds of the state.

In May, the Republican governor signed into law a measure lawmakers said could lead to killing 90% of the state’s 1,500 wolves through expanded trapping and hunting. It took effect July 1. Lawmakers who sponsored the measure, backed by hunters and the state’s ranching sector but heavily criticized by environmental advocates, said numerous times that the state is allowed to cut the number of wolves down to 150 before federal authorities would take over management of the species. They said reducing the wolf population would reduce attacks on livestock and boost deer and elk herds.

“Lynx, grizzly bears, and gray wolves all inhabit similar habitat types and geographic ranges in Idaho, and wolf hunting and trapping therefore frequently occur in areas in which lynx and grizzlies are also present,” the groups said in their letter. “Moreover, because snare and other authorized means of hunting and trapping are imprecise tools, they pose a substantial risk to non-target species, including lynx and grizzly bears.”

Besides Little, the letter was also sent to the members of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission and the directors of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Idaho State Department of Agriculture.

Roger Phillips, spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game, said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Little’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Environmental groups filed a similar notice of intent to sue in Montana last month that also involves the potential killing of grizzly bears and lynx by wolf hunters and trappers.

A primary change in the new law allows the state to hire private contractors to kill wolves and provides more money for state officials to hire the contractors.

The law also expands the way wolves can be hunted and killed.

It’s not clear if the expanded methods and seasons to kill wolves would reduce the wolf population to 150. Republican state Rep. Fred Wood, a former member of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, said the only way to do that would be to use poison, which is not in the new law.

However, hunters have said night-vision scopes, now allowed, could significantly increase the number of wolves killed. But the threatened lawsuit cites possible deaths of grizzly bears and lynx from expanded trapping and snaring of wolves.

“Idaho’s outdated plans for wolf killing will inevitably harm other native wildlife species,” said Patrick Kelly, Idaho director of Western Watersheds Project. “It’s unacceptable to allow imperiled species to be ‘collateral damage’ in Idaho’s war on wolves.”

The state Department of Fish and Game reported in February that the wolf population has held at about 1,500 the past two years. The numbers were derived by using remote cameras and other methods.

About 500 wolves have been killed in the state in each of the last two years by hunters, trappers and wolf control measures carried out by state and federal authorities.

Idaho Cattle Association Executive Vice President Cameron Mulrony told Capital Press the new law provides needed additional tools to control wolves, and “will get the ball rolling.”

The statute could be amended and administrative rules revised, both with legislative approval, later if necessary, he said.

Wolf pups born on Isle Royale, moose poised for decline

MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Research News

    SHARE

 PRINT  E-MAIL

IMAGE: IN THIS IMAGE FROM APRIL 2021, AN EMACIATED AND NUTRITIONALLY STRESSED BULL MOOSE -- WHO IS ALSO SEVERELY IMPACTED BY WINTER TICKS -- BEDS DOWN ON THE ISLAND.view more 

CREDIT: MICHIGAN TECH

The COVID-19 pandemic halted the in-person wintertime survey of wolves and moose on the island for the first time in 63 years. Consequently, there are no estimates of wolf or moose abundance for 2021, and the next estimates are scheduled in February 2022. But though the Isle Royale Winter Study didn't happen quite as planned, researchers were still able to visit the remote national park in the spring.

Now, fieldwork has resumed and Michigan Technological University researchers have already uncovered new information about these two iconic wildlife populations. In particular, wolves produced at least two litters of pups, and moose appear poised for decline.

In the Isle Royale Winter Study, Michigan Tech researchers share other significant developments about curating the world's largest moose bone collection, advances in understanding of wolf foraging behavior and the nutritional health of the moose population.

Key points:

• The Isle Royale wolf population is likely growing. "We recovered footage of a group of four wolf pups taken in January 2021 by remote cameras at the east end of Isle Royale," said Sarah Hoy, research assistant professor in Michigan Tech's College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (CFRES). "Additionally, observations of tracks and scats left by wolf pups last fall at two different locations suggest that there were probably two different litters of pups living at the east end of the island in September 2020."

• Wolves are specialized foragers. "Wolf foraging behavior seems driven by minimizing the risks associated with killing large prey, like moose, even when the differences in vulnerability among individual moose might seem relatively subtle compared to when predators are choosing between different prey species," Hoy said.

• Nutritional stress stacks the deck against moose, which holds significant implications for how moose will handle a warming climate. "We found that the nutritional health of moose was importantly influenced by how hot it is during the summer, and also by how deep the snow is in winter," Hoy said. "Moose tended to be more nutritionally stressed during winters with deep snow, which may be because deeper snow makes it more difficult for moose to move around and find food."

• The moose population is likely declining. "Moose really struggled to find enough food this past winter," Hoy said. "Because there have been such large numbers of moose on the island over the last five years and moose ate branches faster than the trees can recover and replace them, the amount of food available to moose during winter has been getting progressively worse each year since 2017.

• Winter ticks are worse than usual this year, as evidenced by moose with very little fur left in spring -- having scratched or bitten off almost all of their winter coats in an effort to rid themselves of the blood-sucking parasites. This is significant because blood loss to ticks can exacerbate the detrimental effects of food shortage. Despite the mild winter, depleted food supplies and ticks made life harder for the island's moose this year.

Hunting and hidden deaths led to 30% reduction in WI wolf population

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

Research News

    SHARE

 PRINT  E-MAIL

MADISON, Wis. -- About 100 additional wolves died over the winter in Wisconsin as a result of the delisting of grey wolves under the Endangered Species Act, alongside the 218 wolves killed by licensed hunters during Wisconsin's first public wolf hunt, according to new research.

The combined loss of 313 to 323 wolves represents a decline in the state's wolf population of between 27% and 33% between April 2020 and April 2021. Researchers estimate that a majority of these additional, uncounted deaths are due to something called cryptic poaching, where poachers hide evidence of illegal killings.

The findings are the first estimate of Wisconsin's wolf population since the public hunt in February, which ended early after hunters exceeded the quota of 119 wolves within a few days. These population estimates can help the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) prepare for the next legally mandated wolf hunt this fall.

They also provide guidance to other states planning wolf hunts following the removal of federal protections announced in November 2020 and effective January 2021.

University of Wisconsin-Madison environmental studies scientists Adrian Treves, Francisco Santiago-Ávila and Karann Putrevu performed the research, which was published July 5 in the journal PeerJ.

Under a variety of population growth scenarios, the researchers estimate that Wisconsin now hosts between 695 and 751 wolves, compared with at least 1,034 wolves last year. The scientists say this likely represents the maximum current wolf population, because they incorporated optimistic assumptions about population growth and low poaching rates into their models.

This decline is despite the hunting quota of 119 wolves for non-native hunters, set with the goal of helping maintain but not reduce the state's wolf population. Ojibwe Tribes were granted a quota of 81 wolves, but they did not conduct a hunt.

"Although the DNR is aiming for a stable population, we estimate the population actually dropped significantly," says Treves, a professor in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and director of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab at UW-Madison.

The new study suggests that about one-third of the population decline is due to hidden deaths in the wolf population, resulting from relaxed legal protections.

Previous research by the Treves lab showed that wolf population growth declined in Wisconsin and Michigan when legal protections were relaxed, regardless of the number of wolves legally killed. And Santiago-Ávila led research that found that Wisconsin's wolves and the heavily monitored Mexican wolves of the American Southwest disappeared at greater rates when lethal control methods were allowed.

Other studies by the lab of attitudes toward wolves suggest that when governments allow lethal management, would-be poachers are inclined to kill more wolves because the relaxed policies signal that predators are less valued.

Those previous findings helped Santiago-Ávila, Putrevu and Treves model the uncounted deaths in Wisconsin since last November.

"During these periods, we see an effect on poaching, both reported and cryptic. Those wolves disappear and you never find them again," says Santiago-Ávila, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab. "Additional deaths are caused simply by the policy signal, and the wolf hunt adds to that."

Treves and his team estimate that the population could recover in one to two years without hunting. Wisconsin law requires a wolf hunt between November and February when hunting is not prohibited by federal protections.

Following the federal delisting of wolves that became effective in January 2021, the DNR initially planned to conduct the first hunt in November 2021. But after a lawsuit, the DNR immediately implemented a wolf hunt at the end of February.

The research team hopes that the Wisconsin DNR and other states' natural resource agencies take advantage of their methods to develop a more complete assessment of the effect of new policies on predator populations.

"These methods and models are freely available to these agencies," says Putrevu, a doctoral student who also researches tiger populations in the Russian Far East. "They should take advantage of the best available science to meet their stated goals."

Black bears may play important role in protecting gray fox

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Research News

    SHARE

 PRINT  E-MAIL

DURHAM, N.H.-- Bears are known for being devoted and protective of their baby cubs, but research from the University of New Hampshire shows that they may also play a significant role in shielding gray fox from predators like coyotes, who compete with the fox for food and space. The research is one of the first studies to show how black bears provide a buffer to allow other, smaller carnivores to safely co-exist.

"Even though black bears and coyotes are the two most common carnivores in North America, we're still learning how they affect the ecosystems around them," said Rem Moll, assistant professor of wildlife ecology and lead author of the study. "What's unique about bears is that they hibernate, so they literally disappear for half a year, which we now know can shift animal habits in the ecosystem."

In the study, published in the journal Oecologia, researchers took a closer look at the hierarchy of carnivores to see if a major life trait, like hibernation, had a significant effect. In the western part of Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, the researchers tracked and monitored the top species of carnivores which included black bears, which are the largest and most dominant species, followed by coyotes, bobcats, and finally gray fox, which are the smallest (a bit larger than a cat) and most subordinate species. They found that in summer the gray fox stayed close to areas populated by black bears which appeared to provide a top-down buffering effect helping to protect the gray fox from the coyotes. But in the winter, when bears were hibernating, this pattern reversed and coyotes were three times more likely to move into the now vacant bear territories and the gray fox, no longer secure by the presence of the black bear, moved out. This pattern suggests that the top carnivore - black bears - provided a shield for the gray fox from competition with coyotes. But this "bear shield" was only seasonal, disappearing when the bears hibernated.

"In our field of research, there is something called the "landscape of fear" - the idea that there is a pecking order and that both predators and prey will change their behavior to avoid getting killed," said Moll. "For decades this was overlooked, so there aren't a lot of studies showing the connection between black bears and coyotes - two of the most common carnivores in the U.S. - but this work suggests that fear is important in defining the species roles in the ecosystem."

The researchers say even though this study was done near Lake Tahoe, where black bears were nearly extinct a few decades ago, they believe these instinctual actions could be a very common dynamic in any area where black bears, gray fox and coyotes co-exist.

Cultural, belief system data can inform gray wolf recovery efforts in US

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

    SHARE

 PRINT  E-MAIL

IMAGE: NORTH DAKOTA, WYOMING AND MONTANA HAVE MORE RESIDENTS WITH TRADITIONALIST VALUES, SAID MICHAEL MANFREDO, LEAD INVESTIGATOR AND DEPARTMENT HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN DIMENSIONS OF NATURAL RESOURCES. view more 

CREDIT: CSU PHOTOGRAPHY

Humans regularly exert a powerful influence on the survival and persistence of species, yet social-science information is used only sporadically in conservation decisions.

Researchers at Colorado State University and The Ohio State University have created an index depicting the mix of social values among people across all 50 states, providing data that can be useful for wildlife conservation policy and management.

As a specific illustration, the research team found a supportive social context for gray wolf reintroduction in Colorado. Last fall, citizens in the state voted by ballot initiative to mandate the reintroduction of gray wolves. The data and maps in the study reveal that Colorado's social environment is far more conducive to wolf recovery than states like Montana and Idaho, which currently have state legislative efforts to reduce wolf populations.

The study, "Bringing social values to wildlife conservation decisions," was published online June 3 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Michael Manfredo, the study's lead investigator and head of CSU's Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, said the research reveals how people fall into the categories of traditionalists - those who believe animals should be used for purposes that benefit humans, like hunting and medical research - or mutualists, those who believe that animals deserve the same rights as humans. Mutualists view animals as companions and part of their social networks and project human traits onto animals.

"You can see what the 'flavor' is of the state or county, and what policies or initiatives people are likely to support or be opposed to," said Manfredo.

Highly modernized states, including California, Nevada, Colorado and Washington, are leaning more toward mutualism, according to the research. North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana have more residents with traditionalist values.

Tara Teel, CSU professor and a lead author on the study, said that the data is relevant for other hot and new topics and drills down to the county level.

"This study builds on a 50-state study on America's Wildlife Values -- the largest and first of its kind," said Teel. "It is one of the first broadly accessible social science datasets to inform wildlife conservation efforts across the United States."

Data provides insight on conservation decisions

While the results are particularly relevant for the U.S., the technique used by the team could be applied to better account for human factors in conservation decisions for addressing issues like climate change, species reintroductions and human-wildlife conflict globally.

The research team used data from a survey conducted from 2017 to 2018 of 46,894 U.S. residents and applied a sociocultural index to inform decision-making through an understanding of public values toward wildlife. Scientists measured mutualist and traditionalist values, which have previously been shown to be highly predictive of attitudes on a wide range of policy issues. The team subsequently developed state and county maps.

'Values don't change quickly'

"Previous research has found that there is a strong relationship between the laws passed in any given state and people's values," said Manfredo. "In the last two decades, there's been a substantial change in how people value wildlife," he added.

"Values don't change quickly," he said. "They're not like how a person feels about political issues. Values are formed in a person's youth and stay with you forever."

Manfredo said data showed that as far back as the early 2000s, people in Colorado were in favor of wolf reintroduction. But in places like Jackson County, a sub-alpine valley in northern Colorado, people were not so excited about wolves.

"Society is changing, and there's been a backlash from traditionalists who feel that their values and their voices in decision-making are being threatened," he said. "Ultimately, state and local agencies need to pay more attention to constituents. That means everybody in the state, not just a segment or a particular county. Policies need to fall more in line with the values of the public."

Researchers uncover hidden hunting tactics of wolves in Minnesota's Northwoods

 

In first systematic analysis of their ambushing behavior, U of M researchers find wolves' hunting strategies are highly-flexible depending on their prey.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Research News

    SHARE

 PRINT  E-MAIL

IMAGE: IN A NEW PAPER PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, , RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND THE VOYAGEURS WOLF PROJECT SHOW THAT WOLVES HAVE EVOLVED AMBUSH HUNTING TACTICS... view more 

CREDIT: VOYAGEURS WOLF PROJECT

Wolves are arguably the most well-studied large predators in the world, yet new research shows there is still a lot to learn about their hunting tactics. Typically, wolves hunt large mammals like moose, deer, and bison in packs by outrunning, outlasting, and exhausting their prey. However, throughout the dense boreal forests in North America and Eurasia, during the summer wolves often hunt beavers by themselves.

But how does a wolf catch a semi-aquatic prey that spends little time on land and never ventures far from the safety of its pond? Turns out with patience, and a lot of waiting.

In a new paper published in the journal Behavioral Ecology, researchers from the University of Minnesota and the Voyageurs Wolf Project--which studies wolves in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem in the northwoods of Minnesota--show that wolves have evolved ambush hunting tactics specifically tailored for catching and killing beavers.

"Over a five-year period, we estimate that our field research team collectively put in over 15,000 person-hours to search nearly 12,000 locations where wolves had spent time. Through this effort, we ended up documenting 748 locations where wolves waited to ambush beavers but were unsuccessful, and 214 instances where wolves killed beavers," said Sean Johnson-Bice, a co-author of the study. "This dedicated fieldwork has provided unprecedented insight into the hunting tactics wolves use in boreal environments."

Beavers have extremely poor eyesight, so they rely primarily on their well-developed sense of smell to detect predators on land--and wolves appear to have learned this through time. Researchers discovered wolves choose ambushing sites within a few feet of where beavers are active on land because wolves have learned beavers cannot visually detect them. When doing so, wolves almost always choose ambushing sites that are downwind to avoid being smelled by beavers.

"The results are very clear," said Tom Gable, the study's lead-author: "89-94% of the ambushing sites were downwind, where beavers were likely unable to smell wolves."

When staking out beavers, wolves appear to be surprisingly patient. They spend substantial periods of time waiting next to areas where beavers are active on land, such as near beaver dams and trails.

"Wolves waited an average of four hours during each stakeout. But they often waited eight-12 hours or more, and one wolf even waited-in-ambush for 30 hours," said study co-author Austin Homkes.

The researchers note that these behaviors were not unique to a few wolves. Instead, wolves from multiple packs across several years used the same ambushing tactics, indicating that this behavior is widespread throughout the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem and likely other ecosystems where wolves hunt beavers. Notably, wolves and beavers co-occur across much of the Northern Hemisphere so the implications have wide applicability.

"Gathering data to demonstrate how wind direction influences the ambushing behavior of predators has been difficult for animal ecologists," said co-author Joseph Bump. "Scientists have long-thought that ambush predators are able to strategically choose ambush sites in areas where prey are unable to detect them via scent. Until now though, documenting these hunting tactics in exhaustive detail proved extremely challenging."

Ultimately, the study challenges the classic concept that wolves are solely cursorial predators (i.e., predators that kill their prey by outrunning and outlasting them). Instead, wolf-hunting strategies appear highly flexible, and they are able to switch between hunting modes (cursorial and ambush hunting) depending on their prey.

"It is the first systematic analysis of wolf ambushing behavior," said Gable. "It overturns the traditional notion that wolves rely solely on hunting strategies that involve pursuing, testing, and running down prey."

New challenges for wolf conservation

People view the wolf as either a threatening predator or a sign of a healthy natural habitat. Many proponents of nature and animal conservation welcome the spread of wolf populations in Germany. By contrast, farmers who graze herds directly impacted by the wolves' return are more critical. The team of Nicolas Schoof, Prof. Dr. Albert Reif of the Chair of Site Classification and Vegetation Science at the University of Freiburg, and Prof. Dr. Eckhard Jedicke of the Competence Center Cultural Landscape and the Department of Landscape Planning and Nature Conservation of Hochschule Geisenheim University has assessed the existing legal situation. On the basis of a range of environmental data they have determined the conflicts and drawn up possible solutions. In an article in the German specialist journal "Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung" (Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning) the researchers present in detail how wider distribution of the predator could negatively affect legally binding nature conservation goals.

Schoof explains that experts - based on the assumption that the wolves were living mainly in isolation - initially ascribed those that have reappeared in Germany to the Central European Lowlands population. Nevertheless, newer genetic studies show the population is at least interacting with the Baltic wolf population, meaning that incest risk is low. The Freiburg researcher goes on to say that European law is very strict and does not allow - other than has been often maintained - any type of regulatory culling. "As a result," says Schoof, "there is a high growth and survival rate for young animals, allowing the wolf to spread to many regions."

The species itself primarily indicates there has been growth in the native fauna. Schoof's team is analyzing the consequences the growing wolf population - and with it the increasing attacks on livestock and resulting demands to protect herds in Germany - will have for maintaining biodiversity. "There's the threat of a partial abandonment of livestock grazing, especially in locations that are crucial to conserving nature," explains Schoof. Areas affected could, for example, be meadows or grasslands on steep slopes as well as those with stony soils. These habitats are - like the wolf itself - the focus of legally binding conservation measures and are dependent on the continuation of grazing. Unlike the wolf habitats, these environments are so rare that they are at risk.

In many cases, new fences can offer herds much better protection. But this isn't possible on steep slopes, for example. Dependent on the size and condition of the pastures, sheepdogs could be introduced. But the researchers say that is a markedly labor and cost intensive option which would only come into question for a few livestock owners. But sheepdogs cannot be effectively used above all in partially open pasture lands that are an essential component for conserving biodiversity. Yet it is precisely in these areas that the problems caused by wolves could increase, says Schoof, meaning that only fixed, wolf-resistant fences are a solution, but these would limit the spatial efficacy of large grazing projects. What is more, the expected erection of fencing systems will generally form a massive impediment to other wildlife that have found an optimal habitat on grazing land.

Based on these conflicts, the researchers say they have no doubt that the permissible legal regulatory measures to cull problematic individuals through hunting must be simplified significantly and stringently implemented. Taken in perspective, comprehensive active management of the wolf population must be considered and the necessary legal regulatory changes undertaken. The researchers argue that the wolf population is not endangered because of the individual numbers that have been reached, the generally low incest risk, and the current exponential growth in population. Schoof points out that simpler solutions are not in sight or legally possible as yet.

Additionally, the researchers propose in their study that on the one hand, all the required measures to protect herds should be comprehensively supported. "On the other hand, better financial support for the frequently economically unattractive farming of grazing animals could contribute to moderating the existing conflicts," says Schoof. "In that way, owners of grazing livestock would clearly be shown that they are key partners when it comes to implementing practical conservation efforts," he adds.