Wolves – PROTECT ALL WILDLIFE

A Collared Wolf From Michigan’s U.P. Roamed More Than 4,000 Miles Before A Hunter Killed It

A Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus)

When a hunter in Manitoba, Canada legally shot and killed a Gray Wolf in early December 2022, a radio collar found around its neck was the first clue to the incredible journey this animal had been on. The Wolf had been collared in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the summer of 2021, and its GPS data since then showed this Wolf’s multi-state and two-country trek was one for the record books.

A map plotted by Michigan Department of Natural Resources researchers showed this male Wolf travelled through Wisconsin, then Minnesota, made a short stop in North Dakota, crossed the Canadian border into Ontario, then swung up into the Whiteshell area of Manitoba, where the hunter’s bullet found him. In all, this Wolf had travelled 4,200 miles in about 18 months.

This map from Michigan DNR shows the lengthy trek of a collared Gray Wolf from the Upper Peninsula, through other northern states and into Canada.

“The use of GPS collars will certainly add more insight to the movement of these amazing animals and likely show that others may make similar movements over time, but I suspect this will stand as a record for some time for Michigan,” said Brian Roell, a wildlife biologist with Michigan’s DNR.

Use of Wolf Collars

Michigan’s Wolf population has been stable for the last several years, with anywhere from 600 to 700 Wolves spread out across every county in the state’s Upper Peninsula. There’s been evidence a few Wolves have crossed the Straits of Mackinac to enter the Lower Peninsula, but there’s no documented population there so far, the DNR says.

State biologists have run a Wolf-collaring program since 1992. Currently, about 30 of the U.P.’s Wolves are wearing collars. Researchers can typically get about three years of data from a Wolf before the newer GPS collars stop working. Each spring, the DNR catches and collars new Wolves. They try to target Wolves from specific packs they want more information about – packs that might have overlapping territories, where researchers want to get a better handle on the pack boundaries. Or packs that are reportedly getting too close to livestock farms. By tracking any troublemaking packs, the DNR can use hazing methods to try to push them away from specific areas.

Beyond just population measurements, Roell said the collaring effort has given biologists lots of important information on Michigan’s 130 to 140 Wolf packs. “It also gives us insight into biological information on Michigan Wolves, their movement, their territory sizes.”

A Well-Travelled Wolf

But this lone Wolf making the 4,200-mile trip was unusual in the breadth of his roaming, researchers agree. The 92-pound male was collared in the summer of 2021 near Lake Gogebic. This is in the Ottawa National Forest in the north-western part of the U.P.

“It did not stay in Michigan very long after that,” Roell said the GPS data showed. “So it really never settled down.”

The DNR has documented other Michigan Wolves that have taken long trips. One showed up in Missouri. Others have been found in closer locales like Wisconsin or Minnesota. Some have crossed into Canada.

“The new technology that we have been using … has really given us some insight into these long-distance movements,” Roell said. “Often it seems like some of these animals are destined to stay loners.”

As for this particular Wolf, “we know this animal had been going for a while,” before it was legally harvested, he said.

Great Lakes Wolves: One Big Population?

Another group that was interested in this Michigan Wolf’s long trek was the Voyageurs Wolf Project, researchers who study Wolves and their prey in and around Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. This Michigan Wolf walked though part of Voyageurs – and through at least two Wolf pack territories in that park – on its way north to Canada. When the group recently shared this information and the Michigan DNR’s maps on social media, the post amassed thousands of likes and shares.

A Pack Of Wolves On The Ice At Voyageurs National Park

But beyond just sharing the information, the Voyageurs group said this Michigan Wolf’s trek helps expand people’s understanding of the “Lone Wolf” concept. And it shows how Wolves in the Great Lakes region are more connected than some people might think. After all, Wolves don’t know when they’re crossing state lines, or stepping into another country.

“The travels of this Michigan Wolf, along with many others that our project and other researchers have documented, show how Wolves across the Midwest states and Canadian provinces are connected,” their social media post reads.

“Although we tend to think of Wolf populations based on geopolitical boundaries (e.g. the Wolf population in a given state or province), which are useful for management and conservation decisions, there isn’t much to indicate that these boundaries actually denote the boundaries between Wolf populations.

Four Of The Great Lakes Gray Wolves Population Howling

“Instead, probably the best way to think of Wolf populations in the western Great Lakes area is to think of them as one large, connected population with dispersing Wolves moving between provinces and states all the time.”

Originally posted by Michigan Live.

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A Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Is Surrounded & Run Off By A Pack Of Wolves In “Once In A Lifetime” Footage

Every year, millions and millions of people visit Yellowstone National Park, but not everybody gets a show like this.

Captured by Yellowstone Adam Brubaker of Tied to Nature, the video picks up in the Hayden Valley area of Yellowstone with a couple of Wolves from Wapiti Lake Pack and a curious Grizzly bear.

You’d think that a bear would want to run away when he’s outnumbered by a few Wolves, but nope, this fella charges forward to get a better look.

A group of tourists have witnessed a scene straight out of a Sir David Attenborough documentary, when a pack of wild Wolves decided to take on a giant Grizzly bear.

In a stunning video shot by Tied to Nature tour operator Adam Brubaker, tourists witnessed a pack of 10 Wolves surround a bear which Mr Brubaker believes was eyeing off their kill.

The encounter, which happened at Hayden Valley in the famed Yellowstone National Park, was described as a “once in a lifetime” sighting by the qualified naturalist.

“I had the awesome opportunity to share this once in a lifetime Wolf and Grizzly sighting while on tour in Yellowstone today.” he wrote on his Facebook page alongside the video.

“This Grizzly was foraging in the far end of the valley when the Wolves started to cross his path. The Grizzly started standing up on his hind legs to get a better view of what was going on and then started to approach the Wolves.

**At one point, the bear reared up on its hind legs to get a better look over the tall grass.**

“Soon the rest of the Wolf pack appears and escorts the bear into the trees.”

Some thought that the Wolves might have been trying to protect their cubs, but Mr Brubaker believes they had dinner nearby – and didn’t want a hungry bear to snack on any leftovers.

“From what I could see the pups were not with them,” he told USA Today.

“The white Wolf has blood on her face and neck, so there could have been a carcass, but while I watched them they were not feeding on one.”

While grizzlies and Wolves typically avoid each other, encounters have happened before.

“Bears may benefit from the presence of Wolves by taking carcasses that Wolves have killed, making carcasses more available to Bears throughout the year,” National Park Service told Newsweek .

“If a bear wants a Wolf-killed animal, the Wolves will try to defend it; Wolves usually fail to chase the bear away, although female grizzlies with cubs are seldom successful in taking a Wolf kill.”

“I could see that the two species were probably going to cross paths but I did not expect what was going to happen.

“For many people, this would be a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. Neither the Wolves nor Bears were injured. I believe I saw the same bear yesterday out in the same place this time with no Wolves around.

“I have been a guide in Yellowstone for seven years and visiting the park for 20 and every day can offer something new or different.”

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A Tragic Wolf Called ‘Romeo’ Loved Too Much, And He Deserved Better.

On a twilit night in Juneau, Alaska, in December 2003, and Nick and Sherrie Jans were walking with Dakotah, their yellow Lab, in the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area not far from their house. Suddenly, a young black wolf appeared on the ice—and began running in their direction. Awestruck but scared, the couple watched as Dakotah broke loose and charged the predator, which was twice the size of the dog. The animals stopped yards apart and gazed at each other “as if each were glimpsing an almost-forgotten face and trying to remember,” recalled Jans. After a few moments, Dakotah ran back to her owners, and the three hurried home, listening to the wolf howl

The locals named him Romeo, and soon his presence was noted by the entire town. Most found it fascinating that Romeo was so friendly, while others assumed that this naturally predatory animal would give into his natural instincts at any moment, potentially attacking their pets and children.

During this time Nick Jans started documenting Romeo. When he did, he uncovered an emotional story, the heart of which describes the tenuous relationships between wild animals and the humans around them.

“The first thing I saw was tracks out on the lake in front of our house on the outskirts of Juneau,” Jans said in an interview with National Geographic. “A few days later, I looked out from my house and there was this wolf out on the ice. I’d had 20 years of experience around wolves up in the Arctic and immediately knew it was a wolf, not a dog. I threw on my skis and found him.”

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According to Jans, Romeo seemed totally relaxed and friendly.

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And it wasn’t just one interaction, either: Romeo remained his curious, friendly self for the better part of six years.

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“For want of a better word,” Jans said, “The only thing I can say from a human perspective is that it amounted to friendship. If you wanted to be scientifically correct, it would be “social mutual tolerance.” But it was more than that. The wolf would come trotting over to say hi, and give a little bow and a relaxed yawn, and go trotting after us when we went skiing. There was no survival benefit. He obviously just enjoyed our company.”

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Romeo’s behavior was definitely unusual, as many wolves tend to assert dominance by attacking dogs and other animals.

The wolf got his name because Jans and his family noticed how Romeo was kind of a flirt — particularly with their “Juliet,” a dog named Dakotah. Here, they’re standing nose-to-nose in what seems to be an all-too-perfect photo moment.

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Romeo survived for years despite many mortal threats: scented traps, busy roads, illegal hunting, and even a poisoning attempt. He also had to contend with the natural dangers of starvation, injury, and attack by another pack of wolves. By almost any standard, his prolonged proximity to humans and dogs constituted incredibly rare behaviour. There was no obvious survival benefit to his socializing, yet the wolf lingered persistently, a late echo of the original process that must have initiated the domestication of dogs.

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“When you get down to the genetic difference between a wolf and a domestic dog, whether it is a Chihuahua or a Great Dane, all dogs are 99.98 percent genetically a wolf. That 0.02 percent obviously looms huge, because if you raise a wolf cub from the time it opens its eyes, it may make a wonderfully bonded animal, but it will not be a dog, no matter what you do. It will act like a wolf and be a wolf. It takes generations to shape the soul of a wolf and its physical shape into man’s best friend.”

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Romeo stayed in the area for as long as he lived — and he lived three times longer than most wild wolves do.

“Romeo was the single most transformative event of my life,” Jans said. “The amazing thing was Romeo’s understanding. It wasn’t just our understanding and tolerance. It was the combination of his and ours and the dogs’. We were these three species working out how to get along harmoniously. And we did.”

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What happened to Romeo? Romeo disappeared in late September 2009. After some sleuthing, a supporter found he had been shot and killed by Juneau resident Park Myers III and his Pennsylvanian friend Jeff Peacock. Both men were arrested and ended up paying fines, serving a few years on probation, and losing hunting and fishing privileges for a limited time. In late November 2010, a memorial service was held for Romeo and this plaque was laid along a path where he once roamed.

“Nothing can take away the miracle that was Romeo and the years we spent in his company,” writes Jans. “Love, not hate, is the burden we carry.”

Nick Jans’ beautiful account of his unusual relationship is now in a book called A Wolf Called Romeo.

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