Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Arizona’s Mexican Wolf Population Tops 100

Population survey shows a 31 percent increase in the population

The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) has completed its annual year-end population survey for endangered Mexican wolves and documented a minimum of 109 animals in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico at the end of 2014. This is a 31 percent increase over the previous year and the fourth consecutive year with at least a 10 percent increase in the known population. There were a minimum of 83 wild wolves identified in the 2013 survey.

“In 1982, the Mexican wolf recovery team recommended a population of at least 100 animals in the wild as a hedge against extinction; until we initiated the first releases in 1998, there had been no Mexican wolves in the wild in the United States since the 1970s,” said Southwest Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle. “Although there is still much to be done, reaching this milestone is monumental!”

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“This survey demonstrates a major accomplishment in Mexican wolf recovery. In 2010, there were 50 Mexican wolves in the wild; today there are 109, a more than doubling of the population in Arizona and New Mexico. With our Mexican wolf population consisting of wild-born wolves, we expect the growth rates observed this year to continue into the future. In spite of considerable naysaying, our 10(j) program has been a success because of on-the-ground partnerships. We have every reason to believe that our efforts at reintroduction will continue to be successful,” said Arizona Game and Fish Director Larry Voyles. Read more

Wildlife

RMEF Files Appeal in Great Lakes Wolf Ruling

MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined a coalition of partners by filing an appeal to remove wolves in the Great Lakes region from federal protection and return them to state management.

In December of 2014, Judge Beryl A. Howell wiped out several years of successful management in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin by returning wolves to the Endangered Species List. In her ruling, Judge Howell overlooked the region’s robust population by stating wolves in the Great Lakes cannot be considered recovered until they are re-established across their widespread historic range covering much of the United States.

“Plain and simple, state agencies –not the federal government– are best qualified and equipped to manage wolves just as they manage all other wildlife,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “The judge did not rule that the Great Lakes wolf population is ailing. On the contrary, it’s thriving—a fact that is echoed by wildlife scientists.” Read more

Wildlife

Ivory Ban Bills Across the United States- An Update

Federal Regulation and Legislation

African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act Re-Introduced in Congress – Alaskan Congressman Don Young has introduced bipartisan legislation with Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN) to roll-back and further halt onerous constraints on lawfully possessed ivory products, including musical instruments, firearms, knives, and museum pieces that include ivory parts. The African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act of 2015, HR 697, would effectively end the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s draconian and unilateral moratorium on the sale and trade of lawfully possessed ivory, while also making significant efforts to assist anti-poaching efforts in countries with elephant populations.

The bill would specifically allow: Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Boone & Crockett Supports Bill Restoring State Management for Wolves

GW: So, here we go in an effort to wrest control from Feds. Heck yeah!

MISSOULA, MT – A new bill introduced in Congress yesteday would once and for all transfer management of recovered gray wolf populations back to state wildlife agencies in Wyoming and the Great Lakes region.

H.R. 884 is cosponsored by members of Congress from the relevant states from both parties. The original sponsors include Representatives Ribble (R-WI), Lummis (R-WY), Benishek (R-MI), Peterson (D-MN), Duffy (R-WI), Emmer (R-MN), Grothman (R-WI), Huizenga (R-MI), Kind (D-WI), Kline (R-MN), Ryan (R-WI), Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Simpson (R-ID), Walberg (R-MI), and Walz (D-MN).

Several of the sponsors are members and past leaders of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. Rep. Tim Walz is currently a co-chair of the caucus.

Wolf management authority for years has been bouncing back and forth between state and federal agencies in these two regions as the wolf populations there have thrived and spread. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has repeatedly found the species to be recovered, sustainable and ready for science-based management by the states. Courts have repeatedly negated these findings based on lawsuits over procedural technicalities.

Congress previously acted on this same problem with bipartisan support to establish state management in Montana and Idaho in 2011. Today’s legislation renews that effort for Wyoming and the Lake States. Boone and Crockett helped develop the 2011 bill, which also appears in H.R. 884.

“It is a sign of our times that scientific decisions by the Fish and Wildlife Service can be repeatedly reversed in court by those who disapprove of the decision,” said Bob Model, co-chair of the Boone and Crockett Club’s Policy Committee. “Preferences should not trump science. It is past time for Congress to stand behind the science, reinstate the decisions, and cut off further lawsuits – and that’s what H.R. 884 does.”

In 2011, when Congress last acted to reinstate management authority to Idaho and Montana, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had not yet transferred management to other states. Since then, the additional transfers have occurred and, just as in the past, procedural litigation reversed them. It is time again to reinstate the scientific decision of the Fish and Wildlife Service and stop the legal gamesmanship.

Both Idaho and Montana have been successfully carrying out their management strategy of balancing the needs of wolves and people since 2011. Wolf populations in these states remain sizable, sustainable, and stabilized.

In reinstating state management in Wyoming, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, H.R. 884 also makes these reissued rulings no longer subject to judicial review by district courts. The bill does not modify the Endangered Species Act, nor does it prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from deciding to re-impose federal protection for the gray wolf in the future if it determines that is necessary.

Model added, “At the end of the day, people who live with wolves want to do what’s right for wolves and people. This new bill will allow science-based state management to work for both.”

About the Boone and Crockett Club
North America’s first hunting and conservation organization, the Boone and Crockett Club was founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887. Its mission is to promote the conservation and management of wildlife, especially big game and its habitat, to preserve and encourage hunting and to maintain the highest ethical standards of fair chase and sportsmanship. Join us at www.boone-crockett.org.
Media Contact Steve Wagner, Blue Heron
Communications, 800-654-3766 or steve@blueheroncomm.com.

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

Ruby Creek Wolf Captured, Placed in Western Washington Sanctuary

OLYMPIA – A wolf that had become habituated to humans, and could cause problems if left in the wild, was captured on February 11 by Washington wildlife officials in northeast Washington and placed in a western Washington wolf sanctuary.

The adult female wolf, the last known member of the Ruby Creek pack, was captured near the community of Ione in Pend Oreille County where she had spent months living near people, domestic dogs and livestock.

Dave Ware, wolf policy lead for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said the wolf’s behavior prompted concerns she would breed with a domestic dog, produce wolf-dog hybrids in the wild, and become increasingly associated with humans.

“This is a rare situation,” Ware said. “We know that placing wolves in captivity is not an option every time there is a problem. In this case, however, we believe permanent placement in a wolf sanctuary is a good match given the animal’s habituation to humans.”

Since last fall, the Pend Oreille County Commission has urged WDFW to move the wolf out of Ione, Ware said. Yet, she eluded capture and remained in the area despite the department’s efforts to trap her. Read more

Wildlife

Stealth Cam G42C

Stealth Cam, introduced in the year 2000, quickly became the leader in scouting camera innovation. Building upon the wildly popular G Series camera platform, Stealth Cam introduces the G42C White LED Flash scouting camera. This 8 Megapixel – 3 resolutions; 8mp, 4mp, and 2mp delivers color day and color night images and video thanks to the 42 White LED’s with an 80-foot range, making it great for land management professionals, hunters tracking potential trophies, or landowners keeping any eye on critters in their back yard. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

DNA Analysis Complete for Wolf Killed in Utah

DENVER—After an extensive analysis by the University of Idaho, it has been confirmed that the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) killed in Utah on December 28, 2014 is the same wolf seen in the Grand Canyon area last year.

Geneticists from the university’s Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary, and Conservation Genetics compared the DNA from the wolf killed in Utah with samples taken from the wolf near the Grand Canyon. The results were conclusive that it is the same wolf, identified by the Service as 914F, which was collared near Cody, Wyoming on January 8, 2014 and spotted in the Grand Canyon area in the fall of last year. Read more

Wildlife

Warbler Fidelity to their Mates Based on Caterpillar Numbers

Ithaca, N.Y.—It’s long been thought that many birds make decisions during the breeding season—such as whether to attempt nesting twice with their mate, or whether to cheat on their mate—based on the other birds around them, or social factors (breeding density, or how much competition there is for mates).

New research, published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, now shows that Black-throated Blue Warblers are reading cues from their surrounding environment to make decisions on when to remain faithful and when to be promiscuous. The study found these decisions can be based on food availability. Read more

Wildlife

Western Great Lakes Wolves Status

Western Great Lakes Wolf Delisting Challenge (HSUS v. Jewell) – Defense of delisting and hunting of WGL wolf population. Status: SCI, NRA, USSAF and several other organizations intervened. The district court recently issued a ruling vacating the delisting and placing the WGL wolves back on the endangered species list. All defendants and defendant-intervenors are considering potential legislative and litigation relief, including a proposed law, similar to the one adopted to delist Montana and Idaho’s wolves, as well as a possible appeal of the ruling.

Animal Rights, Wildlife

52-Pound Coyote Taken in Michigan’s Thumb Region

by Lia Biondo, Policy Intern MUCC

Photo courtesy of Scott Parr.

The coyotes of Lapeer County have earned recent notoriety among southeast Michigan locals. Last week, they were accused of taking down a horse from the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Mounted Division. A few days later, another coyote-horse attack was reported. Though neither attack was able to be confirmed by DNR officials, the incidences have many Metro Detroiters wondering if their animals could be next.

Through the power of social media, Scott Parr of Brown City, MI was recently thrust into the same limelight as the Lapeer County coyotes when he posted this picture of himself on Facebook last night.

A local news station picked up the picture, and – as it goes with local news stations – the facts became fiction as the story spread across the Metro Detroit area and beyond.

I tracked down Scott for some salt-of-the-Earth truth behind the picture, and to give us his perspective on the coyote population in Michigan’s thumb region.

So, tell me about this picture.

S: “I took that specific coyote on December 23, 2013 with my Ruger M77 Mark II .223. It came out to weigh 52 pounds.

I had put the picture on Facebook the other day, without even thinking about it. That night, the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Department called me and asked for permission to use the picture to raise awareness for the coyote problem in our area. I woke up the next morning, and my Facebook, email and phone were full of people telling me to turn on the news. ABC news had taken the picture and made up a story about it. Then Fox 2 called and wanted an interview. They had recorded my phone call and played it on air, without telling me that was their intention. Other local news stations were calling. NBC wanted to come out and film at the farm.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife
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