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Isle royale wolf relocation

If they are worried about moose overbrowse they could have considered limited hunting.
 
I have mixed emotions about this reintroduction. Here is a source of information that I will look deeper into to better understand the issue.

isleroyalewolf.org/overview/overview/at_a_glance.html
 
USFWS deems the GYE G Bears recovered and recommends removal from listing. Good idea. USFWS are good guys - should be listened to.
USFWS (as a partner agency with NPS, etc) takes part in re-intro of wolves to Isle Royale. Bad idea. USFW (NPS, etc) are bad guys - maybe don't know what they're doing.
Whatever fits.......
 
Climate change driven by human activity is a factor in that fewer new wolves are able to come to the island in the winter. I see nothing wrong with this. Folks are blowing it way out of proportion and to be honest are selfish in wanting to get rid of native species so that they can hunt more

From the article.

"Wolves crossed over to the island on ice bridges in the 1940s, researches said. But any wolves that may have come over when ice bridges have formed in recent years have not stayed."

Ice bridges are still forming.
 
From the article.

"Wolves crossed over to the island on ice bridges in the 1940s, researches said. But any wolves that may have come over when ice bridges have formed in recent years have not stayed."

Ice bridges are still forming.

And.....What happened next is something we would not discover ourselves for another 14 years. During the winter of 1997, a wolf from Canada immigrated to Isle Royale. He crossed on an ice bridge that occasionally forms between Isle Royale and Canada. We knew him as “the Old Grey Guy.” He became one of the most successful wolves ever to live on Isle Royale, and he revitalized the population’s genetic diversity. His arrival also explains, in part, why wolves did pretty well from 1998 to 2004, during a time when it was relatively difficult for wolves to capture moose.

Taken from the link I posted in the thread above.
 
Thanks for that link, huronmtns. cool tooth - pollution correlation study highlighted there.

Seems like once you augment the gene pool with wolves that didn't naturally immigrate, your original experiment is over, or at least is now on a new trajectory. On the other hand, allowing them to be extirpated would have been an opportunity to see what the moose population behaved like pre-1940, until another pack immigrates. If there would be any moose left by then...
 
I kind of have those same thoughts.

I wonder what was behind the decision for the reintroduction.

1. To preserve the moose population.
2. To preserve the condition of the island from a tourist perspective ( the chance to see a moose or a wolf)

3. To be able to have reason to continue predator/prey relationship with out human harvest influences.

4. The possibility of having the steering committee(biologists/ecologists) that most likely had key influences loosing the most meaningful part of their career and have to move on to other projects because of a lack of animal interaction dynamics (self interest)

There are more I am sure.

This is a complicated matter for conservation. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall for the discussions and meetings that took place on this decision.
 
Bummer....they're trying to figure out why the moose population in MN is going down the drains and transplanting wolves from MN to here to control the moose population...
 
Minnesota moose populations have little to do with wolves. Wolf-moose dynamics on Isle Royale are pretty well understood.
 
Here's an article that mentions some of the conflicting opinions of the researchers.

https://relay.nationalgeographic.co...427-wolves-isle-royale-animals-science-nation

Also points out that the ice bridges work both ways. Allows wolves to come to the island, but also allows them to leave.

So if we have anymore of these man caused global warming events that cause ice bridges to form on the lake, and these newly transplanted wolves leave the island, we might want to give this experiment a rest.

Sensible?
 
FWIW There was an epic ice bridge that lasted for months during the winter of 2013-2014.
 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolves_and_moose_on_Isle_Royale


As an isolated island, Isle Royale initially had neither wolves nor moose. The moose are believed to have either swum across Lake Superior from Minnesota in the early 1900s or were stocked on the island by man for the purpose of recreational hunting.[10] In 1949 a pair of wolves crossed an ice bridge from Ontario to the island during a harsh winter.[11] But because only one pair of wolves migrated to the island, they have suffered from severe inbreeding. According to Rolf Peterson, a professor at Michigan Technological University and the lead wolf-moose researcher, "Moose were isolated here 100 years ago. Most of the genes are still here, but they have enough population (to compensate). There are so few wolves that they have lost genetic variability. The scientific dogma suggests that they are not going to make it."[12] In fact, all of the wolves' DNA on Isle Royale can be traced back to one ancestor.[11] Inbreeding leads to inbreeding depression and fitness problems, often accompanied by violent social rejection by other wolves.[12


http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/200...ies-linked-inbreeding-wolves-isle-royale.html
 
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