Morning Ag Clips logo
  • Subscribe ❯
  • PORTAL ❯
  • LOGIN ❯
  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe to our
    daily email
    ❯
  • Portal Registration❯
  • Login❯
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Morning Ag Clips

  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
Home » 2022 wolf survey shows population stable
research rural life wildlife
DECADE TREND ...

2022 wolf survey shows population stable

Michigan DNR: Minimum wolf population in UP estimated at 631 wolves

PUBLISHED ON January 20, 2023

Michigan gray wolf survey
Michigan gray wolf survey
Wildlife biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources have released their findings of the latest Michigan gray wolf survey. (Michigan DNR)

LANSING, Mich. — Wildlife biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources have released their findings of the latest Michigan gray wolf survey. The survey, conducted in early 2022, shows the wolf population in the Upper Peninsula remains stable, as it has for more than a decade.

“These results show a continued trend of statistical stability, indicating that gray wolves may have reached their biological carrying capacity within the Upper Peninsula,” said Cody Norton, the DNR’s wolf specialist. “Wolf presence has only been confirmed twice genetically in the Lower Peninsula in recent times; in 2004 and 2014.”

The survey, which is conducted every other winter, covers the U.P., including Drummond, Neebish and Sugar islands, with Isle Royale excluded. The wolves on Isle Royale are managed by the National Park Service.

Completing analysis of the field data collected during the DNR’s 2022 wolf survey was delayed during the past year as wildlife biologists focused on updating the state’s Wolf Management Plan.

The plan was updated using all pertinent social and biological scientific knowledge on wolves to date.

The minimum wolf population estimate from the 2022 survey is 631 wolves, plus or minus 49 wolves. A total of 136 packs was estimated with an average number of individuals per pack calculated at 4.5.

“Our minimum wolf population estimate is not statistically different from the last estimate in 2020,” Norton said. “All of the estimates since 2011 have not differed statistically.”

However, wolf density appears to have shifted over time.

“The density of wolves may have decreased in some areas of the west U.P. and increased in some parts of the east U.P.,” DNR wildlife biologist Brian Roell said.

This may be linked to significant winter weather events during 2013-2015, which greatly reduced deer densities in mid- and high-snowfall zones of the region.

Trending results

The wolf population in the U.P. showed mostly steady growth from 1989 to 2011. From 1994 to 2007, the population grew at an average annual rate of 19%. From 2003 to 2007, the average annual growth rate was 12%.

The growth rate was expected to decline as the population moved toward the maximum level the U.P. can sustain.

Since 2011, the minimum estimate for the wolf population has remained stable ranging from 618 to 695. A minimum of estimate of 695 wolves occurred in the U.P. during the winter of 2020.

Lower Peninsula

In October 2004, a wolf that had been captured and radio-collared in the eastern U.P. was captured and killed by a coyote trapper in Presque Isle County of the northern Lower Peninsula. This event represented the first verification of a wild wolf in the L.P. in at least 69 years. However, winter track surveys during 2005-2010 failed to indicate the presence of any wolves in the LP.

In 2014, biologists from the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians captured what appeared to be a wolf on a trail camera and were able to collect a scat sample. DNA analysis of the scat confirmed that the animal was a wolf. Although it is possible that wolves occur in the LP, but as of January 2023, no wolves are known to exist there.

New dashboard

The DNR has produced a new online dashboard, making incidence of wolf-dog conflicts more accessible for viewers. The dashboard includes mapped data points of conflicts and a database of incidents over many years.

The improvement in presenting the data was suggested during meetings in 2022 of the Wolf Management Advisory Council and sections of the recently update Michigan Wolf Management Plan.

Changing legal status

The legal status of wolves at both the federal and state level has changed several times, which impacts the ability of all agencies to manage wolves. Regardless of changes in legal status, wolves in Michigan have surpassed federal and state population recovery goals for 22 years.

Gray wolves are currently on the federal list of threatened and endangered species. Consequently, they cannot be killed legally unless in defense of human life.

Regardless of the federal listing status, the Michigan DNR will continue to have management responsibility for wolves in the state. It is the regulatory authority over lethal take of wolves that varies with the changing status of wolves.

Implementing some portions of the Michigan Wolf Management Plan are curtailed given the federally endangered legal status of wolves.

Find out more about wolves and the Michigan Wolf Management Plan at Michigan.gov/Wolves.

— Michigan Department of Natural Resources

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

wolf management plan
Comment on draft wolf management plan by Aug. 4
July 19, 2022

LANSING, Mich. — Those interested in sharing feedback about the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ newest draft of the state’s wolf management plan are invited to complete an online questionnaire, available through Aug. 4. Michigan’s wolf management plan – created in 2008 and updated in 2015 – is being updated this year, using public input to […]

Smarter planning needed to safeguard Midwest farmland
July 11, 2022

WASHINGTON — Smart growth and investment in Midwest downtowns and main streets must occur now to secure the land that grows our food, according to American Farmland Trust’s new report Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future and the accompanying web mapping tool.   AFT’s Farms Under Threat research has shown that by 2040, as many […]

Wisconsin wolf hunting update
February 17, 2022

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced that following a U.S. District court’s ruling on Feb. 10 returning wolves in the lower 48 states (except the northern Rocky Mountains region) to the Federal Endangered Species List, Wisconsin is not authorized to implement a wolf harvest season. The DNR is reviewing the […]

Protections restored, so killing wolves suspended
February 13, 2022

LANSING, Mich. — An order Thursday from a federal court in California returns gray wolves, including those in Michigan, to the federal list of endangered species. The ruling means that two state laws governing the ability to kill wolves preying on livestock, pets and hunting dogs have been immediately suspended. The ruling from U.S. District Judge […]

Give feedback on Michigan’s wolf management plan
January 05, 2022

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is updating the state’s wolf management plan and is seeking public comment, via online survey through Jan. 31, about the future of wolf management. The current plan, created in 2008 and updated in 2015, was developed using extensive public input to identify important issues and assess public attitudes […]

Spread the word

Browse More Clips

Michigan Pork Symposium coming Feb. 16

Five ways to avoid antibiotic residues on the dairy

Primary Sidebar

MORE

MICHIGAN CLIPS

A check-in with the Michigan field office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service shows a relatively small, but important farming sector across the region. (All photos by Jim Isleib, MSU Extension)
Michigan Cattle Inventory report
February 3, 2023
Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association
Equity annual district meeting dates set
February 2, 2023
cattle on feed
CattleFax forecasts producer profitability in 2023
February 2, 2023
United Producers
United Producers Inc. scholarship application open
February 2, 2023
2022 Heritage Breed Microgrants awarded
February 2, 2023
  • Trending
  • Latest

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

Cattle producers, farmers and farm businesses in south central Iowa will learn about the latest crop production and grazing research and trends during the fall field day at Iowa State University’s McNay Memorial Research and Demonstration Farm Aug. 6. (Courtesy of ISU Extension and Outreach)
Iowa cattle inventory report
February 3, 2023
Iowa Pork Regional Conferences
Iowa Pork Regional Conferences Feb. 20-23
February 3, 2023
Wisconsin cattle inventory report
February 3, 2023
Cattle on Feed
Minnesota cattle inventory report
February 3, 2023
A check-in with the Michigan field office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service shows a relatively small, but important farming sector across the region. (All photos by Jim Isleib, MSU Extension)
Michigan Cattle Inventory report
February 3, 2023

Footer

MORNING AG CLIPS

  • Contact Us
  • Sponsors
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service

CONNECT WITH US

  • Like Us on Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TRACK YOUR TRADE

  • Markets & Economy
  • Cattle Updates
  • Dairy News
  • Policy & Politics
  • Corn Alerts

QUICK LINKS

  • Account
  • Portal Membership
  • Just Me, Kate
  • Farmhouse Communication

Get the MAC App Today!

Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store

© 2023 Morning Ag Clips, LLC. All Rights Reserved.